xv.

Friday

October

Zelda

"So are you gonna head straight to my place after school or what?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "And what about my clothes?"

Jenna paused, then chuckled to herself, embarrassed. "Oops. Right. I'm just really excited. I'll pick you up later, then?"

"Sure," I agreed with a genuine smile of my own. "What time?"

She pulled her thin cardigen around herself. "Gosh, the AC is so strong today. I'm freezing. How about five thirty? Would that work for you?"

"Yeah. Do you want my hoodie?" I asked her, already swinging my backpack in front of me. "I'm not using it anyway."

Relief was evident on her face. "Really? You sure you don't need it. That'd be awesome. Thanks!"

I pulled my hoodie out of my backpack and handed it over to her, holding her books while she shook off her cardigan and pulled my "jacket" over her body. "No problem. I'll see you at five thirty then?"

"Yep." The bell was about to ring. She quickly took her stuff back and grinned at me. "Thanks for the hoodie. See ya!"

I hastily waved her goodbye and headed to my own class, keeping my fingers crossed, hoping I wouldn't be late. I barely managed to get to my classroom before the obnoxious bell rang, sending people running all different directions like panicked chickens.

As usual, I nodded at Jeremy as a greeting as I approached my seat right next to him. He raised an eyebrow at me when I sat down heavily.

"You're arriving later and later for this lesson," he pointed out. "Any reason for that? Ryan's already here."

I stuck my tongue out at him, quickly taking out the materials I needed for the lesson. "I know. I'm gonna get into trouble for this someday if this goes on. I was talking to Jenna about tonight just then."

"What's happening tonight?"

I stole a quick glance at the teacher, only to see that he was busy trying to figure out how to use the visualizer. Deciding it was safe to talk, I did just that. "Girls' night. It's actually just a sleepover at Jenna's place, but they like to call it that."

"Sleepover?"

"You know, watching movies, eating too much, gossiping, probably, and, well, sleeping." I shrugged. "The 'usual stuff,' whatever that is supposed to mean. I have no idea."

"Maybe braiding each other's hair?" he suggested in all seriousness, though a subtle smile was threatening to lift the corner of his lips. "Painting nails?"

"Yeah," I agreed, playing along by feigning serious. "Planning assassinations, plotting murders, dabbing makeup on. Nothing special, really."

He was grinning now. "Can't forget the cans of beer and the football matches. Also, ya know, shouting and video games."

I smiled. "You know the drill."

The teacher finally gave up, cursing the machine as he stood up straight again. He called for our attention to start the lesson. I turned to the front again, but not before catching a glimpse of the humour in Jeremy's bright eyes. I thought I heard my heart thudding louder.

Damn, I needed to get a grip. Or to get laid. Something. Anything. That boy was too pure and cute and good for me.

Girls' night. Right. Let's hope we wouldn't end up confessing crushes, because I ain't spilling. Not in a million years.

The lesson was agonizingly long, but that was nothing new. When the bell finally rang, I was quick to pack all my things and leave, promptly bidding Jeremy farewell. I cleared my schedule for the girls this evening, and didn't actually have any reason to rush, but I just wanted some time to chill on my own before girls' night started. Because of this, I decided to take the long way back.

Going the long way, casually strolling on the streets, enjoying the peace and the view: just my kind of aesthetics in life.

Almost half an hour later, I reached the house. I had it all to myself today. Chris had football practise today, and Karen was out with some friends. William, I had no idea, but he was probably out with his friends as well. I didn't see him a lot, to be honest, and whenever I did, he didn't seem very keen on talking to me. Sometimes I would catch him staring at me weirdly, but he would always look away quickly, avoiding eye contact. He wasn't like that at the beginning. I was curious about what changed, but I couldn't be bothered enough to ask.

I took a brief shower then carried my packed bags to the living room to unwind before Jenna arrived. Like I said, I cleared my schedule, so I didn't really have anything to do other than scrolling through Instagram on my phone. (Tumblr was too slow.)

About five minutes before five thirty, Jenna texted me. I soon headed out the door.

"Ey," I greeted when I slid into the backseat of her car.

