Chapter 4: An Old Friend

 DAMMIT I CALLED IT! I yawned waiting at the park near the city, I was called out here early in the morning to meet up with Catherine. She’s late by fifteen minutes already. Yesterday after school she called me and it went like this.

“Have you left the school yet?” She asked.

“I’m on the bus now so whatever you need it’s going to have to wait till Monday, it’s the weekend it’s relaxing time now!” I sat down on the bus.

“That’s perfect then, arrive tomorrow at this one park near the city, I saw it when you and Emi were at karaoke while exploring. I don’t know what it’s called but it’s near the city, find it, be there at 9.” Then she hung up. I HAD TO RANDOMLY GUESS THE RIGHT PARK TO SHOW UP TO!

Usually on a Saturday I would be waking up at one in the afternoon after staying up late, eat, game, watch anime, eat, bed rot, and do the same thing on Sunday. Most call it loser behavior but I call it fully living the life! If only I could do that every day… oh to dream... Today Catherine has me out here at nine am WHICH IS EARLY FOR ME. Where is she? I texted her. “Where are you?” She left me on read. What the hell? I waited another 15 minutes and she still wasn’t anywhere near. “I’m leaving in the next 5 minutes if you don’t answer me.” Left on read once again. THIS BITCH! I stomped the ground and sighed, my perfect weekends… I was heartbroken, oh to still be in bed just scrolling through my phone. I sighed.

“Sorry I’m late.” I heard Catherine’s voice. I turned and saw her, she was wearing a pretty light blue dress, the skirt went down to her legs. Her hair was up in twin tails a sight of her I never thought I’d see. She looked absolutely gorgeous, I stared at her for a second looking at how cute she was. She nearly had me forget how angry I was.

“You should be! You had me waiting out here for over thirty minutes!” I muttered turning away from her.

“Arn’t you supposed to say, ‘No it’s okay I just got here.’”

“You left me on read fifteen minutes ago! You knew I’ve been waiting here for half an hour!” I yelled.

“I ran into a problem after getting off the train over here.”

“It better be a good reason not to respond to my message.”

“There was a line of baby ducks walking behind their mothers, they were so cute I had to watch them get back into the river.”

“Oh that is a good reason then.” I did a thinking pose, “NOT! YOU TOLD ME TO COME OUT HERE THIS EARLY SHOW SOME CONSIDERATION!”

“It’s not even that early I have no idea why you’re complaining.”

“Maybe because you made me wait half an hour over you watching some ducks!”

“They were cute though.” This whole time she was talking without showing any emotions like always.

“Anyways why did you call me out here today? And what’s with your outfit?” I asked.

“What’s wrong with it?” I was flustered.

“It looks like you dressed up for a date or something, you look really good.” Just saying that turned me completely red.

“Is that a compliment hmmm?” She wore a smug face, she got closer to me, “Oh so just because I dressed like this you assume it’s for a date huh?” She got even closer and stared at my blushing cheeks. I turned around from her.

“So what are we doing here anyways!”

“Sadie recommended me a place that serves really good crepes, I wanted to try it with her but she was busy, Emi doesn’t know the city, and you’re the only other person I know.”

“It feels great knowing I was your last option.” I groaned, “Also I was busy too! The only reason I’m out here is because you’re blackmailing me!”

“I doubt you were doing something important, you look like the type to waste your life away.” She gave a small chuckle.

“Did you just laugh at me!?” I mean she isn’t wrong, I have no social life outside of Daniel and Lucy. Now I’m feeling depressed.

“Show me around the city, I want to know all the cool things I can come back and do with Sadie.”

“So this isn’t a date?”

“Not a date.”

“We can’t even pretend it is one?”

“Not at all you repulse me.”

“I figured…” I cried, “Alright then follow me, I’ll show you around.”

We both walked from the park into the Main Street where we saw all the shops around. On the weekends all the shops open up earlier than usual. As me and Catherine walked I caught glances of her and her outfit. We ended up at a clothes shop, I didn’t want to go in but Catherine forced me to go in with her.

“Why go clothes shopping now?” I asked.

“I always hear girls around me talking about fashion, I know nothing about it, I need you to learn everything there is and teach me.” She commanded.

“I’m not going to do that? Also it looks like you have fashion down with what you’re wearing.”

“This is one of Emi’s old dresses, she doesn’t wear it anymore.” That’s Emma’s old dress? I imagined Emma wearing it, woah she must have looked beautiful in that. “I don’t want to bother my sister anymore than I already do. Now then learn everything or else!”

“Listen I’ll help you pick out some outfits but I can’t just learn everything about fashion I mean look at me I’m wearing a plain t-shirt shirt with jeans! Nothing about me speaks fashion!”

“Alright then I guess we’ll both have to find some outfits and come back.” She wants me to find outfits that’ll look good on her? I AM SO IN! This is just to help her of course… totally just to help her and not for my own lustful thoughts… I smiled while looking through the female section. I noticed a woman staring at me looking creeped out… I want to just die right now… NEVER MIND THAT! I started looking around for cute outfits and only managed to find 3 I really liked, I grabbed all three and found Catherine looking at a mannequin with a pink long sleeve shirt, it had a pretty pattern that ran down the sleeves, the mannequin wore black shorts with stockings.

