ENID

Addi and I spent the rest of the morning talking about the mystery boy. He had me utterly confused. I ended the call when her mom came barging in complaining about how Addi left her laundry undone. Typical Addi. I laid in bed with my head under my arm as I stared at my ceiling. It reminded me of the background I used to take my portrait picture for a dancing competition. 

I missed dancing a lot. I stopped when I mixed a routine up and ended up injuring one of my fellow dance partners. My parents took me out of the dancing school immediately and I've never been to another dancing school after that. I've never even brought up the topic. I really wish to go back though. 

I stood up from my bed when I heard my stomach grumble. I wasn't really feeding myself. I wasn't ready for another encounter with him so I decided to make something. I was going with pasta. It was pretty simple to make but then I got lazy and opted for cereals instead. I watched as the flakes floated around in my milk. I was bored already. I couldn't call Addi again. I assumed she may still be doing her laundry. There was just one person left. Jenny.

I bit into my fingernails as I heard the call ring on. She picked up on the fourth ring. I still had her number and was surprised when she picked it.  "Hello, Jenny speaking. Who am I speaking with?" I paused. She didn't even save my number. Furious, I deadpanned, "Enid."

I heard her gasp over the phone. "Oh, Enid, nice to hear from you again." I cringed at the sound of her voice and was already regretting calling her. "Yeah, same." I lied. I was tired of the conversation already. Something flipped in me that caused me to open my mouth to utter a question. "Wanna hang out?" I could hear her shuffling in the background. "You mean, you want to come over?" 

I knew her house and I knew I was going to end up going there. I didn't reply. "That's great! I'll clean up and also invite some friends." She cut the call. I pulled my phone away from my ear and stared at a drop of milk on the table. I was going to a gathering. How fun...

I adjusted my top as I stared at my reflection. I realised what I was doing and huffed. I moved away from the mirror and sat on my bed, putting on my shoes. I closed the front door behind me and walked to the bus stop near the apartment. I watched as cars passed by. My hands got cold easily so I rubbed them against my jeans. The bus got there shortly. I rushed in and sat down and started to dread getting there. One, I wasn't ready to meet Jenny again. I was still angry at her. Two, she said she was going to have friends over. I wasn't really good with people. It took time before I could establish a solid relationship with my friends.

I stepped down from the bus and looked at her average house. The trees had lights on them and there was a little snowman near the mail post. We hadn't even put up any decoration at home. I ran my hands over my jacket and started to walk up to her door. I pressed my finger on the little doorbell. I heard footsteps approach and the door opened. Jenny stood there with a guy I had not seen in my life and that made me realise that her friends were there already. I forced a smile on my face as I stepped in. 

As expected, the house was heavily decorated. A big Christmas tree stood in the corner with several ornaments on it and the traditional star. Stockings were hung up on the fireplace and I got the Christmas feeling. "Hi," I muttered to the guy near her as we walked up to her room. Where I guessed they all were. He just nodded at me. Talk about feeling welcome. I stepped in and I could feel every eye on me. I looked around and they all seemed familiar. My eyes zeroed on a boy that was fixed on his phone. Once more, I croaked out, "Hi."

There was that awkward silence until a girl that looked my age stood up to meet me. She pulled me into a hug. "Finally another girl! Jenny and I are tired of these boys. I'm Ava." I smiled at her and then a voice spoke out. I looked at the person. It was him. It was as if everything around us was on pause. I was lost for words. He said, "And who are you?" He was suddenly interested in me as he was on his phone earlier. 

"Enid. I'm Enid." I said with my American accent. He rose his eyebrow as if just hearing the name for the first time. "Enid." He deadpanned with his lovely voice. I loved the way he pronounced my name. He turned back to his phone and Ava came into my sight of view. "That's Harry. He's quite complicated. You don't need to pay much attention to him." She walked me over to a chair and I sat down. I took off my jacket and held it to my lap. I looked outside the window and it started to get dark. I wondered if my family was back yet. I felt someone tug on my sleeve. I looked up at the person and my heart skipped a beat when he was the one. Harry. I finally knew his name.

"We need to talk, Enid." He muttered looking outside the window too. I didn't know what to say. The negligent side of me came on, "About?" He frowned. I smiled internally.

Take that for what you did yesterday

"Do you want to clear the air or not?" He sounded frustrated. It was a great idea so I agreed. We needed to talk things out. The weird eye contact and the awkward tension between us. Most importantly, the freaking butterflies in my belly had to go!