Ezra's POV
Enid has been avoiding the Weathervane's at all costs. Every time we would pass by it, she would walk faster with her head down. And, every time I asked her about it, she would shrug it off. I was weirded out. She was never this closed off. She talked about everything with me and never hesitated to tell me about the most simple, trivial stuff. I was confused so I resorted to talk to Gary about it as I picked up our takeaway orders as Enid told me she wasn't in the mood for a walk in Jericho but still felt like drinking coffee.
"I don't get it! She's not talking to me." I whined as I paid for our coffees.
Gary sighed. "Maybe it's 'that time of the month'?" He shrugged.
I shook my head. "That was last week, she's done."
He looked like he was in deep thoughts. "Maybe I make her uncomfortable..." He mumbled, sounding a bit sad.
I scoffed. "Of course not, Gary! You're our friend."
He lowered his head, giving me a sheepish smile. "I just came to town. You're the only person making me feel like I belong here."
I gave him a small smile and punched him jokingly in the shoulder. He handed me the coffees.
"What's the story about Nevermore?" Gary suddenly asked.
I was taken aback by his question. "Why are you asking?"
He sighed and urged me to come closer. "I've been thinking of enrolling myself in there."
My eyes widened. "You're an outcast?" I whisper-yelled.
He winked at me. "Sure am."
"What are your powers?"
He extended his palm and suddenly, the empty cup of coffee gravitated to his hand. He looked so proud.
"Telekinesis..." I murmured.
"I didn't know how I could talk to you so I fished Enid's phone out of her bag to be able to come and have a conversation with you." He explained.
I narrowed my eyes at him and pointed my finger at him. "Do that and you won't have a hand to grab anything."
He gulped and nodded. The conversation flowed easily afterwards and I was excited for him to come join us in Nevermore.
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Gary successfully passed the exam since he was an excellent student. Enid now was royally avoiding him AND I, considering that I was spending most of my time with Gary since he had no friends yet. They all thought he was a bit too much, a bit too happy, kind of like slimy glue.
Enid was not talking to me. I would come back to our room and she would barely exchange a few sentences. I was getting exponentially confused. Our one month anniversary was close and she was still acting like a child.
So I told her that I wanted to talk to her. She finally agreed, under the one condition, us staying in our room. Which meant she was pissed and was about to lash out on me.
I was waiting for her, pacing back and forth in our room. The door opened and she came in.
Her face was blank, no trace of emotions whatsoever. We stayed in silence.
"Why aren't you talking to me, Enid?" I blurted out.
Her head snapped in my direction, pure fury in her eyes. "You don't get the small hints, do you?" She hissed.
I took a step back and she took one forward. "What hints are you talking about, E?"
She scoffed. "I didn't know I was supposed to teach you how to think or analyze, Ezra. I thought that was your prime domain."
I looked at her in confusion. "Enid... I'm lost."
"I hate Gary." She spat venomously. "And you don't seem to get the fucking hint."
I was shocked but not too shocked. Not shocked because yes, I did notice that she was avoiding him and shocked because what's not to like about Gary. He was very fun, sweet and caring.
I kept my cool and extended my hand to stroke her arm. She pushed me away.
"You're choosing him over me." She said angrily and as I was about to fight back, she immediately shut me up. "You're spending ALL your fucking time with him. I haven't seen you in forever and whenever I go look for you, you're with him. Do you think that's normal?"
I pursed my lips together. "I understand that you don't want me to have friends unless they're yours, huh?" I deadpanned, giving her an icy stare.
She started laughing hysterically and pulled at her hair. "You don't get it." She whispered in disbelief. "YOU DON'T FUCKING GET IT! HE'S MANIPULATING YOU!" She yelled, pushing me. I stumbled back a bit.
"How the fuck is he manipulating me, Enid?" I replied, raising my voice as well.
"You're so blinded. He got you under his spell and you're refusing to believe me." She explained more calmly.
I scoffed. "You're delusional. He has telekinesis, he's not a witch or a mind controller."
"Ever heard of hybrids?" She bit back, her stare cold and her fists clenched.
"Yes. I have. And he isn't." I retorted.
She started laughing again then looked at me incredulously. "Where's your obsidian necklace?"
"I lost it." I said, sarcastically.
"You lost it or was it stolen by a specific someone so that his spells could work on you?" She snapped.
I felt the rage build up inside of me and bubble up like boiling water. "Take it back."
"I'm not going to. Until you admit that I'm right." She stated.
I pushed past her and walked towards the door. "Where are you going?" She called. I turned around.
"I don't want to talk to you. That's it. We're through." I spat.
She looked at me in shock. Soon enough, the shock turned into hurt and suddenly I saw the tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. I felt like a bucket of cold water fell on me and I snapped back to reality, realizing what I had just said.
