Cinderella Fellows
"You are mine this afternoon and no one is allowed to steal you away from me!" I exclaim, basically friend-handling Eli. She had that all-too-familiar expression on her face, the amused one. I thought it was both funny and endearing. She was adorable.
Currently, we are heading to the mall, just her and me walking side-by-side, our arms entangled like two scaly, snakes. It's been a long time since we were alone like this. Nowadays, it was always the gang with a couple others.
The thing is, I missed Eli, my best friend. School and Ethan have been taking up my spare time for a while now. And, since she has more things on her plate too - mainly the pageant, my moronic brother, I guess Zeke too - it was quite a challenge to steal some quality bestie time these days. Most of all, I was a little worried about her.
She's not telling me something and it's sort of bothering the hell outta me. We never do that. We share secrets, not keep them from each other. You can see it in her pretty blue eyes; the nervousness, the hesitation - Eli's hiding something, but she's not ready to tell me yet. I'll respect that. How long I'll hold my prying back, I haven't the slightest clue.
"Don't worry, I'm all yours," she said as she sent me a swift wink. I laugh, flipping my hair over my shoulder as we enter the outrageously crowded mall.
I recall buying a few materials here - the one for Eli's brainchild. On top of her pageantry duties, El decided to orchestrate an ambitious plan that includes my goofy brother and the ever-so-self-centered Penelope. Elouise may be my dearest friend, but Penny and I never got on. Our personalities clash and she just has a different point of view from me. For the record, I tried my hardest to get along with her in perfect harmony. We both came to realize that we were simply not in-sync.
Well, at least, we can be civil towards each other.
Anyway, don't even get me started on Eli's full-blown infatuation with Mr Hottie McTottie. Or in Eli's words, Andrew James. That girl was dead-set on winning him over. I knew how Eli is with love-related situations. She either sinks herself in too early or in too late. She also has that difficulty with deciding whether she's all in or not in at all.
Eli may have the looks of a beauty queen, but I know what this is like for her. She's probably too afraid to actually believe anything - or anyone - special she notices. Honestly, the girl could smack straight into a brick wall, because she was having an internal battle inside the deep recesses of her brain.
Yeah, that doesn't make sense.
Busy Tuesdays at the mall seems to be the sale trend lately. Good thing, I came prepared and brought money to afford random shit that I find fascinating.
As we strolled through the deep sea of people, I couldn't stop myself from guffawing at Elouise. The girl was hugging her purse to her chest for dear life! I mean, the mall's busy, but not that full. Only one word had the ability to describe her right now, and that was "paranoid". There was an abundance of signs, ranging from an old-fashioned "SALE" to the oh-so-popular "buy one, get one half price". I always somehow fall for their deceiving red letters and quirky fonts, unlike this girl walking beside me who couldn't be fooled. Or so I think. Well...her lack of enthusiam when it came to shopping may be a possible determiner, but that wasn't the point.
Of course, for both our sakes, I quickly lead us to where our hearts lie - the food floor. I was feeling a little Italian, so I asked if we could get some. I didn't think Eli would mind; she even suggested going to Pizza Palace. Their cuisine is absolutely to die for, how could I decline? We arrive there a little after four o'clock in the afternoon. Our waitress was very welcoming - all their staff were. She moved really smoothly and she smile a lot. I liked people who weren't afraid to smile.
"What are you getting?" Elouise asked, her eyes flickering between me and the menu. I'm sure she was preoccupied with choosing either Spicy Pepperoni, and Supreme. She always orders one slice of each in the end anyway.
I pursed my lips and focused on my order. "One Hawaiian and one Meatlovers, of course," I replied giddily.
After ordering what we wanted and additional glasses of Sprite and Coke, and waiting a few minutes, our food finally arrives at our table. We started devouring it as soon as the waitress turned around. We can get barbaric sometimes, I didn't want to taint her soul. We talked about many things, making it a mission to catch up with one another. She had plenty to say and so did I. It felt nice and everything seemed perfect. I guess I have one more good memory to add.
Prancing around shops, we swerved towards the subject of my relationship.
