Who is Perri West?

Chapter 15

We got back to the house and headed inside to get a little sleep. I was surprised when we got inside, everyone was still asleep. I was afraid coming in we would have woken them all up. I showed Eric back to the rec room where he could rest. I turned around and headed back to my room, but stopped when I felt his hand on my arm.

"Hey, I understand you don't feel like talking about whatever happened. It's OK, you can just tell me to butt out of your personal stuff. I wouldn't be offended. I promise."

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just have a lot running through my mind and I need some time to figure things out. And right now, I need to do that on my own. I wouldn't even know how to talk about it right now. So, just give me some time. I promise you will most definitely be one of the first people I talk to." I smiled at him, reassuring him he hadn't offended me at all.

"Alright, I will hold you to your promise, miss Periwinkle. Now we both had better lay down and get some rest before everyone wakes up and wants to hit the road."

"Periwinkle? Seriously, where did you come up with that nickname?"

"Haven't you ever seen Tinkerbelle? You know the one where she met her sister? Well, you're small and truly care about those around you. So, you remind me of a little pixie. Hence the name Periwinkle."

"Tinkerbelle? Seriously? I would never have thought you to be a fairy fan."

Eric laughed. "Yea, well, when I was younger my best friend was a big fan of Tinkerbelle. Every year on her birthday we were forced to sit through endless Tinkerbelle movies. The one where she met her sister was always her favorite. So, ever since she disappeared, I still watch that one every year on her birthday. So, you see, with that movie on my mind, that name was bound to stick eventually Perri...winkle."

He winked as I shook my head with a smile, turned, and went to my room.

I sat down on my bed and reached for my charger and plugged in my phone. I was surprised to see it still had some charge. I quickly hit restart and waited for it to reboot itself as I took off my sweater and shoes. I knew as soon as it was back on because it kept dinging with notifications. I picked it up and saw all the missed calls and messages from Mallory and Colton from the night before. I was startled to see I only had one message from my mom which was sent only a half hour ago.

Have fun this weekend with your friends! Stay safe! Love you lots, Mom.

That was all. No missed calls, nothing else. Even the times I would just have sleepovers with Mallory she would constantly message asking me if I had everything I needed. Or was I sure I wanted to stay. Reminders that I only had to call, and she would walk next door and get me. This behavior from her lately has really confused me. But who knows, maybe she is learning to let go a little bit.

I decided I wasn't going to do anymore thinking at the moment. I glanced one last time at my phone and saw the message from a new number. Hey Perri! Just me Eric. Save my number. You know just in case. I smiled and added his name to my contacts. By now it was already almost eight o'clock. I needed to focus on getting some rest. Although I really didn't feel that tired anymore, I knew I needed a little sleep if I was going to make it through tomorrow.

I was slowly waking up. The sounds of voices coming from the kitchen seeped in through the crack in my door. Someone must have came and checked on me at some point and left the door open when they left. I rolled over and checked the alarm on the side of the bed. 10:30!! I really overslept. Why didn't they wake me up? I got up and quickly dressed in a pair of black leggings with blue jean shorts over them, tossed on a hot pink Nike shirt, black socks, my Jordan shoes and headed out the door. When I got to the kitchen, I saw Eric and Jayden at the stove cooking and Mallory was sitting at the island.

"Where's Colton?" I asked.

Mallory jumped. "Jeez girl! Make some noise or something when you walk into a room. You just about gave me a heart attack! And for your information, the little prince is still sleeping, only he moved to the couch now."

I turned and looked into the living room and saw they had folded up the blankets and picked up the hide-a-bed. Colton laid stretched out on the couch fast asleep.

"So, what time are we gonna take off?" I asked.

"Well, Jayden and I decided to make breakfast for you lovely ladies, so, I figured if you guys are all packed and ready, we can take off after we eat. I'll wake up Colton, when the food is done. So, if you guys want to take your bags to the car and load them up, we can take off after everyone finishes eating. Hey, can you grab me some cheese out of the fridge, Periwinkle?"

"Periwinkle? Did you just call her Periwinkle?" Mallory busted out laughing. "Like from Tinkerbelle or are you talking about the flower?"

"See! She gets it!" Eric said, looking at me. I just smiled and rolled my eyes. "And yes, from Tinkerbelle Mallory. I had to explain to her how she is little and reminded me of a pixie. It still took her a minute."

"Hmmmm, I never thought about it like that before but, now that I think of it, you do kind of have pointy ears, Perri. And come on, the minute he said pixie and Periwinkle in the same sentence, you out of all people should have put two and two together. We have watched that darn movie every year on your birthday for the last what, 6 years?"

Mallory was right, I should have figured it out. "Yea, I know I should have, but in my defense I was tired. And we missed watching it this year, Mal."

"Oh Perri, is that why you were upset and left the party?"

"Maybe a part of it, but not all of it. I'm not ready to talk about that yet though. I need a little more time, OK?"

"You and your time girl. It's all good. I know you will talk when you are ready. And you know that, no matter what it is, I'm always here for you. Right?"

"Right! I know that and I appreciate it."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Jayden said as he turned from the fridge holding the cheese I forgot to go grab for Eric. "How about we all watch your movie tonight at our place. We will have our own birthday celebration for you. Friday was a little crazy, so how about we make it up to you?"

"That's sweet Jayden, really, but you guys don't have to..."

"No, it's a good idea girl. We should really do that tonight! Please, after everything we all dealt with last night, it will be something fun we can all do together."

"Yea, Perri! Please can we do that?" Colton spoke up from behind me.

"I didn't even hear you get up Colton," I exclaimed as he had startled me. "Are you guys sure? I mean we can pretty much do anything we don't have to sit and watch Tinkerbelle just because it's something we have always done. I mean we are going away for a vacation."

"Girl, when we get accepted, we will be at that dang school every day for the next 4 years. Spending one night celebrating your birthday is worth not going out. Besides, I had my heart set on going out dancing, but now that the little prince is coming with us, we can't even go to the bars. Besides, you're worth hanging out with, spending one night watching some cartoon and pigging out on junk. Please let us do this for you." Mallory could be very convincing and at that moment I felt special. She always treated me like I was important.

I knew Colton was OK with it and heck it was Jayden's idea, but throughout this whole conversation Eric had been quiet. I didn't want this to bring back any sad memories for him, but I didn't know how to ask him in front of everyone else. Before I had any more time to dwell on it, though, he turned and looked at me.

"Well, we had better hurry up and eat. I hear there is this amazing bakery downtown. We should stop on our way out and see if they happen to have an extra cake lying around. We can't celebrate a birthday without cake."

I nodded my head, my eyes getting a little teary. "Thanks guys, this means a lot to me. Let's eat so we can hit the road."

Everyone cheered as they found chairs around the island. We finished breakfast and, since the guys cooked, us girls chipped in and did the dishes. We loaded up the rest of our stuff and hit the road. We made a quick stop at 'For the Love of Sweets' where it just so happened Linda had an extra birthday cake sitting in the freezer. We said our thanks and headed out. Maine Media, here we come!