“Is that more you’re style?” I asked holding the 3 outfits in my arm.

“I think it is, I’m not really sure I even have a style.” She turned and looked at me. I smiled.

“Everyone has their own style. You just haven’t found it yet, anyways here I picked up some outfits that will look cute on you.” I handed them to her, she took them.

“I’ll change into them right away.” We walked to the changing areas, they had 4 booths, she went inside one and closed the curtain. I turned around and waited as I heard her move around. So here I am spending my weekend a few feet apart from Catherine changing… My face turned red, even if I already imagined her in these outfits while picking them out it feels way different seeing them in person. My heart began to beat faster. “Ok here’s the first one.”

“Ok!” I turned back around as she opened the curtains. She stood there wearing a red knitted pull over sweater with a navy blue skirt.

“How do I looked.” She didn’t even look embarrassed to show me.

“You look great!” I really wanted to call her pretty but I had to restrain myself, after all we’re just acquaintances.

“Let me try the other ones then.” She closed the curtains quickly, instead of turning back around I stood looking at the curtains waiting for her to show me the other two outfits. She came out wearing a black bow lace v neck long sleeve top with a pair of white pants. “How about this one?”

“CU— I mean it looks stunning!” I coughed, she grinned at me.

“Hmm what were you going to say?”

“Hurry up and change!” She laughed and closed the curtain back up. I swear she gets pleasure out of making fun of me. After awhile she came out wearing a pink off shoulder sweater with a matching pink and white skirt. I turned around as quickly as I could. I could not let her see how much she had me blushing. This isn’t love, this isn’t a crush. I just don’t want to admit to someone like her how beautiful she looks. It’s slipped out a few times before but knowing who she is and what she does to me I don’t ever want her to hear these words come out from my mouth again. Then I felt my shirt getting grabbed from behind.

“Hey I don’t look bad in this right?” Her voice was shy. “You turned around the moment you saw me wearing it.” DAMMIT! I WILL NOT LET YOU HEAR THESE WORDS FROM ME!

“No you don’t look bad… it’s my favorite one out of the three.” I hate you so much… I cried inside.

“Then I’ll get this one.” I turned around and saw her smile as she looked at her sleeves.

“You’re Beautiful.” I said out of nowhere.

“Huh? What did you just say?” She asked with a sadistic face, I went inside her changing booth and grabbed the 2 outfits she left in there. “What was that huh?” I walked past her.

“I’ll put these away while you pay for that one.” She went back to her usual expressionless face. “I meant what I said by the way.” I walked away seeing her get flustered. As I walked to put these outfits back I realized I was holding clothes that Catherine had just worn. I instantly turned red, I swear this past week my blood has just been rushing all over the place. I met Catherine at the entrance of the store, we left and continue walking through the city.

“Should we check out the crepe place right now or save it for later?” She asked, I checked my phone, it was already eleven o’clock woah how did time go by so quickly? How much time did we spend at the store?

“It’s an hour till lunch hour, I’m sure we can go grab one to snack on before lunch.” I said as she poked my stomach.

“You get a pass because it’s the weekend but eat like that everyday and you’ll start putting on some weight.”

“Are you calling me fat?” I yelled at her.

“Not at all.” She kept walking leaving me behind.

“Then why say something in the first place!” I followed behind her, we arrived at the crepe shop and it looked busy so early in the morning.

“It looks like this is the place Sadie told me about.” She opened the door as we both went in. There was a small line that formed behind the counter, there were mostly people around sitting in the lobby leaving no seats for us to sit down.

“How about we order the crepes and eat them at the park?” I suggested.

“Good idea.” We waited in line until we reached the front, there Catherine stood behind me hiding from the cashier as I ordered for the both of us. We sat down at a bench we found at a park close by.

“So not only can you struggle to make friends but you also can’t order anything on your own? I wonder how much Emma has to do when it’s just you two.” I sighed then took a bite from my crepe. “WOAH! This might be the best crepe I’ve ever had!” I turned to look at Catherine. She stared down at her crepe without moving, like she was in a trance. “Hey Catherine if you don’t take a bit I’ll have to eat it for you.” I jokingly teased her trying to lift her spirit up.

“So you do want to get fat?” HUH? I cried a bit. “Sorry I’m just joking.” She took a bite, “Ahhh this is so good!” She looked adorable. But I couldn’t shake off a feeling that something was wrong, the way she looked spaced out before I teased her.

“You might have to thank Sadie for me on Monday.” I took another bite, “If it wasn’t for her then me and you wouldn’t be out here having fun.” I kept eating my crepe.

“You’re having fun with me?” She asked having a face of disbelief.

