Elodie and Heloise (3 page)

By the time Elodie made it through the front door, it felt like ages since she’d been home. Before she left the house, she hardly knew Quentin, only admiring him from afar. Now she felt completely changed, and she wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing yet.

Their mother was still awake, engrossed in a television show. Her wavy red hair hung in wet strands around her face, falling against her pajamas. She looked up from the TV set at the sound of Elodie taking off her boots. Heloise was nowhere to be found. Then Elodie heard the sound of water starting up and the slam of the shower door from the bathroom next to their bedroom. That answered her question.

Shannon rose from the couch, switching off the television with the remote in her hand and setting it down on the TV stand. She approached Elodie, who was just staring into space with no doubt a faraway look on her face. Remembering the smell of Quentin’s cologne was making her dizzy with the memories of that evening.

“So I take it that your visit with the new neighbors went well?” Shannon inquired. 

Elodie snapped out of her reverie, turning her head to face her mother. It took  a moment for Quentin’s face to disappear from her mind before she broke out into a huge grin and answered, “I think you could say that, Mom. He’s.... wonderful. I can’t even explain it.”

“You don’t have to, sweetie. I can see it all over your face.” Shannon chuckled. 

Elodie was never good at hiding her feelings. She felt the heat of a blush coming to her cheeks and she gave a nervous laugh. 

“I know that look. I was young once too and I remember it well. Bonne nuit.” She brought her daughter in for a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. It was her usual nightly routine with her daughters and Elodie didn’t mind it one bit.

“Night, Mom.” 

Elodie strolled over to the bedroom to gather her night clothes while her sister showered. She stood in the middle of the room still pondering everything that evening and though she normally would have taken her shower right after her sister did, she was so exhausted that she simply put on her pajamas and fell right into her top bunk. All she wanted to do was think about Quentin. 

As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep but nervous sleep, where her dreams alternated between seeing Quentin for the first time at school the next day and going out on dates with him. Holding his hand. Kissing his lips and everywhere else. It was enough to make Elodie sick with anxiety when she woke up suddenly to the sound of her alarm. Oh my God....

The morning passed in a blur for Elodie. After a quick shower, she made a point of picking out one of her best outfits: a white and flowing long-sleeved flowery top that cut just low enough that Elodie wouldn’t get into too much trouble for violating her school’s dress code, her favorite pair of dark blue jeans, and her favorite, lucky silver bracelet. She must have spent at least forty minutes in the bathroom making sure her face was made up perfectly. 

“Oh my, aren’t we all dressed up today,” Heloise remarked when Elodie finally joined the rest of her family at the breakfast table. Heloise had already eaten most of her cereal and their mother was in the study doing some writing, her usual morning routine. Francis was already at work, as of a few hours ago as usual.

Elodie tossed her hair over her shoulders and announced, “Thanks. I need to make sure I look my best today. You know how it is.”

“If you spent as much time on yourself and boys as you could on your studies, you’d be a genius by now,” Heloise muttered to herself, not even bothering to look at her sister as she took a sip of hot lemon tea that Elodie could smell from across the room.

Elodie placed her hands on her hips and scoffed. “And what’s that supposed to mean? Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Elodie retorted. “What’s your problem anyway?” She didn’t even feel hungry that morning, so she didn’t bother to go get herself a bowl of cereal. Instead, she went over to the kitchen where their mother had set out some fresh strawberries to go with breakfast.

“You promised we were only going over last night to say hello. But no. Of course we didn’t. And I should’ve known because that’s how it always is with you. You only think about yourself all the time. Do you know what it was like for me to be over there with you while you acted ridiculous and threw yourself as Quentin while I sat there, bored out of my mind trying to make conversation with his brother? I left after only fifteen minutes because I could barely stomach your behavior. It was like hell!  And don’t say that I didn’t try to be sociable. Robert is not very exciting to talk to at all. The only thing he was interested in was the stupid sports game on the television.” Heloise got out of her seat and stalked toward the kitchen, practically tossing her bowl and spoon in the sink.

