unOrdinary: An Old Friend Returns

Waking John

Walking back to my room, I thought about what I had heard. It made sense that the girls were gossiping about yesterday's events. That level of fighting was not normally permitted on any school grounds, plus new students were always a hot topic. While it was interesting how quickly they seemed to link everything to a hierarchy, King this and Queen that, I was glad that my old school, well schools, had never placed as much emphasis on that type of thing.

It was one of the things I most agreed with John about from his rant last evening. Hierarchy is not everything. The titles are superficial, egotistic nomenclature that means extraordinarily little when one leaves and must interact with the best of the best from other schools, of all ages. Being high and mighty in high school is a fad and one that should not be considered unalterable. I could not care less about being named Queen. Like John, I also did not want the title.

I open the door slowly and head to my room to drop off my shower caddy and put on my outfit for the day. The sunshine and the promise of warm weather convinced me to go with something light and breezy. I choose a sunflower patterned t-shirt with a forest green short skirt and black knee-high boots. Removing the towel from my head, I bent forward and shook out my hair. I decided to let it dry in the sun, so I took my brush and ran it through my hair a few times, making sure to part my hair to the left. I glanced quickly in my wall-length mirror to make sure that everything looked good and then I went to wake up John.

"John. John! JOHN!"

Just as I am deciding about whether or not I should get a bowl of water to pour on his head, John's eyes open.

"Whaaaat!"

"Its morning, silly goose! Let's go do something!"

He turns over on the couch and groans.

"What time is it?"

"Its nine am. Come on. How about brunch?"

At the word "brunch" he slowly rolls back over and gives a one-syllable response.

"K."

"Great! We'll go to your dorm, get you changed into some other clothes, and ..."

"Eloise!"

"Yes?"

"It's only nine am. It's a Saturday. People normally sleep in on Saturdays."

"Yes, but the early bird gets the worm. Plus, all the good brunch places fill up first. We'll get there right on time for opening and get the best table."

I look at him with pleading eyes. He knows he wants to come with me, and I'm right about brunch places. The good ones have you waiting outside in a line for at least an hour if you do not get there early.

Almost pushing John out the door, I barely notice Evie standing just outside. She may have been standing there for a while since she is leaning against the hallway wall.

"Evie! We were just heading out to brunch. Have you eaten?"

I see a small shake before I continue.

"Great! Please join us. My treat!" I move around John and link arms with Evie.

"I want to know more about my roommate and what better way than with pancakes and fondue. There is a good brunch place where I can get pancakes, right?"

My bright smile and cheerful attitude seem to have caused her to relax a bit and she does not seem to mind our linked arms.

"Come on John. Follow us!" I say before I begin leading the way out of the dorms. As we exit the building, I whisper conspiratorially to Evie.

"I'm not really sure where I'm going. Do you mind leading the way?"