Saturday evening, waiting for Sally to come over, I lay on the edge of my bed, my legs hanging off the end as my upper body holds me up.
Orange glow lights up the room, as usual.
I perk my phone up in my hands.
Scrunched position, almost falling off the bed with how much I'm allowing my legs to hang to the point that my butt is almost falling too, I begin to text.
Me~ How are you?
Only a few seconds later and the receiver answers.
Andrew ~ thinking of you
I laugh as I read his response, scoffing as his words settle in.
Me~ stalker
Andrew ~😞
I was only trying to be nice🥺
Me~ aww, I'm sorry 🥺
nice stalker 😍
Andrew~ ☺️
Very nice!
Me~ Very very nice ☺️
Andrew~ omg, and you used the word twice 😱
Me~ Extra special boy, deserves extra nice!
Nice nice
nice
...
nice
Andrew ~ 😒
☺️
Me~ ☺️
Andrew ~ ☺️
Me~ ☺️
Andrew ~ ☺️
Me~ Okay, we could go and on with this
Andrew ~ you're right
then why did you stop
😭
Me ~ 🙄
Andrew ~ 😭
Me~ so, what you doing
Andrew ~ talking to you
Me~ 🙄
Andrew ~ Did you text me because you were bored? 🤨
Me~ How did you know? 😱
Andrew ~ Andrew smart
Me~ no, I was actually texting because I was wondering if you wanna come over for the project tomorrow
Andrew ~ hmmm
Me~ yus
well?
...
Andrew ~ yus! I'd never thought you'd ask 😍
Me~ 🙄
Andrew ~ tomorrow it is 😉
Me~ 🤭
Even with texting, I couldn't not show my emotions with him, I couldn't pretend that his words didn't faze me or that I wasn't excited to see him, so rolling my eyes I started but his weird self makes me chuckle even if I can't see him.
Me~ 😍
See yuh tomorrow!
Andrew ~ tomorrow!
I smile to myself at his last text, our awkwardness even in our texts is amusing me, making me blush and giddy inside that I almost don't hear the window open.
I look over at the sound, spotting Sally crawling into the window's ledge and I smile up at her, she smiles too.
Giving my phone one last look, growing giddy at the texts, I slide it away as I hear Sally's shuffles, crawling onto the bed until she reaches my side.
The bed moves underneath her movements and then stops once she stays still.
I look up at her, her sitting down, looking poised and elegant, opposite of me as I lie on my back, legs falling off the edge, probably looking all squished up, I laugh embarrassingly as I realize my state.
Adjusting my position as I laugh, I sit down properly beside her.
I smile at her and watch as she forces one back at me.
"So, hey," I manage to say, breaking the ice as I can see she's uncomfortable or nervous or something, but I smile all the while as a jolt of memory comes to mind that I'll see Andrew tomorrow. "So, how are you?" I pipe, squeezing my smile tight as I try to hide my excitement.
"Oh, you know," she replies, shrugging and looking up at me with the same sad forced smile that perks up for only a second before looking back down.
An awkward silence passes by us as I look at her in question, she seems nervous.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"Ya," she answers, bobbing her head as she looks down.
"Well, okay then," I say.
I sigh, seeing no point in continuing this then. I might not be so good at replying to the 'I'm good,' vibe when you're obviously not good, I'd rather stick to the truth for my feelings, but who am I to say that. Before Andrew, I'd always cover up my feelings with a smirk and shrug, so I guess, I'll be called the girl that gives encouraging feedback when asked or when someone actually tells me they're not good.
I sigh out another sigh, looking around my room to decide what to do, a distraction perhaps.
"Why are you embarrassed?" Sally asks abruptly, stopping my curious glance around the room and I look back at her in confusion, wary at what to say as I observe her.
I shrug in question.
"Don't say you don't know what I mean," she snaps, but her voice is quiet as she searches my eyes.
I look back at her eyes with complete confusion, staring back at her eyes with question and a bit disgust if I must add.
She sighs.
"I would think that you wouldn't be embarrassed for looking like that in front of me, I mean we've gone through so much," she mutters, distressed as she shakes her head, looking down, only making me more confused as she speaks.