"Eni-..." I started but she immediately ran out of the room.
What the fuck did I just do? And why the fuck was I not running after her?
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It was almost 2 in the morning. Yoko was supposed to be throwing a party at her dorm. Before the incident, she had invited me. But I didn't feel like going anymore. I didn't feel like partying.
All of the sudden, my phone started ringing. It was Yoko. I furrowed my eyebrows. She never called.
"Yes?" I mumbled.
"You have to come." She said, out of breath.
"What's up?" I said standing up.
"Enid is very drunk." She explained.
I felt my heart drop. "How... How is she drunk? How did you guys sneak alcohol in?"
"Ugh... It was Bianca. Just please come already." She ended the call.
Not bothering to change anything in my appearance, I just wore my shoes and ran to Yoko's dorm.
There was some fairly loud music playing. I cringed at the choice of music yet chose to ignore it and got in. Everyone there looked wasted as fuck. My eyes scanned the crowd for Enid. I found her drinking from a purple cup. She was dancing to the music, as usual, like no one was watching. I felt my heart constrict.
I ran to her and took the cup from her. She looked at me weirdly (probably because she didn't recognize me at first) then grinned and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Hey Ezzieee..." She slurred, happily.
"Hey you?" I replied back while chuckling.
"Feel like dancing?" She asked, her voice raspy. I gulped and nodded.
"Sure..."
She went over to the DJ to request a song. By the time she had arrived, "Line Without a Hook" was playing. I closed my eyes, remembering how it felt to be in her arms, slow dancing for the first time ever. I was interrupted by her hands on my cheeks. Her eyes were droopy and hooded. She was shitfaced drunk. She grabbed her cup from my hand and chugged what was left inside it. I huffed.
"Enid..."
"Whaaat? Ezra broke up with me today. I'm sad!" She whined. I was right here and she was referring to me in the third person. That's how drunk she was...
"I..." I started then closed my eyes. "I didn't mean it."
She side eyed me and scoffed. "Yeah right. You didn't mean it."
I felt the tears sting the corners of my eyes. I quickly wiped them. I didn't know what to say. I pursed my lips and looked away.
"Look at me." She ordered softly, her words slurred.
I shook my head. "I can't." I choked out.
"Look at me, Ezra Marshall." Her voice was gentle.
I quickly glanced at her. She was staring at me. She cracked a smile. It looked kind of sad, kind of broken.
"If you tell me right now while looking at me straight in the eyes that you never meant it, I will believe you. I will forget everything and take you back." She spoke kindly.
I didn't even think twice. I grabbed her by the shoulders. "I love you, Enid. I don't know what got into my head. You mean the world to me. I can't imagine my life without you. It's like someone was controlling my mind. I don't know..." I replied instantly while looking at her straight in the eyes.
She smiled but then her smile dropped. "What did you say? At last?"
"Um... Someone was controlling my mind?"
"I think..." She started then stopped.
"Yes?" I urged her to go on.
"I think I'm going to throw up." She mumbled, running to Yoko's bathroom. I quickly ran after her. She slammed the door open and started vomiting in the toilet. I held her hair back. She kept throwing up until her stomach was emptied from all the alcohol. Then she lay her head on toilet seat, exhaling heavily.
I caressed her back. "You good, E?" I chuckled.
She groaned and nodded her head. I helped her stand up. She stumbled and almost tripped so I snaked my arm around her waist. She leaned against me, dropping her head on my shoulder. I stroked her cheek tenderly.
"Come on. We're going back to our room."
She nodded her head. We slowly walked with her tripping every now and then and humming along to "Line Without a Hook" under her breath. I was smiling and she caught me smiling, she placed a sloppy yet soft kiss on my cheek.
I opened our room's door and entered. I placed her on her bed. She was giggling like crazy. I tried helping her wear her pajamas. She insisted on wearing my clothes. I chuckled and got her the sweater she likes the most and some sweatpants.
She sighed contently and laid her head on her pillow. I turned around to go sleep in my bed, assuming that she'd want some distances since our status was still unknown.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" She slurred, tiredly.
"My bed..." I replied, my voice shaking.
"Na-ah. You're sleeping next to me. You're not going anywhere." She mumbled.
I sighed in relief then I remembered she was drunk. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking...
I gave in though. I couldn't simply ignore a request as such. I was hopelessly and stupidly in love with her. If she asked me to get her the moon, I would find ways to do so.
I laid down next to her, feeling my heart beat super quickly. I maintained some distances. She huffed in frustration and scooted closer before latching onto me like I was a lifeboat. She clung to me like glue. It made me realize how these couple of hours apart from her destroyed me to my very core. I needed her. SHE was my lifeboat.
I slowly but surely wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
Tomorrow will be a new day...
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I'm sorry for having Ezid break up. They always work things out though, you will see!
~M