Chapter 7 Magnolia #2
I looked back over my shoulder as I walked off, but she was strolling away coolly, without looking back, so I felt stupid for looking.
You know what? I like to replay that moment in my head sometimes, and I like to think that she looked back too, only at a different moment, both of us missing the other one glancing back. Story of our lives.
The very next afternoon, as I was doing my homework, my phone pinged with a text.
Ellery: What’re you up to?
Magnolia: Just finishing up some schoolwork. You?
Ellery: Wanna go for a walk once you’re done?
Magnolia: Ok.
Ellery: Text me when you’re ready.
Magnolia: I will.
After that, there was no freaking chance in hell I was going to be able to focus on homework.
I jumped up from the desk and rummaged through my closet, looking for an outfit that was cute yet effortless.
You might think the fact that I was devoting so much effort into looking nice for Ellery should’ve been a clue that I was into her as more than just a friend, but nope.
Girls dress up to impress other girls far more than they do boys.
Because when you dress up for a boy, it’s really a fifty-fifty chance whether he’ll notice, but girls notice everything.
They’ll tell you they love your new hairstyle and the color of your lipstick and your new skirt.
Girls notice the outfits; boys only notice what’s underneath.
In the end, I went for a hoodie paired with jean shorts. I tied up my hair into a ponytail and swiped on some lip balm and blush. Total girl next door. Because that was literally what I was. The thought made me chuckle. It didn’t take much to amuse me.
On my way out, Iris, who was having a late lunch / early dinner, glanced up and said, “Where are you going?”
“A walk.”
She wrinkled her nose, like the concept of a walk was alien to her. “To where?”
“Just around the neighborhood.”
She stared at me for a second, then rolled her eyes. “No one walks in LA.”
“Okay. Um. See you.” As I walked out of the apartment, I fleetingly wished that Winnie were my big sister instead of Iris, and it was such a traitorous thought that I immediately chastised myself for thinking it.
I spotted Ellery’s figure leaning against a tree next to the side gate, and all thoughts of Iris flew out of my head.
“Hey,” Ellery said.
I tried not to look too eager. “Hi.”
She opened the side gate and gestured for me to go through first. It was a small gesture, but you must understand that in Indonesia, opening doors for friends wasn’t really a thing.
So, yeah, I noticed stuff like that. Tiny details that piled up like little feathers, unnoticeable at first, until suddenly I was covered with them.
“So, how are you finding it here?”
“Pretty good.”
“Your classes?”
Again, I felt that Ellery effect fizzing under my skin, making me feel invincible.
You know, I think it was her facial expression.
I remember when I first read Peter Pan, the mom, Mrs. Darling, had a special, unseen kiss hidden in her mouth.
The kiss symbolized the remnant of Mrs. Darling’s childhood wonderment.
Everybody could see it, but nobody could get it out of her.
It was just there. At the end of the story, Peter Pan got that special kiss and flew away with it.
It was like that with Ellery, except instead of a kiss, it was a smile.
Whenever she looked at me, I could just about spot this hidden smile just behind her lips, and it made me want to tease it out of her. So I said, “Pfft, too easy.”
I watched as that secret smile erupted into a chuckle. “Heck yeah! You’re the shit, Frangipani.”
“Frangi…pani?” I had a hard time keeping my face straight.
“My bad. Your name is a kind of flower, right? Tulip, that was it.”
“It’s most definitely not Tulip.”
“Mangosteen?”
By now, we were both laughing so hard we were doubled over. The laughter made me feel bold, and I said, “Can I ask you a stupid question?”
Without any hints of hesitation, Ellery said, “Go for it.”
“Do you—ah—are you—do you have a girlfriend?”
She cleared her throat, then said, “Yeah.”
My heart sank. “Okay.”
“That’s all you were going to ask?”
“Yeah.” Now that I knew for sure, I didn’t want to know anything about the girlfriend. I didn’t want her to be real.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“What?” My cheeks burned. “No! I’m not—I’m straight.”
“Cool. So, boyfriend then?”
“No. I had a boyfriend two years ago, when I was fourteen. It lasted eight months, and the most we ever did was make out. He asked to touch my boobs very respectfully, I said no, and he said okay. He was nice.”
“Whoa, okay, hold up.” Ellery looked at me with a curious expression. “Two years ago, you were…fourteen?”
“Yeah?”
“Which makes you sixteen right now?”
I bit back a laugh. “Good job mathing.”
Ellery’s hand flew to her forehead. “Holy shit, Tulip! You’re sixteen? Whaaat?”
“Yeah, that usually happens two years after you turn fourteen.”
“Okay, smart-ass. But really, though, how are you in college at sixteen? Are you an actual child genius?”
Iris did warn me that this would happen. “No. It’s just a different education system. If I were back home, I would be in what’s called junior college for two years before going to college.”
“Damn.” Ellery was still wide-eyed. “I’m talking to a real-life child genius.”
“Did you not hear what I just said? I’m not a genius. All of my classmates graduated high school the same age I did.”
“Too late, sorry, you’re a child genius.”
“I’m sixteen, so I’m definitely not a child.”
“I don’t know, I was definitely a dumb kid at sixteen.”
I gave her a mock glare. “How old are you now?”
“Nineteen. A very old and venerable wise woman.”
“Ancient.”
By now, we’d gotten to a traffic light and were waiting for it to turn. Before I knew what was happening, there was a weight on the top of my head. Ellery was resting her elbow there.
“Okay, kid,” she said.
“Uh…” Delicious laughter bubbled up from deep in my belly. “Don’t rest your elbow on my head!” I cried, but I was laughing so hard the words came out garbled.
“Don’t be the perfect elbow-resting height,” she said.
Still laughing, I grabbed her arm and lifted it off my head. Then it hit me that I had Ellery’s elbow in my hands and, oh my god, I was touching Ellery and also, oh my god, her arm was so incredibly toned, and what the hell should I do with it? Because she wasn’t pulling away and, oh no, I—
The light turned. “Let’s go.”
I dropped her arm and scampered after her.
Something had changed between us, a tiny change, barely perceptible.
I wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, but the rest of the walk, the conversation flowed easily, so much so that when Ellery checked her watch and said, “Oh shit, it’s almost six,” my mouth dropped open.
We’d been walking close to two hours. It was only then that I realized how tired my legs were.
“I should go back,” Ellery said.
“Me too.” Not that I had anything to go back to aside from homework, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
We walked down the street in amicable silence. “This was nice,” Ellery said after a while.
“Yeah.”
When we got back to the apartment complex, she opened the side gate and once again motioned for me to go through first. Yet another tiny gesture that somehow managed to be so incredibly sweet.
From Iris, I knew not to let goodbyes linger, so I said, “See ya,” and turned away before Ellery could reply.
“Same time tomorrow?” Ellery called out.
I stopped and looked back at her over my shoulder, joy unfurling like a flower in my chest. “Yes.”
And just like that, our friendship sprouted its first roots.