A for Anxiety (On Hold)

8- Rain and Food from Spain

It was obvious to Fizz that these two people were heading directly towards her house. With no means of escape, even hiding wasn't an option as most likely, they could probably sense her in there with the lights on and the TV blaring from the lounge.

The doorbell rang which started to cause shaking in Fizz's hands. She could tell that even from the minor shaking that a panic attack was starting to come on and they were not the most pretty of sights.

"I'm going to have to do it," whispered Fizz to herself, "I'm going to have to see who is at the door."

The doorbell rang again as Fizz slowly walked towards the front door. With a pounding heart which felt fit to burst, she opened it slowly and glanced down at a huge box on the doorstep.

"Is Mrs Berry around?" asked one of the people standing by the side of the door. On Fizz's inspection, it was only a older lady around her height and next to her, another older lady who was slightly taller. 

Fizz in her head quietly breathed a small sigh of relief as she didn't know who they were.

"No Mrs Berry?" asked the other lady who was sporting some pearl earrings and a matching necklace.

Fizz brought herself to attention, "I'm afraid she is at work and won't be back until later. Is there anything I can help you with?"

The smaller lady spoke up, "About a fortnight ago, your parents entered a prize draw at the local market in town correct?"

Fizz frowned, "Um, I think they did. You see, I don't go with them to the market every week but they did mention a prize draw that they entered."

"Good," smiled the taller lady, "Well, one of your mum's numbers was a prize-winning one and in the box is her prize."

Fizz forced a smile from deep within, "That's a surprise, my mum hardly wins anything. I'm sure that she'll be delighted with that."

Both of the ladies smiled and chorused, "Would you like some help to carry it in?"

Fizz smiled again, another forced one, "No thank you, I think I can carry it myself."

"Well," smiled the smaller lady, "Congratulations and enjoy the prize!"

Fizz waved to the ladies as they climbed back into the car and drove away. When they had disappeared further down the road, she picked up the box which to her surprise wasn't very heavy at all and carried it into the kitchen. But it was in the kitchen that Fizz felt something wasn't right.

"I know with my Anxiety that I do question things a lot. But mum hardly wins anything on prize draws and raffles. I don't understand why mum has won something all of a sudden and that has created doubts in my mind about the prize."

Fizz slowly opened the box and noticed some writing on a piece of zingy orange paper which read, "Hola! Your spicy, tasty meal awaits! The Spanish Food Prize enables you to create your own Spanish food such as tapas and paellas for a warm family get together! Be warned, too much spice isn't that nice!"

She felt her shoulders relax as she tried to come to terms with the whole event, "And I don't think my parents eat Spanish food either..."

Leaving the box of food on the table, she quickly fed the cats and then, raced back towards her phone as she had accidentally left it on again for the second time that day in all of the choes. And once again, there was one new message on her phone and that was from her blog.

"To The Girl,

I know that this may sound a tad bit uncomfortable but I'm trying to picture what you look like off the internet. No, I'm not trying to act like a stalker or try and use force but I feel that the person typing these entries is a beautiful girl in the same age group as me and who writes with passion. In your posts, you have stated clearly that you wouldn't want to share any pictures of yourself online and I get that. Sometimes, the best way to talk to people is face to face somewhere neutral like a park or a cafe and not through a phone/computer screen. That's only if you want to.

The Boy."

Fizz didn't quite know what to say or how to react. Was this user trying to portray himself something as one of the many boys at school that bullied her? Was he just completely innocent? She knew all of the internet rules and in one day, she had broken quite a number of them. There was only one way round it, she was going to have to show him a picture of her. But on her phone, there wasn't any decent ones that she could send much to her bemusement.

"Well, I guess that I'm going to have to take a selfie." sighed Fizz as she held the phone up to take a picture of herself to show her face and not the whole of her. Looking for a spilt second at the photo, she saved it and started to type,

"To The Boy,

I do find it a little bit creepy that you are asking to see what I look like. Are you sure you even want to go there? I mean, I don't know what you look like for a starters and besides, you have no idea what person is behind the phone/computer screen. If you were expecting a tall girl with a big upper chest and fake tan drizzled all over her, you are going to be disappointed. Maybe some other time instead?

The Girl."

Her heart pounded again as she pressed send, "What will he say to that I wonder? Anger? Frustration? Sadness?"

There was a pounding at the window as Fizz quickly jumped up, "Oh no! It's bucketing it down with rain again and the cats are going to be two soggy moggies!"

She heard the crying of them coming from the back doorstep as she raced in past the Spanish food and unlocked the door. As predicted, both of team came in with very wet fur and looked like they had fluffed up drastically in such a short space of time. Their mewing not only indicated that they wanted more food but also, a nice clean-up with a towel.

Drying the cats off wasn't as easy as it looked. Cats were fast and Fizz's cats were no exception. One of them pushed the other away to get to the towel and shook away like a dog coming out of the sea splashing small drops of water everywhere.

"Oh you two!" laughed Fizz, "That wasn't a nice thing to do was it? Huh?"

When the cats were all sorted out, she went back to her phone and even though there was no response from The Boy who according to Fizz was currently either sulking or having a temper fit, she was going to type a short post about the Spanish food which she found strange but also bemusing at the same time.

"Hola!- Spain has arrived at the household... without the hot sun though!

You never think that after years of failures at trying to win something, even if it is just one small thing at a prize draw, you would win something all of a sudden, quite literally out of the blue. Well, that has just happened to the family. And yes, it has something to do with Spain. Even with the rain bucketing down and two very soggy moggies coming in soaked and fluffed up, I still receive the surprise visit from two ladies who I had never met before announcing that my mum had won a food hamper. Spanish food hamper though...

To be honest, not only does my family not eat Spanish food but I can't speak even a word of Spanish apart from Hello- Hola! But, thinking that the hot sunny weather would be with the prize, no chance. 

Well, I guess my parents are going to have to suss this one out for themselves. Bye amigos! 

The Girl."

Well guys, finally managed to write another chapter and yes, I did wake up at five in the morning my time just to write this for you all. If you spot anything which is spelt incorrectly, do let me know so that I can change it ASAP. I've found that since College has started back up that the best time to write for me will probably be first thing in the morning so yes, it does mean waking up at five! Speaking of the chapter, feel free to let me know your thoughts since things are now starting to get that little bit strange and creepy. All I will tell you guys for now is that in the next chapter, things are going to take... actually, not going to give spoilers away! I'll update as soon as I can!

Scarlett x