Acumen: Riddling Life

1. The day before graduation

"Speaking of wild, Adrien Clark is throwing the party of the year tomorrow, after graduation." Her eyes light up as she says his name.

"Oh," I say, being the only thing I can come up with as I push my glasses up my nose.

"You should come."

I look at her with surprise but she looks completely serious.

"Oh, no, I should not, and most importantly, will not come," I deny as I shake my head.

It takes me a few seconds to realize Amelia has halted. I let out a breath and abruptly stop, turning to look at her with one hand on the bike handle and the other on my hip. I wait for her to walk up to me with the bicycle between her legs.

"There is absolutely no valid reason for you to not come! C'mon it'll be fun." She looks at me smiling, her dark brown eyes shining with hope.

"Amelia, I'm not invited there, nor am I wanted."

"Who says that? Grow up! No one technically invites anyone; the news of the party goes around and if you're feeling like it, you attend it. You would have known this if you had cared to show up at least one party throughout these four years." She points her index finger at me, her eyes narrowed.

"Well, my B.E. couldn't have been finished by itself! I had to study. A lot," I point out and she rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, Eleanor Evans. The legendary Eleanor Evans, who was continuously the top student, A-grader. I think I've heard that more than a billion times! But as awesome as you might be in this whole studying and top student thing, you have lost a lot. I mean, what have you ever done other than study? Nothing."

I know she is right, but I chose to study and I'm happy with the result.

"True, I've never turned up at these parties, but quite frankly, I can't seem to spot the problem. I don't think anyone has ever lost anything because of not attending these weird get-togethers, or not getting rip-roaring drunk, or not getting high and stuff like that. I dislike Clark and I bet he hates me, it's completely out of mind to show up-" Amelia holds up her hand, making me pause mid-sentence.

"You know what Eleanor, you'll never know what you've missed out on. Maybe that's for the best. You don't know the depths of the things you are missing out on until you try it, even for once," Amelia states.

She could be right or she could be wrong, but right now that is the last thing I want to think about; I'm not going to spend the day before my graduation counting down all the things I haven't done.

That's why I shrug and we start to walk slowly, pulling the bicycles with ourselves. I focus on my surroundings. It's probably the last time I'll ever get to see them.

I wish I had brought my cell phone and headphones with me.

"So... what are you going to do now? I noticed you didn't apply for any jobs."

I sigh, half grateful that she broke the awkward silence, while on the other hand, the other half of me hates talking about my future plans with someone who hardly counts as a friend.

I can't be picky and an introvert at the same time. Plus, Amelia is the only girl who bothers to talk to me.

Inhaling sharply, I decide to answer her without looking at her. It helps with the nerves.

"I have a few online internships that are actually willing to pay me after two months working with them, and I don't even need to show up in the office which is great... I was planning to take a while off, away from all these studying stresses and start off next year at Harvard for my master's degree." By the time I'm done talking, my palms are a bit sweaty, and my heart semi-racing.