“You’re just jealous that all the boys want to talk to me instead of you,” Elodie spat back, a half-eaten strawberry in her mouth. She threw the green top of the strawberry into the open trash can next to the counter and stomped over to her sister. “Maybe you should put a little more effort into being nice to people. I’m pretty sure that if you had actually sat there and talked to Robert, he would’ve been nice to you back. But no. You have to hide behind this..... whatever you want to call it, with your sarcastic comments and being all weird and ugly. It’s no wonder so many people dislike you!” 

Heloise had been looking off in the distance as Elodie spoke to her, and with that last sentence, she looked at Elodie like a dog that had just been kicked. Her face fell and Elodie thought she saw tears welling up in her sister’s eyes.

“Why do you have to be so mean to people?” Heloise whispered, her voice breaking at the end. She crossed her arms and started stepping away from her sister.

“Oh stop being so sensitive. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true and you know it.”

“STOP IT!” Heloise screamed at the top of her lungs as tears began streaming down her fallen cheeks. “You never know when enough is enough, do you? You push and push and push, that’s all you do. Just shut up and leave me alone.”

With that, Heloise stomped to their room to get her backpack. She kept stomping her way to the front door, bringing her hand to her face every so often to wipe away tears, and slamming the door behind her.

“Whatever,” Elodie retorted, throwing her hands up in the air. “I was just being honest. Whatever.”

With that, Elodie picked up her backpack and walked out the door, locking it behind her. Besides, she had Quentin and the rest of her friends to look forward to seeing at school. Or maybe she’d catch a glimpse of him walking to school. No doubt, with their school just down the hill, that he’d be walking to school like she and Heloise always did. 

Except that she didn’t see him at all walking to school that day. Her heart sank deep into her stomach as she walked into the front doors of the school. But she couldn’t let anyone else see her sadness. As soon as she walked in, she saw her friends and she had to put on her usual happy face.

Only after she said hello to her usual group of friends did she hear a familiar voice behind her and feel a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around and saw him standing right behind her, his cologne filling her head with the memories of the night before. Quentin looked just as good that morning as he did the night before. That anxious feeling she had that morning came back, as Elodie couldn’t believe he was standing there in front of her after all. A huge smile came across her lips and she eagerly introduced him to her friends, who were standing around looking intrigued at Elodie’s new acquaintance.

“Make sure you come and sit with us at lunch, unless you have other plans of course,” Elodie teased.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Quentin said with a grin.

Around 6:30, the doorbell rang, breaking Elodie out of her thoughts. She ran to the door and saw Quentin standing on the porch, looking great as usual. She thought she might have seen some hair gel in his hair because his hair looked more slick and  it went away from his face a little more than usual. Elodie opened the door and seeing him standing in the vestibule of her house made her heart almost leap out of her chest. She was happier than ever to see that he was the first one to come to her house.

“Hey,” she whispered, not finding the courage to say anything else. 

“Hey,” he responded with a quick wave and a small smile that made Elodie’s stomach flip. “So, I know I’m early for the party....” He placed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and tilted his head a little to the left.

Elodie gave a nervous chuckle and responded, “Yeah you are early. But um, well, we could, you know..... watch TV until everyone arrives. I just need to put out the snacks.” 

“Sounds like fun.” 

Elodie smiled and walked over to the fridge to get out snacks and refreshments for her guests. She took out a plastic container of leftover pasta salad from dinner earlier that week and cans of soda from the inside door of the fridge, setting them on the counter. Then she quickly opened a bag of store-bought popcorn and another bag of pretzels from the pantry and tossed the contents into a bowl. Meanwhile, Elodie watched Quentin from the corner of her eye as he watched whatever Elodie had been watching on TV, engrossed in a random action movie.

After setting out some other snacks as well as paper plates, cups, and forks on the counter, Elodie finally took a rest and walked over the couch, sitting about a foot away from Quentin. A reassuring silence came over the two of them. It was a kind of silence where Elodie didn’t mind that they were paying attention to other things. Occasionally they would look over at each other and comment on something going on in the movie or commercial, but most of the time, they sat quietly, her hand resting on top of his.

