Strawberries & Cigarettes

Chapter Six

            Edging closer, the girl realizes it wasn’t a trick of the moonlight. There was actually something there, lying across the grass.

            Shooting up, Moet runs toward the bathroom and turns on the sink.

            Growing more and more frightened, the girl takes a few brave, but rather illogical, steps forward to observe the object.

            Moet starts to scrub her hands. Front. Back. Under the fingernails.

            Gasping, the girl tries to turn away, but it’s too late—

            Front. Back. Under the fingernails. Front. Back. Under the fingernails. Front. Back. Under the fingernails.

            And the visions are gone for now.

            Taking deep, gaspy breaths, the pale-haired girl collapses in front of the sink, hugs her knees to her body, and starts to rock back and forth on the tiled floor, sobbing.

            Leighton was hoping to catch a glimpse of Moet in between classes today. Maybe even have a little chat. Considering their date went so well, maybe they could schedule another one. No, no, too soon, Leighton chastised himself in his head. His experiences before with Charlotte weren’t anything compared to what he was going through right now. For once in his life, he was actually excited to see the girl he took out on a date the night before. It felt extremely odd, but in a good way.

            Walking out to his car, Leighton was so invested in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice the thin girl walking on the sidewalk ahead of him. Catching up to her, Leighton greeted her with a happy, “Hello.”

            Looking up, Leighton almost let out a gasp at the sight. The area surrounding Moet’s eyes were red, puffy, and looked a bit like it was bruising. She looked like she’d been crying, or hardly got enough sleep… or maybe both.

            “What’s wrong?” He inquired uneasily. Sure Moet wasn’t the happiest person in the world, but it was still odd for her to be this disheartened.

            “Nothing,” she lied. Leighton could tell when people lied; interpreting body language was one of his many talents that came with his unnaturally high I.Q. However, he also knew that whenever someone lied they usually had a pretty good reason. And who was he to argue with reason? So he just nodded and pretended that he believed her.

            “So… would you like a ride to school?” Leighton asked. It was quite a long walk towards West. He wondered if this girl simply liked to walk everywhere. Moet looked up in surprise and then sent him a small smile.

            “I’d like that very much… thank you.”

            The couple headed towards Leighton’s car and Moet climbed into the passenger seat.

            “Oh, I forgot to introduce you two the other day. Moet, this is Ella, my little sister. Ella, this is Moet, a friend from school.” In the rearview mirror, Leighton could see Ella immediately stiffen and her face turn an unnatural shade of white. Moet, confused, lifted her hand to give her a tiny wave and greet her with a quiet, “Hello.”

            Ella merely looked back out the window and didn’t respond.

            “Sorry,” Leighton apologized to Moet, and then lowered his voice to a whisper. “She’s been acting very strange lately… I’m getting a bit worried.”

            The ride to school was filled with quiet. Just like the ride to the studio before. Nobody made a move to touch the radio dials. The quiet was broken when Moet stated with a furrowed brow, “Ella… do you go to West? I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

            Ella didn’t respond. She just seemed to grow paler, if that was possible.

            “Ella goes to the middle school.” Leighton answered for her. Moet nodded her head in understanding, although she still looked a bit troubled as if she wasn’t sure. “Ella, are you alright?” He was getting slightly more worried for her by now.

            His little sister’s head snapped up as she quickly uttered an “I’m fine” and returned to looking out the window.

            Leighton sighed. There was something that was bothering Ella, he could tell. But what was it?

            Right when they arrived at the school, Moet slowly stepped out of the car and started to head for the front gate. After taking two steps, she whirled around to face Leighton in a heavy gesture as if she just made an important mental decision.

            “Hey, Leighton?”

            “Yes?” Leighton adjusted his glasses with a flick of his fingers.

            “Um…” Moet murmured and then started to dig through her school bag for something. Coming up with a flyer, she handed it to him.

            Fall Recital, it read in big bolded letters. From 7:00 to 9:00 PM on Sunday, November10th. Admission is six dollars per person. Printed below was the address of the theatre and phone numbers to call for pre-orders or questions regarding the event.

            Leighton lifted his head to see Moet nervously biting her lip in anticipation to his reaction. He felt the corners of his mouth pull up a bit at how adorable she looked.

            “It’s, um, the first recital I have a solo in and I was wondering if you would like to come. You don’t have to though, if you don’t want to…” She trailed off awkwardly, shuffling her feet.

            “I’d love to.” Leighton replied, a smile of his own gracing his lips. Moet’s whole demeanor immediately lit up a bit and she smiled back.

            “Great! Well, I’ll see you later.” She adjusted her school bag and turned around to leave.

            “Bye, Moet.” Leighton waved.