Abby.

How hard is it?

I want to ask when I spot Simone and my sister standing on the pavement. 

“Oh hey,” Beth chirps when she sees me, despite it being too early to be that happy. But that's just Beth. “Mon, you remember my sister, the day drinker, don't you?” Beth jabs her thumb over at me standing on the balcony.

Simone nods, offering a small wave. “Good morning, neighbor; I hope you had a wonderful night.”

“I did, thank you. Did you?”  I respond. Are we just going to pretend last night wasn't awkward?

For a fleeting moment, Simone holds my gaze before she looks down. “Virgin Creek is a wonderful place. You will have so much fun.”

I nod, choosing not to deep dive. A small smile pops on my face, I hope she is wrong because I don't see myself having any fun.

But I'm stuck here and I might as well try to enjoy it. Tim and Turner are still asleep and I'm glad Beth volunteered to have them in her bed to give me enough room and rest.

I know Simone saw me, this should explain why she is avoiding my eyes.
And as much as I like to talk, I will not, for the love of me, say a word about it. Even so, I can't just go up to her and say; I overheard your argument.

It's rude.

“I should go,” Simone says to Beth, me? Long forgotten.

“Sure, I should get ready for work too, anyway. We'll talk more about that housewarming thing later, yeah?” Beth says.

Simone nods and turns. I watch her walk away when deep inside, all I want to do is call after her and make sure she is okay. But my eyes are only stuck on her butt and how perfectly those leggings and spots bra fit her. I never pegged her for someone too serious about keeping fit, but she is friends with my sister, so I shouldn't be too shocked.

When Simone reaches a corner, she glances back over her shoulder. I'm still here, and I meet her eyes. She looks away as fast as she can, checking her mailbox before jogging into the house.

The thing from last night is making her uncomfortable. I'm making her uncomfortable.

When Beth leaves for work, I move my feet to some music while making breakfast. The twins are still exhausted from yesterday's flight and drive so they're still asleep. They will be up soon and I know I won't have time between chasing them around and making them food.

I miss leaving them with Mom and Dad, those two never get tired of Tim and Turner. But they're mine even when they came at the most unexpected time. It was the saddest yet happiest day of my life when the doctor presented them to me after I woke up from the anesthesia with a rimming scar on my tummy. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

“Please brush your teeth nicely," I mumble, leaning against the door, watching each one of them run a toothbrush over their teeth like it's a marathon. The once quiet house is now filled with yells and giggles.

The rest of the day breezes by fast. Maybe because I spend most of it  telling the twins what to do and not to do. When afternoon approaches, I put together a fast pasta and sauce lunch for them.

Breakfast was late, so I believe they're still stuffed; it still doesn't hurt to prepare beforehand. I step out of the house for the second time this morning and like a reflex, the first thing I look at is Simone's house.

It's quiet, I wonder where she is. Does she go to work? Where does she work?

I walk back to my bedroom to be the creep and maybe see if she is in her room again, but the curtains are closed and I don't think she has opened today. She is right to do so; it's so wrong of me to be peeping in people's bedrooms, but I can't help myself.

Simone is like a new toy to a toddler, and I only want to play with her. Not in a sick, serial killer way. I just want to be friends if that makes sense.

“Hey,” a voice erupts from somewhere. I look around, only to find Simone in her backyard.

My cheeks flush, embarrassment running up my neck. I can't believe she caught me. Again.

I should run, I should board a plane back home, I should sink to the ground but there is no way out, so I force a smile and wave.

A minute later, the boys and I are standing in Simone's backyard.

“Please don't touch anything,” I command, my eyes scanning through the garden of flowers she is weeding and trimming. “This is nice.”

“Yeah?” Simone says, but she doesn't stop digging. Her gardening gloves are off and she's just getting into it with her bare hands. There's something so raw and mesmerizing about this view like she doesn't care about the worms or whatever bacteria might get in her nails; she is just doing what makes her happy.

“Aww, you want to help me?” she comments when Turner shows up next to her, bending over to touch the mud.

“Turner!”

“Your mother says no,” Simone says, mimicking a sad face, and Turner runs to Tim, who is chasing around a butterfly.

“So, do—-”

“I don't think staring at people's bedrooms is a nice thing to do,” Simone says once Turner has disappeared from beside her. But she doesn't look up.

My cheeks are burning. She caught me and there's no way out. Should I come clean or not?

“I didn't mean to, it just happened.” I shift on my foot, the pajamas still clinging to my body. I don't think I will be getting out of them anytime soon and that's the beauty of living in the suburbs. No one cares because everyone's busy making a pie or fixing bikes in the garage or something.

“I don't believe that.”

I scoff, shrugging as if she just said the most absurd thing. “What do you want to believe, Simone?” Her name sounds weird on my tongue but then again, it has a nice ring to it that makes me want to keep saying it.

Simone sighs and drops her hand shovel; she gets to her feet, letting me notice the dirty apron pulled over black leggings from earlier and a big blue t-shirt.

“What did you see?” she asks.

“Nothing!” I blurt out, pitch too high to be believable.

“There's no reason to lie.”

“I'm serious.”

“Well, I don't believe you, Abby! I feel like you stood there the whole time and watched the whole thing!” She exhales, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. “I just…that's my business, and I would appreciate it if you don't stick your nose in it.”

I nod, fast. “Okay, okay I understand.”

“Good,” she mumbles and flops back to her gardening.

I hesitate, the words take a while to leave my lips. “I'm sorry.”

Simone looks up at me, bright brown eyes gawking for a moment so long that it makes me feel all the tingling sensations around me. Like the pins and needles but slowly and much more painful.

“Thank you, that means a lot.”

I nod when she isn't looking. I glance over to the twins, and I don't know why I even tried to get them to stay clean; they're now covered in dirt and haven't given up on the butterfly. I want to tell them that they won't catch that sleek thing and they're wasting their breaths but I let them have this.

I turn back to Simone. “So, what are those?”

“Oh, so these are…” Simone explains a whole bunch about flowers, which makes me wonder why she is not a florist. It's amazing to watch but what I hear comes out through the other ear. Amid all the chaos of trying to understand why flowers exist or how they multiply, I'm stuck staring at Simone.

I know she said it isn't my place and I do not have the right to, but still, I wonder what they were arguing about. Is she happy?

How does she expect me to just forget about it?

But she was right about me, I'm like a dog with a bone. She will hate me for it so I guess I should enjoy it when she is still my friend.

++++

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