Nina yawns lazily, stretching on the sofa and rubbing her left eye with the back of her hand. I bet I'm interrupting her afternoon nap. It's like if she could, she'd hibernate until the pandemic ended. The quarantine put her life on hold, so she decided to not live these days at all. Or maybe she is just like this.

I take another bite of my muffin. "Should I go?"

She stares at me in awe. I'm sitting on the ground with my legs crossed, back facing the TV and blocking her view to the screen. As soon as I arrived, I made sure to sit here out of spite. Besides, she usually takes too long to pay attention to me because of the damned TV.

"Don't go," she denied. "I want you here."

"We're just staring at each other," I point out.

"Maybe I like staring at you." She smiles, but I only roll my eyes at her. Defeated, she sighs. "We should do something."

"Something like..." I trail.

What are we supposed to do? Watching TV all day isn't something I'm looking forward to. I don't have any games and I suspect she doesn't either. We're doomed to forever boredom and death by tedious nothingness.

"What do you usually do when you're bored?" she asks, but doesn't linger to hear the answer. Instead, she reaches for what I believe was a mayo jar, now filled with papers.

I shrug at the question. "I study."

She sits in front of me and gives me an eye roll for the fascinating answer. "Of course. Should've known. Are your parents okay with the money they'll have to spend on therapy? Or are you already on it?"

"Wow, I care about my grades. Big deal. Are your parents aware of the money they'll have to spend to support you for the rest of your life?"

"They are. Thank you for the concern," she says. "Your therapist is going to have a heck of a time working on that stutter of yours."

"I don't stutter!" I argue.

"Right. You were very articulate when you first knocked at my door. By the way, how's the finger?"

That was ages ago! I was really hoping she would've forgotten by now. The thought of what first impression I gave her keeps me awake at night.

"Are you trying to say I have no social abilities?"

She shrugs. "Me? Never. So, you have many friends in the uni, right? Or just the nerds you study with?"

Ha! Jokes on her. I study by myself. "Before you mock me, I want you to remember I'm here because I'm bored. You want me here because you like me here."

She said so herself; she enjoys my company. I'd be lying if I said I don't like her too, but I bring more to the table than she does, I'm sure. It's an equal part lack of effort from both, but I provide food.

"Don't flatter yourself, 5E. I like you for the cake. You like me because of the absence of friends. Which aren't many to begin with. So, it's me, the blondie and the brunette," she counts. How does she know about Avery and Courtney? "Don't look so shocked. There is a picture on your wall."

"I'm thinking you're a stalker," I accuse her, but she only laughs. "Like a psycho or something like that. Are you going to kill me and hide my body inside the wall?"

"Nah, my carpentry skills are beyond awful."

I smile. The way she laughs is contagious. She is contagious. Which is not a good sentence in pandemic times, but still.

"See, this is nice." She nudges me with her foot. "Just chilling, no studying or anything."

"No sleeping during classes."

"That's a coping method for my sexual frustrations," she shrugs. "Corona is fucking me more than my ex ever did."

I don't laugh. I focus on my cupcake. There was no reason for her to talk about her ex. Nina is such a classically beautiful girl. I bet she's dated a lot in the past, and I bet all her previous relationships have been with gorgeous women with model bodies and prettier faces.

"What about you?" she asks and I snap out of my thoughts. I stare at her without comprehending what she is asking. Just a second ago, she was talking about her previous sexual relationship. She can't be asking me about the same.

"Me?"

"Oh, no. I meant Amara, the ghost that lives with me. She's pretty nice once you get to know her."

I blink. "Is that sarcasm?"

"No... I am actually haunted. The house is, at least." She rolls her eyes.

I frown at her. "What were you asking? Before Amara jumped into the conversation."

"How was life before house arrest?"

To be honest, it wasn't much different. "I was supposed to be in London right now. My cousin Jackie was getting married, but she cancelled it when this all started. But I was there for a few days and I could catch up with a few friends."

"London... I've never been to England. The only time I was in Europe was when I visited my aunt in Portugal, but besides that, never. When this is over, I'm going to visit England," she says dreamily. "I'm not planning on travelling to Italy, though. They'll get extinct before this is over."

"I'm Italian," I tell her, and her eyes widen. "I have lots of family there, so thank you for the good omen"

She swallows hard. Now she is the one stuttering, "I... I didn't mean it that way."

I have to laugh at her abashment. "It's fine." Of course, I'm afraid for my grandparents and everyone else there, but I can't really dwell much on it.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't know," she apologises.

"Seriously, it's fine." I smile to reassure her and I think she moves past it. "So, what are we doing in this fine afternoon?"

She draws a paper from the mayo jar. "Truth or dare?"

"That seems basic."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

I sigh. "Nope. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

She leans back on the couch, looking at me with her dull eyes. I need to figure something out that won't make her think I'm weak. I want her to not roll her eyes and call me boring as soon as I pick her dare, but I'm not sure how to do that.

"I dare you..." I start, hesitantly, "to knock on everyone's doors and run away..."

She makes a pained face. "I have to get up?" she cries. "Why did I pick dare? For fuck's sake."