I look around me in confusion, maybe to find an answer to what she's talking about, and then back at her petite frame.
"I mean, you sitting there and then laughing, I mean, you shouldn't be weirded out by me, seeing that," she pouts, saying it all so quietly but loud enough to hear, almost stating her words as if they were a question.
I want to ask her what she means, but I stay silent continuing to give her a questioning look as I observe her next movements.
"I mean, right? Shouldn't you feel comfortable with me?" She asks so weakly and sadly that my eyes widen in surprise, trying to stop this assumption she has of me, wanting to wipe it away with a confronting hand but she speaks again before I can aid her from not thinking this, "Well, I, uh, I, uh well... I feel comfortable with you, you know?"
"Um, well-" I'm able to croak out.
"I do, I uh, you know, ya, um, ya,"
"What are you talking about?" I manage to ask.
She looks back at me with widen eyes as if realizing that I'm there.
"I uh, I," she hesitates, well no shit, she hesitates now!
I give her another look of question before she looks down.
"You were sitting, you know," she says, motioning her head to the spot I was sitting before, more like spread out uncomfortably almost falling off the bed kinda vibe.
"Um?"
"And well, you seemed...uh, you know, embarrassed that ... -I- that you were in that position," she finally says.
Still in wonder at this whole conversation, I look back to where she looked at before, where I had sat, letting her recent words settle in, trying to figure out what she means. My head moving back and forth from Sally's sad profile to the edge of the bed, which now we sit farther back from, and then it hits me.
"Oh! Oh, no, I'm not embarrassed that you saw me in a weird position," I answer and begin to laugh, "No, I just laughed because it was funny," I say, still chuckling.
"Oh, okay, well, ya," she says still shyly, which is a bit weird but I shrug it off.
I look at her change position, no longer faced forward, covering her face by looking down, only able to see the sad expression in her eyes that try to hide, but now she moves to the side, facing me fully.
"Well, anyway, I - uh, I uh,"
"What?" I smile, holding in a laugh. She's acting so awkward.
"Well, I-," she hesitates once more. Looking down again, as if contemplating, but this time I can see her face fully, eyes looking down, her blonde hair blowing in her face softly as she continues to make me wonder, waiting still to speak.
I try to look down at her, try to make her look back up at me instead of her curving her body to make herself look smaller.
Why is she acting this way? It confuses me and I wish I could make her feel better.
"Anyway," she finally says, smiling nervously, "I wanted to show you this," she says, uncovering something behind her, a chest, and putting it in between us.
"Oh, wow," I awe, uncurling from underneath my toes and shifting to a crisscross position, more comfortable, but also to see the object better. "Did you make this?" I wonder, still at awe at it.
"Uh, uh, ya, ya," she says, the last 'ya' more confidently as I scrunch down to examine this chest fully.
It looks like a toy book, one where you'd open it and a little ballerina would pop up with a song too, at least that's what this shape of the box reminds me of, a music box.
The box is beautifully painted, coated with different layers of blue and purple, reminding me of a magical ocean. Glitter finding its way in little parts of the strokes, everything flowing perfectly together, from the back hinges of the box to the soft top. The top looks smooth but rough with little bumps, maybe pebbles that were covered up by the dark blue paint. The way this box is painted is absolutely beautiful, the perfect word for it is magical. Shining with its peaceful vibe but also dark vibe due to the amount of dark shades of blue, it's as if it's the deep sea part of the ocean.
"Wow! This is amazing, did you make it?" I awe as I stop observing it, looking back at Sally, who is looking at me with question, nervous, maybe nervous to see my reaction or something.
As if registering my question, she answers, "Oh, uh, ya, ya, yep, I made it!" She announces, each yep and ya growing more confident.
I smile up at her, excited for her.
"Well, it's beautiful!" I awe again, looking back down at it, sitting back up.
"Oh, ya, I uh, it's actually the box I was telling you about, you know, uh, the chest, the chest I made when we weren't uh, speaking,"
"Oh, ya!" I recall.
"Well, ya, I made this,"
"Wow," I awe once more, wanting to touch it as I bend back down, closer to the object again.
"I, uh, I used seashells too, wanna see," she asks, her voice growing brighter in excitement, but soft excitement, she's still nervous.
