The event that Monticlaire wanted to invite me to? It was… prom.
A prom with lots of people who might want to touch my hands for whatever reason. Eep.
When I received the text about it, I almost flipped out of my chair and knocked my laptop off my desk. I wasn’t ready to do something like that, not yet. Not so fast.
We had just met a couple of days ago, and she was asking me to prom? Why? Was she really that desperate? Yikes.
However, I took a deep breath, and continued with my work. But the thought of it all eventually came pounding into my mind.
Why?
-~-
Monticlaire and I had been texting each other all weekend—getting to know each other via interests and dislikes. She listened to my constant quells, despite them seeming so petty in my eyes. She was a very friendly companion.
However, it was the start of a new week, and that start always began with a Monday. The project that I had completed over the weekend was swiftly checked over by Nicole and was never seen again. It made me feel like the time I spent on it was flushed right down the drain. Whatever.
Both of our heads turned to the sudden knocking on the door. Nicole treaded up to it with caution, as no one had ever disrupted our class time except for a few occasions. On those few occasions, we were notified beforehand. How strange.
“Oh? You’re here for Novella? I suppose it is almost time for us to part ways…” Nicole murmured through the cracked door. She pushed it open to reveal Monticlaire, who stood her with a shaky yet happy expression on her face.
“M-Monticlaire? What are you doing here? Don’t you have regular high school to attend?” I questioned, growing more nervous by the second.
“I didn’t have school today, and I asked my mother before I came—she said it was fine…” she whispered, looking down at the ground.
“I shouldn’t have interrupted your class, I apologize. I’ll wait for you outside,” she spoke, fleeing towards the entrance. I quickly gathered my things and blasted from the room, catching up to Monticlaire quicker than I thought.
“Monticlaire, why did you run away? You were perfectly fine, you didn’t do anything wrong…” I said, trying to soothe her.
“I-It’s nothing. I just didn’t want to interrupt your lesson, that’s all. The truth is—” “Hold on Monticlaire, let me tell Nicole that we’re leaving,” I dropped my bag to my feet. “We’re walking to The Nook together.”
After discussing my plan with Nicole, I grabbed my bag and led Monticlaire to the path I usually took to The Nook. With a slight breeze blowing, Monticlaire and I were off.
“Wow, it’s a nice day outside—I wish I wasn’t stuck inside doing Pre-Calculus problems and World History projects…” I heaved out a sigh, scratching my head in the process. Monticlaire stayed silent and nodded, looking off to the side.
“You do know that you’re pretty much my only friend at this point, right? It’s crazy, but it’s true,” I admitted. Monticlaire’s expression shifted to a grin, her head turning to me as we walked.
“Yeah, I kind of figured. I mean, homeschooling pretty much leaves you isolated a whole bunch,” she paused for a few moments to skip over a jutting out piece of sidewalk. “Why ARE you homeschooled, anyway? There’s a high school literally fifteen minutes away from your mom and dad’s restaurant. You aren’t even being taught at HOME, you’re in a different facility. Why?” I gulped, glancing down at the ground. The grip that I had on my bag tightened immensely.
She doesn’t have to know about your powers… not yet… make up something, and fast…
“Well, you know, my parents are always at The Nook nonstop. It’s their livelihood and they should be there… so they wouldn’t have time to drive me to school and stuff… and with no nearby family, it just wasn’t possible,” I stopped to take a breath. “So, I just walk there every morning. It’s a little farther, but it’s fine.”
“Interesting,” was all Monticlaire could muster. “Well, I suppose my mom can pick you up for prom, then.”
“Yes—let’s talk about that. Prom? I’ve heard about it before, but I never thought that someone like you—someone as nice and happy and glowing as you—would not have a date by now. You’re so… perfect. Monticlaire,” I pouted, clutching my bag.
Monticlaire giggled, knowing that I was overexaggerating with my compliment. “Sure, I suppose so. But deep down, honestly, I’m really shy and self-conscious about everything. It sucks, it really does,” Though disappearing for a second, a smile returned to her face. The wind blew softly through her hair, making it whisk around behind her.
“I’m just glad we’re friends. We have a lot of things in common, and that’s truly great.” Her statement brought a smile to my face. I never knew that someone could rely on a person like me so heavily—in a good way, of course. It was just a good feeling.
As we continued walking, we started to pass by other people on the other side of the sidewalk. They were mostly joggers—they tended to come out in this type of weather.
Suddenly, Monticlaire screamed. jumping up and behind me in fear. In front of us was a small boy and his dog, who was incessantly barking at us. I frowned and extended my left arm to the side to protect Monticlaire.
“Get them, Dagger! Get them!” the boy said playfully, leaping up and down. I blinked, peering at the boy with slight confusion. I could feel Monticlaire shifting behind me.
“Dagger? What kind of name is Dagger for a dog?” Monticlaire questioned, standing up. “Oh boy, do you want to know? Do you REALLY want to know?” the boy giggled happily.
“No, not really actually,” I spoke, exhaling a small yawn.
“Nope—but I’m curious anyway. Spill the beans,” Monticlaire uttered. The little boy grinned from ear to ear.
“So when I was really really little, I found a small sword that my daddy used to play with, so he said I could play with it, to have fun with. Then, when I was older, I found MORE swords and I loved loved loved them so much. My favorite sword is the dagger. So, when my mommy and daddy got a puppy, they let me name it Dagger!” the boy panted, out of breath from his little speech.
I leaned over towards Monticlaire. “Who lets this kid walk their dog by himself?”
We both laughed to ourselves, watching as the boy blasted off, the dog quickly following him a quick hurry. We eventually calmed down, rubbing the tears away from our eyes. I shoved my hand into my pocket, swiftly whipping out my phone.
“Alright, let’s keep heading to The N—” My heart suddenly dropped. My phone read the time: 3:18 pm.
My shift started at three o’clock.
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