"How's Ethan? Has he been behaving like your book boyfriends?" Eli kids, giggling at me like a little school-girl. She knew I loved to read - especially teen fiction. I mean, I made the mistake to tell her about my one-sided relationships with the hot and worthy characters of those novels, but I had nothing to deny.
I hit her arm, grinning at her like a starstrucked lover. "Not exactly, but he's alright," I mumbled as I studied a pair of studded shorts. I then put them back.
"I never really see you with him at school. What gives?" Eli inquired, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"He's usually with his friends, but it's fine. I like that we're not too all over each other," I explained with a reassuring smile.
"Past the honeymoon phase?" I nodded. "That's good, I'm really happy for you." Eli smiled at and I hugged her gently.
"What about you? Are you dating anyone yet?" I leaned closer to see her better whilst I asked this. I wanted to see the emotions swirling around her azure eyes, so I could tell whether she was lying or not.
"Not exa-"
Out of nowhere, a cute, little girl came charging towards Elouise. I believe she was running away from something, but that was just me. The girl collided with my best friend's legs, almost falling on her tush in the process. I watched as the girl looked up apologetically at El, smiling sweetly. "Sorry," I heard her murmur. She had silky hair, the color of pitch. Her wide, ocean eyes looked amazing and at the same time...familiar? It was as if I've seen her somewhere but I couldn't put my finger on it. Who is this child?
"That's okay. I'm Eli, what's your name?" Elouise asked, lowering herself to the girl's eye level.
"Agatha," blue eyes answered, beaming at her with her perfect teeth. "My brother, Leo, will find me, don't worry."
I noticed Eli heave a sigh as she nodded at Agatha. She looked a little disappointed, I suppose.
For some reason...
I left to go to a fitting room and the two of them sat on one of the sofas. I assume that Agatha's waiting for her brother to collect her. I even heard her eardrum-wrecking scream. After a few short minutes, I got out but chose to watch Eli and... the James siblings?
Now here's something you don't see often.
Well, I'm assuming the twelve or eleven year-old boy was that Leo kid she was talking about. I mean, obviously they were related - whatwith the shiny, ebony locks and the electric blue lenses. Although, I think Agatha was about eight or nine. Their reunion was endearing, but I find their resemblance a little bothersome. They're just so alike!
Unfortunately, my eyes didn't stay with the two kids for too long. I was a bit more interested in Eli and Andrew's exchange.
Drew was standing there, being godly as usual with his head of swirly hair and charming smile. Eli looked a tad terrified and I just knew she was overthinking this. Maybe even talking to herself inside her head. was sinking into that Andrew-shaped pit again. Their gaze was unbreakable, and I felt my heart melting. They were so adorable.
I could tell Eli didn't know her next move. So, I decided to very slowly walk towards them. Like, as sluggish as you can get. Soon enough, the James were just about ready to head out of the botique.
"Do you wanna go with us?" I overhear grinning Agatha ask Eli. Little Leo was pulling Agatha along by her cute dress, but I saw Drew. He didn't even move a muscle. It was as if he didn't want to leave Eli's side.
Ooh, this was getting good!
I should grab some popcorn from the theaters.
"Thanks, but I'm waiting on my friend," Eli told the girl. She even stole a glance at Drew. And...he caught her. Oh, dear.
"Hey, Elouise," Drew spoke after politely telling his siblings to stay put. Eli sent him a wave and continued to keep her mouth shut. "Look, about the other day-"
"It's cool," she cut him off.
Oh, no.
"No, I owe you a redo date." Drew stepped in close, his eyes staring deeply into hers.
God, is this for real? Am I legit watching a teen fiction novel come to life?
Eli's anxious expression told me that it was my cue to save her. "I heard there's this new collection that just came out. I've already paid for the overalls, let's go!" I rambled, adding in a half-truth for safety measure.
Elouise smiled and jotted her head towards the blue-eyed boy next to us. Pretending to be shock, I said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Hey, Andrew. I have to steal Eli away now... So, yeah. Bye!" After that, I just rudely pulled Eli along with. I didn't want glance back at him. I'm afraid to see his attractive, evil stare. You know, because I just dragged "his girl" away from him. I knew Eli did, though. I even heard her whisper a quiet apology.
"You're okay, right?" I asked, focusing on her with a look of concern.
