After Ellie leaves me alone in my bedroom, I pull my hair out in frustration. Why am I fighting with my best friend over a guy I don't even know? Over a guy who doesn't mean anything to me?
Deciding that we need to sort out things right now, I run down the stairs. I look around the living room and the kitchen but she isn't there. When I look out the front door, her car is still parked there. She must be in the backyard then.
As my feet lead me to the back of the house, my hand reaches out to grab the doorknob that leads outside. I kick off my flat shoes and step onto the mown lawn. I wiggle my toes happily, smiling at the feel of the tickling grass underneath my feet. It feels much better than it did yesterday and it isn't so unpleasant.
I move further on the courtyard, admiring all the plants and flowers Ellie takes care of during her free time. The petals of the flowers are soft under my fingertips and I close my eyes, inhaling the dry and cool air of this week of June. I breathe in the blossoming greenery encompassing me, a soft rush of wind wafting out from somewhere, far away from here.
Noise next to me catches my attention and I turn around, facing the pool. The water is sloshing back and forth against the walls of the pool and I notice a form in at the very deep bottom as someone makes their way to the surface.
I go sit on one of the lounge chairs just as Ellie reappears. She doesn't see me at first and just keeps swimming like a fish in the water. Her backstrokes are very good and I wonder where she learned how to swim, she never said anything about swimming classes. I watch her for a few minutes, jealous of her swift figure. I'm like a cannonball in the water. Sure, I can float, but that's about it.
I don't notice when Ellie stops swimming and comes to stand at the edge of the pool, her body in the water and her arms outside, propping her up. She's looking at me with a sad expression on her face and I know that she is no longer mad. Leaving my comfortable spot on the chair, I come to sit outside of the pool, my legs in the water.
"First of all," I start, "let's promise not to get mad this time."
"I promise," she says without hesitation. "I'm sorry for calling you a self-righteous bitch earlier."
I nod. "Apology accepted. I figured if you called me a bitch for him, then the matter of Yann is important to you."
She gives me a bashful smile before saying, "It is. I really do care about him."
I can see on her face that she means it. She really cares about him and I know then and there – without needing her to tell me – that I will have to make an effort and try to see what she sees in Yann.
I smile at her, knowing Ellie's heart is bigger than the universe. "Then why did you never mention him?"
She looks away this time, looking at the house instead of me. "I don't like talking about him to people who don't know him."
I don't get it. "El, I'm not asking you to divulge the dude's darkest and deepest secrets. You could have just said that you had a new friend Yann." I say with a shrug then I add to lighten the mood, "Unless I'm competing against him for the best friend spot here."
That makes her laugh heartily and she nudges my thigh with her elbow. "Don't be silly, the three of you are my best friends. It's just that Yann is a little different from Will and you. I didn't feel like telling you hey, my new friend's name is Yann and just leave it at that, you know what I mean?"
I nod at her, watching as I kick my feet into the water. "I know what you mean, but there must be something that you can tell me, right?"
She frowns for a moment, as if thinking of something she can say and her frowning makes me frown. Is the guy such a mystery?
"His favorite color," I blurt out.
Ellie laughs, momentarily distracted from her deep reflections. "Sky blue," she says, "but I doubt that's what you wanna know about him."
I shrug at her even though she is right. "At this point, I'll take what I can get, honestly."
Her laughter dies out and only the sound of stirring water fills the backyard. Then birds start singing in a nearby tree and soon, the melody of nature reaches my ears and I revel in the moment. A cool summer breeze blows my hair and I lift up my head, welcoming the caress.
"Remember Ollie?"
Ellie's voice brings me back to reality and I look sideways at her. "Oliver? Yeah, why?"
Oliver is a friend I met in freshman year of high school. He was a junior at the time. The school's loner, he didn't have any friends and was an absolute jerk to anyone and everyone. His sarcasm was notorious and people avoided him like the plague. I knew it well before I even went to his high school. I would hear his fellow schoolmates talk about him when I would go to that food place near their school sometimes.
What most – or all – of them didn't know, was the reason why he was this way. I knew why – or I had a faint idea until that idea was solidly confirmed. Abandoned by his parents at an early age and being raised by an aunt who never treated him like a real son, Oliver was afraid to let people in, afraid to get attached. I know this because my mother worked in the office as his aunt and she would hear her talk about her nephew like he was a burden to her. And so Ollie never got attached, never made friends, never let anyone in.
I had only ever seen him from afar until then when on the first day of high school, I walked right into him. I can't recall the impolite words he threw my way that day but I do remember not giving a care in the world. I was alone in a new high school with no friends. I started following him around for weeks like a lost puppy, ignoring his constant remarks and jabs. I wanted to be friends with him, somehow. When he realized I wasn't letting go of him anytime soon and that I most definitely did not mind being seen with him, he gave in.
"You're damn stubborn," he had said.
And he was right. I can be stubborn when I want to. It took him more than half a year to truly let me in but in the end, he did. When he left to go to college, I was devastated but he'd promised to stay in touch and come visit. And he did. Till this day, he and I are close.