She smiled. I could see it through the rear view mirror, something small and precious to be treasured. I was still in awe of how quickly she warmed up to me. I was still in awe of her. "Hey yourself. You ready?"

"I was born ready."

She laughed then, and she started driving. "Your sweater is in my room. I'll return it to you later. Do you know I freaked Ellie out with that?"

I raised a questioning eyebrow. "How?"

She grinned cheekily. "She thought I had a boyfriend I didn't tell her about. She was hyperventilating. It was hilarious. The whole class was looking at her. The teacher was this close to telling her to calm the eff down. And I didn't tell her anything until after the lesson, so she glared at me for the whole period. I almost felt bad. But oh well. El will be El."

I laughed. "How did Katherine react, though?"

Mischief was clear in her eyes. "I think she was too embarrassed by El to do anything other than stopping her and holding her down. I mean, I'd be pretty embarrassed if I were her. I would've been too, if I wasn't too busy laughing."

She went on talking, telling me about her day, but my mind was wandering. Her tone reminded me yet again why I thought she somewhat resembled an elf sometimes. Tall and slender, pretty, innocent-looking, but mischievous. And slightly evil every now and then. I knew, though, that she was too much of a softie to be one. I wasn't sure if she was capable of being cruel, and I had wondered, in the dark of the night when I was thinking about anything and everything in life, if people had ever taken advantage of that. I bet they had, and the thought was unsettling.

But I'm here now, I had also thought to myself. She had me. I would be with her.

It's just- Sometimes, I'd forget how I'd have to leave, eventually.

By the time we had arrived at her house, Katherine and Ellie was already there, sitting on the two ends of the sofa, eating and watching TV. They turned to us when we walked in.

"There you are," Katherine said, shoving some more popcorn into her mouth. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think you drove off the cliff or something."

"I drive slow to avoid driving off a cliff," Jenna emphasised, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Sorry for being careful."

They all laughed. I smiled.

"Your mom is in the kitchen," Ellie informed. "I think she's making pizza tonight."

Jenna's eyes lit up. "Really? I'll go help. Can one of you take Zelda to my room and tell her where to put everything?"

"I'll do it," Katherine volunteered, standing up. "C'mon. I'll show you where we're sleeping too."

"Sure, thanks," I said with a smile, hiding any awkwardness I was feeling.

Much to my relief, the expected awkwardness wasn't there. Katherine quickly showed me Jenna's room and their gathered pile of bags. I dropped my duffle just next to it, and headed down again. Deciding I should be a polite guest and great my host, I went into the kitchen to look for Jenna and her mother.

"Hi," I poked my head into the kitchen and started, almost shyly. "Is there anything I can help with?"

They both turned to me. Her mother beamed. "Hi. You must be Zelda. I've heard so much about you."

My heart warmed. I took her warm attitude as my cue to join them. "Only good things, I hope."

The rest of the night went on like that, warm and fluffly and full of giggles and laughter. Her mother joined us, and it was great. We did watch a movie, and ate too much, and gossipped. We shared embarrassing stories of ourselves and each other over homemade pizza. We ended up watching a quarter of a basketball match, too, with Katherine throwing popcorn at the screen when the team she was rooting for couldn't score.

And we talked. A lot. I wasn't even sure how it started. But I remember what happened: I told them about my neighbours, and some people I knew at the wet market, how we had always looked out for each other; Ellie talked about her little brother, how he was really enjoying his first year at elementary school so far; Katherine recommended a book she was reading, how she cried and weeped over the book characters; Jenna asked for our opinion on this campaign she had started online, she wasn't sure where to take it; Mrs Katic told us stories, of her past, of her parents' past, of Jenna's past. We talked, and talked, and talked. Until, somehow, I ended up with Jenna leaning against me with her head on my shoulder, and a knee of my crossed legs rested on Ellie's thigh, and Katherine just lying on the sofa, face up, legs dangling over Ellie's. Mrs Katic, Kate, had returned to rest in her room. We quientened down, finally letting the night catch up on us, coaxing us to sleep.

And I was happy.