Chapter 9: The Map

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I'm so exhausted from last night. I didn't even set an alarm clock. I tap on my phone, and it says 9 a.m. That is the latest I have slept to in such a long time. I get out of bed and go to the bathroom for my morning routine.

I hear sizzling coming from the kitchen. I'm in the middle of brushing my teeth, but I walk out of the bathroom to see what the noise is.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Ella says while flipping pancakes.

"Morning," I say with my mouth full of toothpaste. Ella is never awake before me. It feels like I'm in another dimension like Coraline.

I finish brushing my teeth, and when I return to the kitchen Ella has a stack of pancakes on our coffee table with two clean plates and syrup.

"What is this?"

"I just wanted to make pancakes." It's like her light has been relit.

Ella and I will eat breakfast together on special occasions, but it's just a typical Saturday morning. I typically wake up before her, so I always eat without her, but today is different. I want to make sense of this, but I should just go with it and enjoy this moment.

"You're awesome." I remind her.

"I know." She says sarcastically, and I roll my eyes.

"What are we watching?" I sit down on the couch, stab the two pancakes on top of the stack, and put them on my plate.

"I was thinking of a true-crime documentary."

"It's 9 a.m.!" My voice gets high-pitched.

"I'm kidding! How does Friends sound?"

"Absolutely perfect."

When Ella and I first became friends, we bonded over our love for Friends. We became close very fast. I typically don't say that I'll be with somebody forever because you never know what life is going to throw at you, and when my dad died, I prepared myself that one day, I would somehow lose everyone in my life. But it's different with Ella. I can see us being friends for a very long time.

"You're so much like Monica, it's scary." Ella banters

"No, I'm not! She's worse than I am."

"Sometimes. But there are moments where you get a little too anal."

"Maybe. But I won't go crazy if you spill spaghetti sauce onto one of the cushions."

"No, you won't. And I'm very grateful for that."

"I just want things to be clean." I fake the sound of whimpering like I'm about to cry which dominos into Ella laughing.

"You're more like Rachel. But Rachel after season 4."

"I was about to yell at you, but Rachel after she and Ross broke up is my favorite Rachel."

"You know who Rachel should have ended up with?"

"Other than Ross? Who?"

"Gavin."

"Oh. I agree 100%. He was a fine man." We clinked our coffee mugs together and took a sip.

We finish off the pancakes, so I start to clean up the coffee table.

"I can clean this up." Ella tries to interject.

"No, you made the pancakes. I will clean up." I always try to make others' lives easier. Ella needs to relax after the week she has had with Michael. I want her to be taken care of. If anything, I wish I was the one who made her pancakes.

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