She heard the clock in the hallway strike six forty-five, and she tore her eyes away from Quentin’s to glance outside through the half-open blinds on the window behind the couch. The night had finally fallen and she could clearly make out the stars up in the sky.

“Hey, Quentin, you want to go outside and watch the stars?” her voice trembled. She knew her party was going to start soon, but she couldn’t think of anything else. Quentin was sitting just a few inches from her and she was intoxicated by his presence.

“Sure,” Quentin replied, standing up close to Elodie, close enough to make Elodie want to fall over again. There was only five inches that separated the two of them but it was the closest she’d ever stood to him. Elodie managed a small smile as Quentin took her left hand. The smile was not enough to convey the happiness that she felt with Quentin holding her hand. She couldn’t believe her luck. She took his hand with a tremble as they walked to the sliding glass door and walked outside to the porch, slowly closing the door behind them. 

As soon as the sliding glass door closed behind them, Quentin gingerly took Elodie into his arms and embraced her. It was just the two of them now.

At about a quarter after 7, Heloise heard excited voices coming up the front steps of the house. She was still not completely thrilled with the idea of having a party tonight, but she couldn’t just turn everyone away right now. She’d have to go along with it. As Heloise opened the door, she saw her cousin Noah Johnson at the head of a pack of six people. Noah and a few of the others had been in the middle of laughing at a joke when she opened the door, his face brightening as he let out another belly laugh.

“Hey Heloise! It’s so great to see you!” Noah cried as he leaned forward to give her a hug. In contrast to Heloise’s rather small five foot five frame, Noah stood at least five inches over her, not to mention he was far more muscular from all of his workouts at the local gym. Getting a hug from him was like being hugged by a bear.

“Yeah it’s great to see you too, Noah,” she chirped. Seeing her best friend made Heloise smile both inside and outside and she began to think that maybe the party wouldn’t turn out so badly after all. 

Noah was the son of her Aunt Chelsea, one of her mom’s three sisters. Heloise had the impression that her mother and her sisters had once been close, but now they couldn’t get along. If her mother ever mentioned one of her sisters, she would get this sad, wistful look on her face. Heloise rarely ever saw her mom and sisters together in the same room and when she did, their conversations would degenerate into arguments that led to slamming doors and stomping feet. Despite the obvious tension between her mom and sisters whenever Heloise would talk about going to see her aunt and cousin, Heloise and Noah got along well and became very good friends. On warm days he was always over at their house playing Marco Polo in the pool or Cops and Robbers with Heloise after school, while spending time after school doing homework together either at their home or at Noah’s house across town. She especially remembered poring over science kits together as children. Noah shared Heloise’s love of all things science and they even entered a science fair project together in eighth grade. They continued seeing each other after school and on weekends and Heloise felt their relationship was as strong as ever.

As the two of them hugged on the front porch, the rest of the guests entered the house. Elodie had left her iPod playing on the stereo, the latest rap hit blaring over the speakers, so the guests all came into the house dancing. Among the small pack of people that she greeted at the door, Heloise could see Robert Rice as well as a few of her other cousins: Nina Edwards, her Aunt Morgan’s daughter, and Clara and Cecilia Pei, her Aunt Tabitha’s set of twin daughters. 

Finally, Heloise and Noah let go of each other and walked inside together. Heloise was just about to start telling Noah about her week at school when the doorbell rang again. When Heloise answered the door, she saw a few more faces. Four more people entered the house and introduced themselves to Heloise: Renata and Antonio Jenkins, two of Elodie’s friends from across the street, and two more people behind them that she did not recognize. 

Heloise had seen Renata at school before so she recognized her, though they were not in the same social circles. Renata and Antonio, from what she could gather, were brother and sister and Renata was in Heloise’s physics class. She was the epitome of a Mediterranean beauty, with her slightly dark skin, kind brown eyes, and curly brown hair that fell down to her shoulders. Antonio bore a slight resemblance to his sister, but he had inherited much darker hair than his sister and he was almost as tall as Noah.