PART 5
Eden
Go to the mall -5 points
You settle on the mall as you guys’ hangout location.
You’d been hoping to actually talk to her, maybe learn some more about her, but Eden spends the whole time shopping, with you as her personal bag carrier. In the end, the two of you barely exchanged any words and your arms got an unwanted workout.
Go to the park: +5 points
You decide the two of you should go to the park. It seemed like a safe enough choice.
The two of you walk around the park in silence. It’s a nice day out, the sun is shining, but the cool breeze keeps it from being too warm. Honestly, you hadn’t really thought through what you were going to talk to Eden about, and she doesn’t seem interested in being the one to break the ice.
Glancing over at her, you notice that her attention is fixated on a group of kids skateboarding. Seeing an opportunity, you ask, “Do you skateboard?”
Breaking her gaze away from the group, she shakes her head, “No, my parents would have a heart attack at their precious daughter doing something so boyish.”
You thought that was utter bullshit. Skateboarding wasn’t boyish, and even if it was, who cares? If she wanted to skateboard, she should be free to do so. You told Eden just as much, and her mouth formed a small “O” shape, surprise evident in her eyes. Furrowing her brows, she says, “Well, even if you think so, it’s too late for me to learn now.”
Crossing your arms, you say, tone stern, “It’s never too late to learn a new skill…or, at least, that’s what my dad always says.”
An idea pops into your head and you grin at her, “Ah, I have a few skateboards at home. I haven’t used them in a while, but we could ride them someday. I’ll teach you.”
Eden stares at you for a bit, considering the suggestion. You’re half expecting her to say no, but then she smiles back at you and says, “I’ll hold you to it.”
Go to your house: +10 points
You propose going to your house. You were a bit worried she might take it the wrong way, but she grins at the suggestion. “Ah, I did say I’d have to visit your house, didn’t I?”
And just like that, the two of you end up at your house. When you enter, your mom greets you from the living room, then does a double take when she notices Eden. Placing her hands on her hips, your mom shoots you an exasperated look. “You didn’t tell me you were having a friend over!”
Ah, you had been so nervous about Eden setting foot in your house that you had completely forgotten to tell your parents. You grin sheepishly at your mom and just shrug in response, which prompts a sigh from her.
Stepping forward, Eden smiles sweetly at her, hands clasped demurely in front of her, and greets, “Hello, ma’am, I’m Eden Murphy. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Baffled, you pull a face at her.
‘It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance?’ Where did this stuffy speech suddenly come from? But your mom, who shares none of your confusion, smiles back in delight at her. “Well, aren’t you polite! Welcome, dear. You two can head on upstairs and I’ll bring you a snack soon.” With that, she begins to bustle away in the kitchen.
While you and Eden make your way upstairs to your room, you say, “Well, you sure made a good impression on my mom.”
She smirks, “What? Were you surprised? That’s how my parents always make me greet adults.” Huh, rich people truly were a different species. Of course, your parents had taught you to be polite to adults, but Eden’s really took it to the next level.
You stop outside your bedroom door, hand hovering nervously over the doorknob as you try to remember if you cleaned your room this morning. “Um, listen, my room might not be the most tidy…” Eden just raises a brow at you, face expectant, so you brace yourself and push the door open, breathing out a sigh of relief when you see that you did, in fact, remember to clean it.
Eden drops down onto your bed and begins glancing around the room curiously. “It’s pretty small.” You thought it was a perfectly average sized room, but you suppose it would be considered small compared to the giant bedroom she must have…
Eden’s eyes stop on an object leaning against the wall near your bed. “You skateboard?”
“Hmm? Oh, yea. I used to skateboard a lot as a kid, but I broke my leg a few years ago and haven’t really used it since.” Tilting your head, you note the interest in her eyes and ask, tone slightly incredulous, “Do you skateboard?”
“Would it be so unbelievable if I did?” It would, actually. It was hard to imagine the prim and proper Eden Murphy with her fancy clothes on a skateboard. “Well, no. My parents would have a heart attack at their precious daughter doing something so boyish.”
You thought that was bullshit. There was nothing “boyish” about skateboarding, and even if there were, so what? You tell her just that, and her mouth forms a small “O” shape, surprise evident in her eyes. An idea pops into your mind, and you grin at Eden. “How about this, I have more than one skateboard, so I can teach you.”
Eden’s brows furrow, a look of disbelief on her face. She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, the door is shoved open and your younger siblings barge in, one of them carrying a platter of sandwiches, chips, and soda, no doubt the snacks your mom prepared. “Snatching the platter from her before she accidentally drops it, you say, “Thanks, now get out.”
