For the first time during this summer break, my phone let out a noise that woke me up from my peaceful slumber. I groaned and checked the time. It was 11 o'clock in the morning.
Why am I up again? I asked myself as I turned my alarm off. Ugh, I'm so damn tired, maybe I'll just drift back to sleep before…
I opened my eyes, groaning once more as I remembered. Yep, that's why I'm up. I lazily got out bed and went through my usual morning routine, except instead of washing my face I took a shower, the first time I had done so in about a week. I wrapped my towel around my lower half and shuffled to the kitchen, where I made myself oatmeal and got water. I ate my breakfast in peace, enjoying every bite of it. After finishing up, I threw away my paper bowl and tossed the spoon in the sink behind me. Yawning, I shuffled back to my room, checking the time on my phone. It was now a quarter to noon, and all I had to do now was get dressed. I opened up my closet, with it opening with a squeak.
I grabbed a pair of decent looking sweatpants and a grey shirt that simply said relax on it and put on the bed. I then grabbed some underwear and socks, putting them on first before getting fully dressed. I yawned once more, scratching my hair before realizing I had forgotten something.
I quickly grabbed the deodorant and put some on before I heard a light knock on the door. Ah crap, she's early.
I grabbed my shoes, an old pair of rundown tennis shoes, and made my way to the door. I opened the door, wincing at the bright light coming in.
"Ah, I almost thought you weren't here!"
Standing in the doorway, hair blazing orange in the sun, with a simple white dress on, was Pandora.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Um, come in. I still have some stuff to do, since I wasn't expecting you so early." I motioned her inside, and she nodded, giving me a warm smile.
"What a nice place." She peered around as she walked to the living room. "Is no one else home?"
"Eh? Oh, I live alone, since, well…" I trailed off, trying hard to fight off the inevitable fall.
"Oh right! My bad!" She bowed down in a apologetic manner.
"Really, it's alright. Anyway, I need five minutes is all." She raised herself up and nodded before taking a seat on the couch.
I went back into my room and put my shoes on, sighing. Damn, I wish I was at least mentally prepared first. I grabbed my phone and started the search for my wallet.
"Where is it? Did I bring it with me on the camping trip?" I thought aloud as I dug around my camp bag. Not finding it, I went out of my room and headed downstairs, where I dug around my bag I took to the beach.
"Ah, here it is," I murmured as I fished it out and put it in my pocket. "Alright, guess we're good then." I got back up and stretched upwards, starting to feel a little nervous.
It'll be alright Depra, nothing gonna go wrong here, I thought, trying to motivate myself. I went back upstairs to see Pandora examining a flower on the table.
"I've never seen a flower like this before," she murmured, looking at it in excitement. "What exactly is it?"
"It's a Calla Lily," I said, and she jumped and turned around, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Oh, it's just you. Man, you really spooked me there."
"…You do realize I'm the only on here, right?" She rolled her eyes as I said that.
"A girl can be spooked regardless. Anyway, ready to go?"
"Yep, lead the way." And then I left to spend the day with the girl named Pandora.
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"Mhhm! Delicious!"
We were in a restaurant, since the first thing she wanted to do was to eat lunch. She was happily wolfing down a steak, eating surprisingly a lot for a girl her age. I was halfway through my food, burger and fries, and let out a notably loud burp.
"Oh, excuse me." I covered my mouth, slightly embarrassed. She looked at me and stopped eating, composing herself before letting out an even louder burp.
"Excuse me."
I was so shocked that I almost laughed at the sheer absurdity of what she did. "Is this a contest?"
"Only if I win."
"What type of contest is that then…"
She giggled at my response, her normal hair color, a rare color of the Padparadscha Sapphire, purplish-orange, was fully able to be seen in the lighting, and bobbed up and down as she giggled. She quickly recovered and sipped some of her lemonade before stirring her drink around with her straw.
"So, how've been? I mean, we did decide to hangout today to catchup, right?"