"Go on," I urge.

I stay by the door, watching as she goes to the end of the hallways. She stretches as if she's about to run the marathon, and I can't help the smile that twists my lips as she does.

I mouth a good luck that she doesn't see. She knocks and runs to the next door the fastest she can. The first door is opens as she is nearing me and a man in a long robe comes out, looking at her irritated. I hide inside before he can see me and wait for her to get in before closing the door.

"Fuuuuuuckkkk!" she drawls. "I hope he doesn't complain to the landlord."

"Do you think people are gathering in the hallway with torches?" I laugh as she gawks at me.

"I don't know. Why don't you find out?" She throws herself on the couch. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Good. 'Cause I'm making pizza for dinner."

I sit on the carpet, leaning against the couch. Nina looks down at me for a moment and then joins me on the floor. She hugs her knees to her chest and hides her face in her arms.

"You're going to make the pizza?"

"Mmm. Do you want to have dinner with me?"

"I do," I tell her. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Why didn't you go home to your parents before you got locked in?"

She sighs. "I had a fight with my mum and told her I didn't want to go home. I should've, though."

"Are you not speaking?" I ask, and she shakes her head. "What were you fighting about?"

"She didn't like the girl I was with and the people I was hanging out with because of her. I kept hanging out with them even after we broke up and mom hated it. When we made peace, it was too late to go home."

"I'm sorry," I started.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to eat a full spoon of cinnamon," she says.

My eyes widen. I'm about to complain, but she's already on her way to the kitchen. I follow, calling out her name, but she ignores me.

"Open up," she instructs, holding a spoon in her hand. I make a face and try to walk away, but frowns. "Oh, don't chicken out. It's just cinnamon."

I open my mouth begrudgingly, and she pours the whole thing into my mouth. I cough powder as soon as she does. It sticks to my mouth and I have a hard time swallowing it.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

I ignore her and get a cup of water to wash out the rest of it from my mouth. My favourite ingredient to put in cakes has always been cinnamon, but I think I'm going to stay clear of it for a while now.

"Truth or dare?" I ask, leaning against the sink.

"Truth?" she says with an uncertain edge in her voice.

I've always hated these games because I never knew what to ask. There's so much about Nina I don't know, yet no questions come to mind. She already shares a lot of her life easily, so I never felt the need to inquire her about anything.

"Are you okay?" she asks and rests her hand on my shoulder. I am not used to the small touches that seem so casual to her. The more at ease she feels, the more she does it. I'm not sure how I should feel about that.

"Yeah. Umm..." I try to think of something to ask. "Have you always lived in New York?"

She nods. "Yupe. All my life. You?"

I shake my head. "I lived most of my life in the UK, though I was born in Italy. My parents and I moved here a few years ago." The sky is darkening outside, the orange hues fading until there is no light left. "Should we start making dinner?"

"Yeah, sure," she agrees, moving away from me to turn on the kitchen lights before we are left in the dark. "I mean, you're the pizza expert, after all."

I roll my eyes at the insinuation. "Do you honestly think can cook just because I was born in Italy?"

"Obviously." She starts to stack ingredients on the countertop, ignoring the way I am staring at her. "Jade isn't a very Italian-ish name. You're quite the disappointment."

"Ouch."

She flashes me a smile and sits by the table with her phone in hand. I assume she's trying to find some pizza recipe. It'll be better if she doesn't make me cook the entire dinner by myself because I've never cooked until I moved out and most of my non-sweet kitchen adventures have failed.

"Jade is the equivalent of Giada," I explain. "I found out I blended better in England if people just called me Jade, so it kind of stuck."

"Giada..." she repeats, looking at me funny. "That's pretty."

I shrug. "I feel more of a Jade than a Giada, to be honest. Only my parents call me by it, anyway."

My parents don't really use it to call me, per se. It's always bad when I hear my name being yelled by them. "Giada, sei una vergogna", "Giada, perché non sei come tua cugina?" No matter how hard I try, they can't say anything nice. I'm not worth what they spent with me and I had to come to terms with that a long time ago.

"It's pretty, though," she says again, a little too pleased for my liking. "People should call you that."

I don't want them too. It's the name of a girl that can't do anything right. It's the name of a girl who will never be good enough. Jade is the girl some people liked and didn't mind being friends with. She is the one who spends her days in the apartment of a girl who doesn't know the word insecure. Why would I want to be Giada instead of Jade?

"In Rome be roman, right?" I ask. "Isn't it pretentious of me to ask people to call me a name they don't know?"

"It's pretentious to ask people to call you by your name?" She frowns. "Come on, 5E, you can't actually think that."

I shrug. "My name is Jade."

"Are you complaining 'cause I called you 5E or 'cause you don't like Giada?"

"Both." I roll my eyes at her. "Why do you insist on annoying me?"

"Because you're cute when you roll your eyes."

I blush and look away from her. "Shut up. Let's just make the damned pizza."

Hello, y'all!

Here's another of Jade and Nina's moments of boredom and my last update of my holidays. Hope you like it!

Happy New Year!