"Remember how you wouldn't give up on him?"
Uh-oh. I see where this is going. "That's different," I shake my head at her. "I knew about him before I met him and I was on a mission to make him realize that he could be loved, that not everyone was going to abandon him."
"Yes, I know it's different. But imagine Yann is Ollie."
"I can't." I blurt out immediately, momentarily forgetting that I said I would try to look past what's skin-deep.
"Tracy," Ellie says in annoyance. "Just listen. I can't tell you much, OK? But trust me when I say that Yann is worth it just like Oliver was."
I sigh, giving in to her. "You always have to have it your way, don't you?" I grumble in fake annoyance.
She smiles but remains serious. "Thank you," she says.
"Yeah, whatever," I say dismissively but inside I'm grateful that our little feud is over.
"Yann is a good person," she says with a smile, trying to convince me once more that there's more to Yann that meets the eye. "He's just a little difficult sometimes, you know?" And her smile turns apologetic, knowing her words couldn't be farther from the truth.
No shit, Sherlock.
***
I don't see Yann for the next two days. Will stays over at our place often, spending the day with us and helping Ellie garden while I lie by the poolside, reading a French classic. I flip through the pages as I continue reading more on Rodrigue's and Chimène's story. This must be the thirtieth time I am reading Le Cid by Corneille but I simply cannot get enough of the tragic love story.
A few feet away, Ellie and Will are happily chatting and their nonstop laughing hinders my reading and I can't focus. I put my iPad down and look at the two of them.
I may be facing Ellie's profile but there is no mistaking the happiness on her face. Her cheeks are pink and I can't tell whether it's from the sun, from laughing or from blushing. I'd say the last one. A blind man could see that she has feelings for Will even if she just won't admit it.
I watch the two of them interact a little longer. I watch as she sometimes punches Will with her gloved hands or throws dirt at him, sticking her tongue out like a child. Will, on the other hand, simply keeps pinching her nose with a wide smile stretching his lips. I'd say he probably regards her as a friend since he pinches my nose all the time as well, but there is something he does that he doesn't do with me. He flicks her nose right after he pinches it. Now, maybe it doesn't mean much, but it's still more. And I can't help but wonder if he likes her back. I will ask him sometime maybe – subtly, of course.
Ditching my book, I march over to where they stand and look at what they're doing. I see trowels, sickles, shears and shovels – I know their names only because Ellie can talk hours about gardening, but I do know what a shovel is. I'm not that ignorant, come on.
"Hey, what can I do?"
Will looks up at me with a smirk. "Sure these hands can do manual labor, princess?" He asks mockingly.
He's been calling me princess because I spend my time reading when they are either gardening or doing any other type of manual labor. It's not that I don't like to get my hands dirty, but I just want to give them space. Or give Ellie time with Will. I just need her to realize – or admit – that she likes the dude already.
"If by manual labor you mean ripping off your balls for annoying me," I say with a quirked eyebrow, "yes, they most definitely can."
Will's eyes slightly widen, as he was obviously not expecting my threat. He scoots over quietly and hands me a pair of gloves. He goes back to facing the little garden without a word.
I crouch down next to him as I put the gloves on. "What? Cat got your tongue, Willie?" I nudge his shoulder with mine.
He nudges me back more forcefully and I stumble on the dirty ground. "We're removing weeds, princess."
I glare at the back of his head before I start removing the weeds with them. I catch a few glances up at Ellie who is herself stealing glances at Will. I know I should have stayed on my lounge chair, these two need their space.
"In case journalism doesn't work, you could always become a gardener, Will."
I see him roll his eyes at me in amusement. "At least I'd have that."
The meaning of his words does not go unnoticed by me and I don't waste time as I pounce on his back. He almost loses his balance and catches himself just in time as he falls on all fours. Sitting on his back, I wrap my legs as much as I can around his torso and stay there. He tries to shake me off but I remain firmly secured around him.
Giving up, he begins to get up but loses his balance again. "Gosh, you're heavy," he fake-complains. "What do they feed you at Amherst?"
I scoff at him and wrap my arms around his neck. "You weren't complaining when Ellie was on your back yesterday," I say as I recall Will running around, giving Ellie a half-an-hour piggyback ride in apology for his mean words.
You'd think he'd learn to watch his mouth.
"Hey," Ellie calls out as she gets up, "I'm not that fat," she says at the same time Will is saying, "Just because I didn't complain doesn't mean she's not heavy."
Ellie lunges at us without delay and soon, Will is running towards the pool. I can tell my weight slows him down but at this point, I couldn't care less. Ellie can skin him alive for all she wants.
I can hear him grunt as Ellie is running behind us, profanities and threats coming out of her mouth. While Will probably fears for his life, I am having the time of my life here on his back. I am reminded of the times when Dad would give me a piggyback ride during summer when I wouldn't feel like walking, back when he didn't own a car just yet. Being in a small town, nothing is too far from where you live. It's mostly all within walking distance. I never did much walking, Dad did though, always with me on his back.