"Uh, yeah! Um, I've been alright. My friends have been dragging me out of the house all break, so I at least haven't been cooped up doing nothing all the time. In fact, a couple weeks ago we went camping in the nearby mountain."
"Oh, Olympus?" She stopped stirring her straw.
"Nah, the one across it."
"I see. I know you went to the beach as well. What else did you do?"
"Um, my friend, who lives next-door to me, often brings her friends over to hangout, so I do that quite a bit. Also, I stayed at my friend's house for about week after we went to the beach. Other than that, I've mostly just stayed at home, sleeping inside or outside."
"Depra!"
"Uh, yes ma'am!?" I involuntarily straightened my normally slouched back at her sudden words.
"Ask me what I did now," she said casually, continuing to stir her straw.
I can't understand this girl for the life of me! "Uh, what did you do?"
"Absolutely nothing."
Eh!? "Um, huh?"
She started to laugh at my reaction. "Oh, lighten up you. I'm only teasing." She let out a soft smile which caused me to relax again, breathing a sigh of relief.
"You stress me out sometimes, you know that?"
"Nah, I would never!" Ah, the lies we tell…
"But seriously, what did you do?" I asked before taking another bite out of my burger.
"Oh, you know, mostly been at home too. It's been way too hot this summer. I did go visit my grandparents outside this quaint lil' city of ours. That's why I was gone for so long. We do it every year. They're nice people, and they spoil me silly, so I love them dearly."
"Why did it sound like you only love them because they spoil you?"
"Duh, because it's true."
I could only stare as she started to laugh. "I'm joking! I'm not that bad of a person, alright? You should know this by now!"
I nodded, getting over my shock. "Yeah, you really did help me out a lot back then. Honestly, I don't really know how properly thank you…" I trailed off, dipping some fries in ketchup and eating them.
"Hey, I'm glad to help, okay? Seriously, nothing of note to tell me, right? I mean it Depra, if you don't, I'll dropkick you later." She was smiling, but I had feeling she would do it.
I thought back to that night, where Lachesis had found me collapsed in the hallway of my house, unable to move my body. She saw me hesitating and reached out to grab my hand.
"Hey, talk to me, you hear? We're problem buddies. You tell me your problems, and I tell you mine."
I looked down, sucking in my bottom lip. "It was bad."
"How bad?"
"I couldn't move."
I looked up, and I only saw concern in her regal purple eyes. Her hand squeezed mine slightly. "Your incidents, how many times do they happen a day?"
"… 3 times on average." It had gotten worse.
"Damnit Depra, I thought you were getting better. This is what happens when I'm not around, huh?"
I chuckled at her joke, and she gave me a smile. "See, laugh more. It helps, trust me. Well, if you can't laugh by yourself, I'll just have to be around you constantly to help you, huh?"
"I guess your right about that…"
Silence, and I looked up to see a shocked look on her face, a rare sight indeed. "You know, you are the most troublesome boy I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with."
"Ugh, whatever. I'm eating now." She giggled as she watched me eat my food, and she cut out a huge piece of steak for herself and chomped it down so easily I was starting to worry about where it all went.
"You sure do eat a lot."
"Well, I am a growing girl after all. I have to eat at least this to catch up to my troublesome senior."
"Ah, I always forget you're younger than me." I think she's in the same grade as Luna, meaning she'll be a sophomore this year, but she sure as hell doesn't act like it.
"Yep, so my beauty will far outlast yours!"
"I don't really consider myself attractive, but whatever…" She on the other hand was the opposite. Honestly, I don't know why she decided to start a conversation with me that day.
"Hey, don't sell yourself short! Sure, you dress shabbily, your hair sucks, and it looks like you don't sleep at night, but it's all a part of your natural charm!" She gave me a dazzling grin.
"I really can't tell if you're trying insult me or not." She giggled again, and we finished our meal in relative peace, splitting the bill at her insistence.