She nodded, even though I was sure that what she felt was far from it. This was her way of temporarily keeping me out, her brave-face. "Fine, perfectly fine," she responded with an acute smile.
We could read each other like books. We both know that. So, when I saw that she didn't want to talk about it, I left it at that. I had to respect her and I would never stop doing that unless the circumstances were different.
Sometimes, me and my brother get really close and we end up playing video games together. Tonight was one of those times. Charlie and I were sitting side by side on the couch, shoulders hunched and eyes boring to the screen like professional gamers. We started talking about nonsense and it took a turn down a different lane. Now here we were; me giving him the third degree, him trying to evade every single one of my questions.
I take a small sip of my hot cocoa, willing Charlie to speak by way of my heated stare. His ignorance isn't promising, but I do what I can. "So...you and Penelope, huh?" Yeah, I kinda don't like beating around the bush.
He grunted, which probably mean: I'm so ashamed of my little sister. "Can you get any less worse at this game?" he grumbled teasingly, his yellowish eyes fixed to the radiation-expelling appliance.
"No, but can you get any slower at asking Eli to be your girlfriend?"
Wait, I think I mentioned the wrong girl.
"Penny, I meant Penny! P-E-N-N-Y," I said again, trying to cover up my name mishap.
Charlie looked at me funny, one eyebrow quirked up. He resembled Reggie at that moment; the one from the Archie comics that I often read. "Me and Elouise? Not happening," he replied, returning to his game.
"Oh, I almost forgot," I paused, "I'm sure Andrew's gonna snatch her first."
He glanced at me with his over-calculating, old-Charlie eyes; the sixteen-year-old, distant version of himself's eyes. "Of course, he would," he piped sarcastically.
"Yes, he would. They'd probably be married before you and Penny could ever get a chance to kiss." I laughed to myself as I waite for his reaction.
It was a snort.
"Well, I can't exactly ask her out on a proper date because, hello? She has a boyfriend, remember him?"
I paused the game and turned in my seat. "The running back?"
"No, the linebacker."
Close enough.
I sunk lower in my seat, wondering why I kept forgetting.
"Besides, that's not important..." Charlie added quietly, as if it was just for himself. Unfortunately for him, I heard it.
"Not important? C, you've been obssessed with Penny since you've met her!" True story.
"Yeah, but-"
"Then, why are you making Eli work so hard on this secret plan?" I demanded, annoyed at him for making my friend work so hard on something that wasn't even "that important" to him.
"This was her plan, Cindy. I agreed to it, but only because she wanted me to," he reasoned, sighing at me.
Charlie unpaused the game and we went back to our previous silence. We played for another solid hour, before he spoke again. He stopped the game and rubbed his forehead. It was like he had a big problem. He probably does, in some way.
"What is it, Charles?" I asked, using Eli's nickname for him. I don't really like calling it that. It seems too professional for such a laidback guy.
His head perked up at the mention of it. "Just...don't say anything to Elouise, alright?" Charlie stared at me for a few more minutes, obviously debating with himself. "Because for some unknown reason, I think she really wants to make this happen."
And there it was. My best friend, determined? There was a deeper explanation for it. Eli, she never really finishes what she starts. Well, except for eating food - she always eats everything. But this?
Maybe she wants to get something out of it? A charity case? No, and most likely not. Whatever it is, I have to know.
* * *
Helloooooo! :)
So recently, I've had to take a couple tests and exams, but in between all of that, I managed to get back to my Twitter account. Yay! ;D
If you too happen to have an account, please feel free to follow me! My username is @ImJannEncartado (yeah, sorry I don't have the link). That way, you can contact me and ask me some questions. Maybe even conduct a quick and short Q&A with one of the characters. *grins and nods encouragingly*
BTW, this chapter has been a scene from another chapter, but in Eli's POV (you can guess which). You know, just to change things up...
Anyhow, this is dedicated to the very awesome Mila2608. Thank you for being awesome!
Multimedia Weekly:
- photo of Cindy, whilst being a little mean and rude to Drew
- Sweet Sweet Melody by Katie Sky
Well, you know the drill: VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE.
Please, I am really emphasising the vote and comment bit.
Thanks, again!
PS. Please ignore my spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. c:
J~