Philophobia

9. Ephebiphobia

Ephebiphobia - Fear of Teenagers

*Norah Cohen*

It is the weekend before the last week of school. Owen decided that this was the perfect excuse to have a party at his house. Many were invited, including me, Kim, Flo and Sean.

I still had not talked to Sean yet and it was beginning to get me worried. I had just let it pass or tell myself I'll do it later, but I never did. With Owen's party fast approaching, I decided I ought to come forward then and explain myself.

Before we headed down to Owen's party, Kim and Flo came round to my house and dumped sleeping bags, pillows and suitcases in my room. They were going to sleepover at my house and I was very excited. I added some final adjustments to my outfit. As usual, I wore t-shirt and shorts. The make up was a lot more subtle this time but I still refused to wear my glasses.

Something told me I should not tell Kim or Flo about my plan, because they would both either agree completely or not agree at all. I don't know, I guess I was just scared to hear what they would think.

In excitement, we headed over to Owen's house, preparing for a good party. Owen's parents were not in; it was almost as if they had ephebiphobia. It really surprised me that they trusted Owen with their back garden.

As soon as we got to his garden, we found that it was already rather crowded. Kim turned towards us without smiling. "I'm just gonna do something..."

Something worried us, just the way Kim said that, without smiling, at a party. Flo grabbed her wrist. "Hang on, where are you going?" she asked firmly.

"I'm just gonna hang out with people over there," Kim pointed gently at the people near the speakers and food.

"No you're not, you have other plans," Flo didn't bother asking Kim what she was doing, she just knew Kim too well.

"I want to talk to... you know," Kim admitted at last. Flo loosened her grip on Kim's wrist before sighing. I sensed something bad, or was it good?

"Do you still like Jonah?" she asked. Kim gently nodded her head. "Oh my god. Just get over him, you know it's not going to happen."

"I know, don't worry," Kim was looking down at the floor, almost as if she was ashamed of what she had felt for this boy. Or maybe she felt weak because she still had feelings for him. Kim was one of those people that hated to look weak, she wanted to be considered one of the strong people.

"Just move on."

"It's not that simple," Kim looked up at Flo after watching the floor for a bit.

"Why do you still like him then?" Flo asked.

"Because... because I still have a little bit of hope we could end up together. It is probably the smallest chance in the world, but I still have hope. There is always a chance," Kim explained.

"But you don't have a chance. It's just... impossible," Flo spoke firmly, so Kim could get the message.

Watching this scared me, I felt like sparks were going to fly any minute. Flo was saying all this to help Kim, but Kim wasn't having it.

"It's my loss if I still like him. You don't have anything to do with it," before Kim and Flo could go any further in their conversation, Kim had stormed off. I wondered if Kim was still going to go through with her plan of talking to Jonah, but I wasn't so sure.

Flo turned towards me with a worried look on her face. "Um... I'm going to find Sean," I stated. Flo nodded in approval, so I walked away in hope I would be able to find Sean.