“Tell me about yourself.” Crystal asked as she took a bite from the banana.
“I go by the name Ellie and I am nineteen years of age. I have a twin sister as you may have known.” Ellie said in a robotic tone that made Crystal almost laugh and took drank her yogurt.
“Nice one.” Crystal said.
“And you?” Ellie asked.
“Huh?” Crystal looked up at her.
“I mean what of you?” She asked.
“Oh, actually, I am the female child and I have an elder brother.” Crystal said with a little smile.
“Wow. And where is he?” Ellie asked as she looked around.
“He doesn’t stay here and besides he is still learning.” She said.
“Learning?” Ellie asked.
“I mean that he is in his final year in University of Toronto.” She said.
“What course is he offering?” Ellie asked.
“International relations.” Crystal said and gulped down the coffee that remained in her mug. She belched slightly and went ahead to rinse the mug.
“Wow, such a competitive course.” Ellie said.
“Yeah, my brother is quite daring.” Crystal said, smiling. Ellie smiled back.
“You know I found you cool to be with.” Crystal said.
“Oh, please.” Ellie said, blushing. Crystal chuckled.
“And yes, where are your parents?” Ellie asked.
“Out of town.”
“Ohh.” Ellie said, short of words. Crystal yawned.
“Shit, I am so tired and sleepy.” She said.
“Let’s go to bed.” Ellie urged her and she pulled her. They both exited the kitchen after they had washed the plates they used.
They entered Crystal's room and Ellie stood there with her mouth agape.
“Wow, this is so extravagant.” She said and ran into the room. She slumped on the bed.
“Just the kind of friend I need.” Crystal thought.
“Wow, it looks like a princess room. You know, you are quite lucky.” Ellie said and went towards the mirror. She went through her things and saw just how much luxury this girl was in.
“I am tired, we can talk later tomorrow.” Crystal yawned. “And also when you are going, kindly turn off the light and close the door.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Ellie said as drew out a drawer. She saw a drawing book. She smiled and started going through it. She looked at the images one by one.
“Wow, she draws so nice.” She smiled and opened another page. Then she saw a boy's face. It was so familiar that even if she was just waking, she could say whoever it was.
“Jake.” She thought.
“Why would she draw an image of Jake while he was smiling?” She thought and looked at Crystal's sleeping body on the bed.
“They might have been close friends.” She said and shrugged. She closed the book. She yawned and went over to meet Crystal on the bed.
“Good night.” She whispered and exited the room. She turned off the light and gently closed the door.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
“Why is Ellie not back yet?” Elsa thought as she stood up from the stool. She has been waiting for her sister for the past three hours and a few minutes.
“Ellie is not someone who wanders a lot.” She thought.
“Hope she comes home soon.” She said and laid down on the couch. “Gosh, I am so tired right now.”
Not long after did she sleep off.
<><><><><><><>
Jayson honked his car at the gate of his house. The guy manning the gate ran towards it and opened it for him to enter.
It was still raining but it was no longer as heavy as it was. He parked his car in the garage and hopped out of the car. He jogged quickly with his hands over his head, trying to shade himself, into the house because of the rain.
“Oh, you are back.” His mom said. He looked up to see her.
“Oh, mom, ain't you suppose to be in bed by now?” He asked worriedly.
“I was too worried about you to sleep.” She said and went ahead to hug him.
“Your dad is angry with you. First thing tomorrow, you must apologize to him.” She said and smiled a little. He scoffed lightly and looked away.
“Jayson.” She calling him, stressing on his name.
“Okay, okay, I have heard you.” He said and shivered a little.
“You must be feeling cold, go take a warm bath. I will head into the kitchen and prepare a cup of tea for you.” She said and smiled. He smiled and staggered his way to his room.
He walked through the corridor. He kept inhaling and exhaling.
“Have you taken your medications?” Julia's voice said. He stopped suddenly and opened her door slightly.
“Yes, I have.” That so familiar masculine voice said. He furrowed his eyebrows.
“That's good. I have told you several to always take care of yourself but you don’t listen.” She complained.
“It is not my fault too. I have a lot of responsibility.” He said. Julia saw a silhouette of someone in the dark, she raised her head slowly and saw her brother standing right beside her. She swallowed lightly and cut off the call.
“J-Jayson?” She stuttered out gently.
“And who is that?” He asked, looking at her phone.
“A classmate.” She said so smoothly.
“Classmate? By this time of the night?” He asked.
“Yeah, he is kind of my study partner.” She said sitting up.
“Okay then, if you say so. Just that I don’t like the time he is calling you. Be careful.” He said and left the room. She smiled. After he had closed the door, she held her chest and blew out air.
“That was so close.” She thought and dabbed off the sweats that were beginning to form on her face due to anxiety. Then her phone message alert rang, she turned towards and saw the ID of the person who had sent her a message. She sighed.
“You won't get me into trouble.” She thought aloud and failed his number.
He picked it almost immediately.
“Babe, what's up? Why did you hang up on me like that?” He questioned her.
“Will you just calm down a bit?” She asked and rolled her eyes.
“Jayson was in my room just now.” She said. He exhaled.
“I thought something went wrong.” He said.
“No.”
“When is all these going to end?” He asked.
“Very soon.” She said, sounding hopeful.