I smile back up at her, a glimmer in my eyes and a question in hers. I nod, excited.
Her smile automatically squeezes around her cheeks.
"Okay," she pipes, her smile tight with excitement and worry.
She's acting so weird it makes me laugh.
Her smile relaxes and she laughs slightly too, scooting closer to the box and me. She reaches for the chest, pulling it closer, onto her lap, as she opens it.
I'm growing excited, in awe still, peeping to get a quick look at the small door as she opens it. Acting like a little child ready to see what's next in a shop, a full crowd of people blocking me, but in this case, it's Sally's hand that's blocking me as I'm trying to get the first look.
There it is, she moves her hand away, placing the box back on the bed, in between the two of our crisscross positions, instead of her lap, and I see inside, a box full of jewels.
"Wow!" I gasp, spotting the little gems and jewelry, covered in plastic craft jewels and then I see seashells in the edges of the interior.
"Oh, ya, um, these are from my little kits, arts and crafts, you know those fake gems they give you in it to make like uh, jewelry," she informs what I had guessed.
"Ya,"
"And, uh, look," she begins, coming close to the box, hovering over it slightly as she pulls the whole container that has all these little gems in them and just takes it out, surprising me completely.
"Wait what?"
She stays quiet as she pulls the drawer away, setting it aside on the bed and I spot what's further down the box.
That drawer was covering up the real secret.
Now, this box shows a little ballerina dancing to the automatic music playing, causing me to gasp in awe once more. Smiling, I observe the interior, excited and curious. Spotting more seashells than before, all over the place and paint still covering the sides of the chest, watching as the toy continues to spin in its pedestal, that's when I notice a mirror behind this little girl. And small pictures stick to the sides of this mirror, showcasing pictures of me and Sally! Worn out pictures, probably pictures she collected over the years of us.
One of them is of us with arms around each other's shoulders, smiling brightly into the camera with the sun making us squint our eyes, we're so happy. That picture was taken of us on the first vacation we went with each other, the first vacation after dad left. Sally's mom always tried to make things better for us, the separation felt easier with their help and distraction. I'd never been on a real vacation before until that day. I believe it was South Dakota, the dooms.
A fun little road trip.
That's when I realize, this whole little box is of us, Sally and me, the ocean vibe is where we'd wished to go ever since we were young and watched The Little Mermaid.
I see another worn-out picture, stuck to the other side of the mirror, this time with us making goofy faces, peace signs in the air, back when that used to be a thing, which it still is. Our arms are still wrapped around each other, the sun still bright, laughter boiling up in us, I can barely see the background due to how blurred out the image is. Sally probably found this in an attic or basement, but even if the picture is bad quality, all I see is the beauty of our happiness and I smile at this.
I smile, but before I stop looking, I then spot a necklace, one made of string placed on top of the ballerina and around her pedestal. My eyes widen as I realize it's the necklace I had made her years ago, my smile grows as all of this settles in.
I look back at Sally, proud of her for making something so beautiful, special, and sweet. Memories flooding over me, I look into her questioning aqua eyes and smile. This smile says it all, sparking her relief, she's no longer nervous and she smiles back at me too, eyes glistening slightly.
"I love it!" I cheer, wrapping my arms around her without a thought. I hug her as we sit down and she hugs me back.
She seems more relaxed by the sigh she gives before everything settles in her and she's laughing in the hug, a chuckle vibrating from her to me and I know she feels better.
Breaking the hug, my hands on either side of her shoulder, I give her one more reassuring smile, looking her in the eye with question, wondering if everything is okay and she laughs again, nodding her head as if knowing what I asked.
Looking away with a bubbling chuckle, covering her mouth in embarrassment, and shaking her head, she looks like her normal self again and the room feels lighter and brighter.
Now the sun almost set, still the soft glow of autumn and the little breeze coming from the windows, we give each other one more reassuring look before we both break out with the same announcement and big smile.
"MARYLIN MONROE!" we both say and begin to laugh.
Rolling off our seats and falling on our backs on the bed, we let the laughs take over us before it ends.
"I'll go get it!" Sally says, still smiling and chuckling as she stumbles off the bed and walks around it to the cupboards.