A Study in Form (#LunaEast)

Happy

Me:
Just got home. Thanks a lot again for today Eli. Hope you and Mel get home safe. : )
19:53

Eli Antonio:
Glad to hear that. And no prob. Thank you too. : ) Mel's annoying me again. What's new?
19:54

Me:
Haha. What's she doing now?
19:54

Eli Antonio:
Asking a bunch of stuff. Mostly about you.
19:55

Me:
Haha. Like what?
20:05

Eli Antonio:
How I got you to model for me and stuff. I said she's too nosy. Haha. We're home now too.
20:06

Me:
Good to hear. I don't think Mel takes well to being brushed aside. : p
20:06

Eli Antonio:
She doesn't really like anything that's not in her favor, but am used to it. She says that she really likes you and that she'll seriously hate me if I do anything bad to you. Looks like you have found yourself one staunch defender here. I'm outnumbered.
20:07

Me:
I can imagine her saying that. I think she's just messing with you though. Haha.
20:10

Eli Antonio:
On the contrary, Mel's always serious. But it's ok. You both have nothing to worry about.
20:10

Me:
Well, for the sake of Mel's peace of mind, that's good to know. I think? Haha. Thank you.
20:15

Eli Antonio:
Anything for you Saree.
20:32

-@-

"You look happy."

Startled, Saree looked up at her best friend and furrowed her brows. "Hmm? Why do you say that?"

Katey sat beside her and took her time to settle in her seat, opening her bag and making a big show of taking her notebooks and pens out. Saree huffed in annoyance, but her friend waited a bit more before relenting.

"Well, for one, I was standing for a full minute calling you but you didn't even look up—not even once." Katey started to tick off the first item with her fingers. "And second, you have that huge grin on your face for that whole minute as well, so what's that if not happy?

"By the way, aren't your cheeks getting numb from smiling too much?" She reached for her friend's cheek to pinch it.

Saree backed away, swatting Katey's hand in the process, and laughed. "Well, sorry for being absorbed in my thoughts."

Katey surveyed her for a few moments longer, her eyes narrowed. "Okay. I'll forgive you if you tell me why you're so 'absorbed in your thoughts' as you put it." She added quotation marks with her fingers for emphasis.

Might as well come clean now than later, Saree thought to herself. She knew she could hide almost nothing from her best friend anyway. So she told her about last night: of her awful day, of their trip to Sandy's, how she liked Mel, and how they cheered her up. She even told her about the text messages.

But she stopped short on telling her about her epiphany. It was still new, whatever it was. No need to go that far yet.

"Well," Katey said at length. "He's sweet. I'll give creepy artist an A for effort then."

"Eli's not creepy, Katey," Saree admonished.

"Yeah, you've clearly established that," Katey agreed. "And I could also clearly see that you got cheered up by that. So, have we moved on from Ms. Amor?"

Saree wrinkled her nose at that. "Don't remind me, please. She'll be announcing parts for the recital real soon and it's making me extra nervous. What if I don't get a part?"