"Hey Zia, you coming with us to get ice cream?" My friend Anzel asks me as I'm about to go home. This was my last day of high school so I had emptied my locker and had a box full of knick-knacks to take with me.
"Nah,you two darlings can go ahead. I have some things to do when I get home " while Anzel and Jesleen were my absolute besties, I can't pass up the opportunity when I finally can finally go explore the place where I believe is a supernatural hotspot. They wouldn't get it. They will think I'm insane which I sometimes wonder too.
"What is it this time? Fencing?" Anzel asked.
"No"
"Kickboxing?" This from Jesleen
"Nope"
"Gym?"
"No! And no to all the things you are probably imagining too. I just need alone time, and I have to clean my room. I promised mama I will"
"Atleast let us drop you off, or are you gonna carry this box all the way home as a part of strength training?" Jes asks.
"I honestly dont understand your obsession with combat Zia, I mean you aren't even interested in joining the army so why go through the trouble?" Anzel added.
"Well I will never know when my supernatural legacy will call upon me will I? I dont want to waste time for my mentors to train me when I could be ready to save the world anytime" I replied.
Jess sighed. "18 years old and still with your childish fantasies. its a wonder you even graduated highschool"
"And you needlessly put extra pressure on yourself. You juggle extra training alongside school when our school actually offers gym class, I sometimes wonder how you manage to study and not collapse from exhaustion" Anzel teased.
"Hey, I'll have you remember I got more grades than either of you"
"Ah,yes yes which class was that jes? Creative writing?"
Both laughed. My cheeks flamed, and I started walking faster.
"Oh wait fair guardian of the night, won't the lady be needing transport to her nest of darkness? Anzel called after me. I turned back with what I hoped was a murderous expression.
They took one look at my face and cracked up. Again. They laughed so hard that people actually stopped and stared at them strangely. Only when tears were streaming down from Jess' face and Anzel's braid had somehow come loose did they stop.
"done?" I snapped.
"Yes ma'am" they chortled
" let's go then, I have things to do"
....in the car, I had to bear with both of them doing what I call their pre-drive primping. Anzel brushed out her raven hair, same as mine, but hers was pin straight. I envied her that. I envied its length too....mine only reached my back while hers fell to her waist like a curtain. Jess had lovely golden locks which she wore in a short bob.
I never understood their need for brushing hair while going home...my hair was in a braided pony tail knot- ish style when I leave home and remains the same until I get back.
I tapped my foot impatiently. Two pairs of eyes,both a warm brown, one exotic Asian and another almond shaped,met mine in the rearview mirror. Anzel's eyes crinkled
"Are we too slow for your taste milady?"
I growled."you know what?,I'm walking home afterall"
"Wait,we're sorry, don't go Zia,"
"Its just that, it's almost the last time we will be together in a while" Jes explains
My mood turned even more sour but I smiled brightly."Oh yeah, you are going off to Harvard,aren't you Anzel? And you are going to Michigan state too Jes?"
Even though we were best of friends, we did not share the dream of going to the same Universities or being roommates.
Anzel with her morbid fascination with the human body, will go on to study medicine at Harvard, while Jes with her insane talent for technology, will move to Michigan state to study engineering.
While little old me takes a gap year to earn some money so that she will get a kick start in some local college where she has to wait until she could transfer somewhere better, To study English lit. Instead of Archeology.
Damn you filthy rich people.
Bitter.who me?
Anzel's face turned grave.
Oh no here comes the pity. While I love them to death, but sometimes,our financial differences become a barrier between us. Many times I cursed myself for having bad thoughts about them cause they could chase their dreams and I couldn't. Yeah I was a bitch. Bitterness,thy name is Asphyxzia.
"Yeah" she mumbled then she brightened "so what are your plans Zia?"
i chided myself.so it wasnt pity afterall was it bitch? It was you being jaded. as mama says, don't dream above your station, you'll be happier.
I just gave her a smile."oh you know me," I drawled."I dont like to sit on my ass and study all the time, so I will take a gap year and flutter around like a free bird. Then I'll take on next year when it decides to slap me in the face. Speaking of, I have something for you,"
I said, pulling out two gift wrapped bundles from my bag, each similar and weighing almost the same. Both wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine.
Their eyes sparkled "see it as an early birthday gift and a goodbye gift rolled into one" I said handing it over
They ripped into it with a frenzy and cooed as they beheld each item:a chunky wool beanie, a pair of hoop earring with 5 beads each with a tag that read, to five years of friendship, a wire ring, with three paste stones and a letter.my signature in each gift I give. silly, I know, to write letters when we could say everything face to face, but letters where my way of communicating without getting overly emotional and doing something embarassing, like crying for instance.
I zoned back in and saw them putting the rings on their fingers and swapping their designer earrings for the ones I gave them.
"Did you really handmake them for us again?"this was from Jes
"Yep. Well except for the wool and the wires and the beads, I made them"
But already both of them were reading their letters. I cringed. I preferred not to be there when they read my letters cause I lost my mental and emotional filter when writing them. I watched their faces but they were inscrutable.
"Hey Zia, would you step outside for a second? Anzel asked
I was confused.
"Okay"
I got out to see they were getting out too. Wordlessly they came and tackle hugged me together.it was a moment before I realised they were crying.
" Asphyxzia Jane Relish, you have to answer to me for making me cry like that. Who gave you the authority to write such emotional letters?" An managed to blubber out between sobs
"You are the best thing that ever happened in our life" Jes clutched me even tighter.
And in this mostly empty parking lot, being clutched by the most important persons in my life, I let myself cry too.
.....
After dumping my stuff in my previously cleaned room, I put a post-it near the door saying that I will be with Jes and An, hang out and will be back late. What mum doesn't know, won't hurt her.
Currently, I'm in an Alley near an abandoned factory, far from home. This is where the unexplained vandalism had lead to closing of the factory,and a few locals actually believe the place was haunted.
Insert strange voices, unknown animalistic shrieks and damages to the walls that weren't there before and it's a place right out of scary movies.
Perfect.