"Get off my back," Will laughs as he still tries to escape from Ellie.
"Not anytime soon," I counter. "Ellie got 30 minutes yesterday, I want mine too."
"Well," he says as he catches himself before he trips, "you might not get them if I'm dead."
There's logic in his words, I have to give him that. But it doesn't really matter to me. What I want I have to get now. It's like when your five-year-old self tells your parents that you want ice cream right now but there is none in the fridge. They say they are going to go out and buy you some and they'll be back in fifteen minutes. However, that's not enough to you. You want the ice cream now. That's exactly what I feel like right now. Like a petulant child who doesn't want to wait.
"Just keep running," I order him.
After several minutes, Will eventually gets tired in spite of his good shape. His long strides turn into very lumpy and heavy footsteps and soon, he's stopping altogether. He begins to talk but is cut off short when Ellie throws herself onto my back. And onto Will's back as well for that matter. Poor Will cannot support the two of us whales and tumbles to the ground with very little grace.
I scream as my knee hits the grass but Ellie screams in delight with victorious cries. Will, however, is breathing heavily underneath the two of us.
"Hmph hmph hmph," he tries to say but with his face planted on the ground, we can't hear a thing.
"What's that, Will?" Ellie taunts as she bends over him, crushing him even more with her weight.
I get off Will and disentangle my limbs from his and Ellie's just as he turns his face to the side to speak more audibly. "I said get off me, you cow!"
Ellie doesn't take offense to the words at all and simply remains sitting where she is on Will's back. She leans into him until she's completely lying on top of him and she makes herself comfortable there. I watch as Will mouths help me in my direction but I only shrug at him with an apologetic – or what I think is an apologetic – expression. Because let's face it, I don't feel sorry at all for him.
I leave the two of them outside and go back inside the house to take a much needed shower. I wash my dark brown hair with Ellie's mango-scented shampoo even though my own shampoo is right next to her. What are best friends for, huh?
Once I am done, I change into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Hungry, I make my way to the kitchen and while I prepare myself a ham and cheese sandwich, I dial my house and wait for either my father or my little sister to pick up the phone.
After two rings, my father's grave voice answers. "Hello?"
"Hey, Dad. Morning, how ya doing?"
"'Morning, babe. I'm ayight. Life cool?"
I laugh into the phone, utterly amused by his tone and choice of words. "Told you, Dad, you cannot do the thug thing. You suck."
"Sorry, I'm a 50-year-old man." I can hear the rumbling of the coffee maker in the background and miss the sweet aroma of the strong-tasting drink.
"How are you? Lucy's not being too much of a burden?"
"No, she spends her time with the neighbors' son."
"Can I talk to her?"
"Jeez, okay! Nice to know you love your father that much. Twenty seconds on the phone and you're off?" I can picture his half-smile in this moment and know he's just goofing around.
"Of course I do. What did you expect?"
"Whatever," he grumbles into the phone. "Lucy, your sister."
"Tracy!" My little's sister scream fills the silence and her heavy footsteps are noisily heard throughout the quiet house. She doesn't stop squealing even when she is on the phone. "Tracy! Tracy! Tracy! I miss you so much. When am I going to come with you?"
I laugh at her perpetual chirpiness. "After your checkup, sweetheart. I miss you, too."
"You promised you'd take me to that river, remember?"
There she goes. Even towns away, she can be the annoying little sister.
I try not to roll my eyes as I answer, "I remember. I'll bring you."
"Ice cream?"
"Ice cream," I promise.
"Back-to-school shopping?"
Even if summer just started, Lucy wants to plan her back-to-school shopping early this year. As to why, I have no idea. "Yes, that too."
"And the fair, too," she says.
This time, I do roll my eyes and mutter, "Do you keep it all on a list?" I ask even though I doubt she does.
"I do," she says seriously in duh tone as if I was supposed to know. "The fair," she repeats more urgently. "Oh wait," she starts talking again, "the fairs. There's one on Independence Day and one at the end of summer. You said you'd take me. You promised. I remember you saying that –"
"Yes!" I shout, "I will take you."
Those are the words she undoubtedly wanted to hear because she stops her rambling. "Great, I'm gonna get breakfast. Love you, big sis."
"Love you too, honey. Let me talk to Dad." My father gets back on the phone and I hear him chuckle. "You heard all that?"
This time, he downright laughs in my face. "Of course I did."
"Gosh, can't you keep her a couple more months?"
I can picture my dad frowning on the other side of the line, "In a couple more months, summer is over."
I roll my eyes. "That's exactly my point."
My father laughs at my desperation but tells me there will be no change of plans. In a week, once she's had her doctor's appointment, Lucy will come and spend the summer with me. She has wanted to visit Harlem ever since she learned that we spent ten years living there, and she will get the chance to this summer.
My father and I get off the phone several minutes later after I tell him to say hi to mom for me. He reminds me to enjoy my freedom as much as I can knowing that once Lucy will come, it'll be all about her.
The annoying self-centered brat.
•••
Chapter 4 :)