This prompts a chorus of whines about how they want to play with you, so you add, “Eden didn’t come here to babysit. I’ll play with you guys later.” And you didn’t want them embarrassing you in front of her.
However, to your surprise, Eden shakes her head, a soft, genuine smile on her lips. “I don’t mind.” Getting up, she walks over to your siblings hands on her hips, “So, what do you guys want to play?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex
Go to the library: -5 points
You suggest going to the library. It seems like a nice choice, quiet without too many people around.
He agrees, however, you almost wish he had demanded a different location, because he spends the whole time with his nose buried in a book, barely saying a word to you, meanwhile, you’re bored outta your mind. It’s not like you hate reading, but you had been hoping to actually get to learn more about him and exchange multiple sentences of conversation.
Oh well…
Go to the art museum: +5 points
You suggest an art amusement, noting that there’s a local one that should have free entry today. He looks surprised at the suggestion, probably not taking you for someone who’s interested in art, and agrees.
Well, if he was thinking you weren’t interested in art, he wasn’t exactly wrong. You had taken art classes in the past, and you weren’t completely horrible, but it wasn’t something you did in your free time.
Maybe somewhere music-related would have been a better choice? But he had admitted to you that he didn’t actually enjoy the piano, so maybe not…
But, you think, as you watch Alex survey the artworks with clear interest, it seems as if you made the right choice with the art museum. Seeing this as an opportunity to learn more about him, you ask, “Do you draw?”
He starts, as if he had completely forgotten that he wasn’t alone, and shifts awkwardly, hand fiddling with the ends of his bangs. “I mean…sometimes, I guess.” He sounded as if you had just discovered some dirty little secret of yours and not something as mundane as drawing.
“Well, I’m not very good at drawing, but maybe we could draw together some time? It’ll be fun.”
The face he pulled made it obvious he very much doubted it would be “fun” but nonetheless, he nodded in agreement. “That…doesn’t sound terrible.”
Honestly, that was probably the best you were going to get from him, so you grin in satisfaction. Looks like today wasn’t a total waste of time.
Go to your house: +10 points
“Let’s go to my house.”
Alex looks mildly alarmed at your suggestion, but eventually agrees, “Well, okay…” His reply was very much lacking in enthusiasm, but you figured it would be fine.
And just like that, the two of you end up at your house. When you enter, your mom greets you from the living room, then does a double take when she notices Alex. Placing her hands on her hips, your mom shoots you an exasperated look. “You didn’t tell me you were having a friend over!”
Ah, you had been so nervous about Alex setting foot in your house that you had completely forgotten to tell your parents. You grin sheepishly at your mom and just shrug in response, which prompts a sigh from her. Shifting her focus to Alex, your mom smiles at him and says, “Welcome dear, you two can head on upstairs and I’ll make you a snack.”
Alex simply nods, eyes glued to his feet, and darts up the stairs, leaving you to scramble after him to make sure he doesn’t enter the wrong room. Thankfully, he is waiting for you in the hallway, posture stiff as he shifts awkwardly.
You’re starting to get the impression that he had never been over to a friend’s house before and had no idea how to behave in this new environment…Walking over to your bedroom, you push the door open with a “tada.”
Slowly entering after you, Alex sits on the bed and looks around, slight curiosity in his eyes. You wrack your brain for conversation topics, but Alex beats you to the punch, saying, “Your mom seems nice.”
You blink at the unexpected praise. “She’s pretty normal.” Well, your mom is nice, and you loved her dearly, but you didn’t think she was any more nice than the average mom.
“Normal, huh? Is that so…” His tone is bitter, and you feel as if there’s a lot of weight behind those words, but you opt not to press the matter.
Instead, you begin to shift through the stuff in your closet, wishing you had bothered to organize it. “So, uh, we could game, or something.”As you’re looking for the video games that are god knows where, Alex comes up behind you and points at the wall, “did you draw that?” Following his finger, your gaze lands on the crude copy of Starry Night you did last year.
“Oh, that? Yea, um, it was for an art class. It's not very good, but my mom insisted I hang it up.” Noticing the interest in his eyes, you ask, “Do you draw?”
“Huh?” There is a long stretch of silence, during which various emotions from embarrassment to annoyance to guilt flash across his face. Eventually he mumbles, “I mean, sometimes…” He sounds as if you’ve just discovered some horrible secret of his, and you’re not quite sure what the big deal is.
“Well, do you wanna draw? I’m not very good at it, but it’ll be fun. I’ll draw you and you draw me.”
Alex scrunches his nose up, and he very much looks like he’s going to straight up tell you no, but then he sighs and says, “Very well.”
@Events Squad