“I mean of course!” I turned away from her putting on a grouchy voice, “I got to see a cute girl in a new dress and now I’m at the park eating crepes with her.” I turned towards my crepe and finished it. She started to laugh, the more time I spend with Catherine the more and more her laugh stops becoming rare to me. Sure every time I look at her she’s filled with zero emotions on the outside but every now and then I’ve seen her express how she’s feeling. From nothing to sadistic, to then laughing next to me and having a good time. The seasons really do change. I stood up looking down on her with a smile on my face.

“Ezra is that you?” My heart instantly sank, my eyes widened in fear. That voice I thought I wouldn’t ever hear again. I was having an internal panic attack. My breathing was getting faster and faster. I was afraid to turn around. I was afraid to run. I was simply afraid of doing anything. I just kept staring at Catherine as my body was filled with adrenaline. Why here and now? Why the hell is this happening today!?”

“Hey are you ok?” Catherine asked looking concerned for me. My eyes were turning red, they were being filled with water. I couldn’t handle being there.

“Ezra it’s not nice to ignore an old friend.” I turned around and saw her. Chiyo the girl who ruined my life. The person I’m most afraid of in the entire world. I wanted to hide, to run away. My body stayed frozen as she got closer to me with a smile on her face, she grabbed my hands. They were shaking intensely, “Hmm what’s wrong are you ok Ezra?” She held both of my hands.

“Chiyo…” I said out loud. Catherine stood up still holding her unfinished crepe.

“Is this an old friend of yours?” She asked not looking at Chiyo, she was too concerned about how I looked. Chiyo wore an outfit that yelled out how cute and innocent she tried to look, it had light blue and white colors all around.

“It’s not nice to ignore your girlfriend Ezra.” She laughed and grabbed Catherine’s hands. “I’m Chiyo! Ezra and I were friends in middle school, I hope you’re taking care of him.” She smiled at her. Catherine not having any social skills stood there silent just like me. “Aww how cute.” She let go of her hands. “You two are so alike, you were always so shy and nervous Ezra!” Shut up. “I mean who knew that someone as shy as you would end up doing that to our whole class Ezra.” I clenched my fist tightly and bit down on my lip, piercing it, causing it to bleed.

“Ezra you’re bleeding.” Catherine looked really concerned for me.

“It looks like I caught you two at a bad time.” Chiyo sighed. “Ezra even though it was a long time ago I just have to say I forgive you for what you did to all of us.” She smiled. What I did to you all? NO WHAT YOU ALL DID TO ME. I wanted to snap at her. I wanted to yell and scream and curse her out but just her mere presence caused my will power to collapse.

“I think…” Catherine got in front of me, she stuttered to say something. “I think you should leave.” She quietly said.

“Aww what a shame and here I wanted to reconnect with an old friend, I mean I’m not doing anything wrong!” Her eyes looked fiercely at Catherine. “It’s not like Ezra himself is telling me to leave right Ezra!?” They both turned to me awaiting my answer. I tried to speak but couldn’t. I really did try to open my mouth but nothing, I felt chained down and trapped in a prison cell. Catherine’s eyes were glued onto my face, she turned back and looked at Chiyo seriously. She was a bit shorter than her but laid her ground.

“Please leave us alone you’re ruining our date!” She looked embarrassed lying to her but didn’t falter.

“So she really is your girlfriend then Ezra?” She had a sheepish face on. “I’m not a bad person like you are Ezra so I’ll just leave you alone for now.” She smiled and looked at Catherine. “I don’t know what your name is but I advise you to break up with him as fast as you can, from one girl to another!” You play the forgiveness card for something I didn’t do then try and tear me down you’re a damn hypocrite!

“I… know who I’m with… Ezra’s the best boyfriend I’ve ever had!” She awkwardly yelled at Chiyo.

“Well I tried to warn you! See you around Ezra!” Chiyo walked away. When she couldn’t be seen anymore I looked towards the sky trying not to cry in front of Catherine.

“Ezra are you ok?” She asked, she tried to say something that would comfort me but her not being used to these situations meant she couldn’t say anything else. I could tell she wanted to help me, I could tell her sadistic side was gone, she felt bad for not being able to help me.

“Catherine.” I still looked to the sky. “I’m sorry but I’m going home now.”

“Oh ok…” she looked down at the ground holding her dress. I walked away from her. I was on the train going to my house holding it all in. I got off the train and headed straight to my house just wishing I could disappear from this reality. Wishing I could leave behind everything and run away. I already tried doing that and I still ended up seeing her face to face. There’s no escaping the thing that hurts me the most. When I arrived near my home I saw Daniel standing outside with a smile.

“Yo Ezra! Let’s go for a walk.”

“What are you doing out here?” I couldn’t even look at him.

“I heard what happened from Luni Lucy.” He looked at me with a sympathetic face.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Lucy got a concerned call from Emma, apparently you and Catherine went out today and I just got to say how bold of you going out with your crushes younger sister.” He laughed. “All serious though, Catherine told Emma what happened, Catherine apparently sounded so concerned and that shocked Emma since Catherine doesn’t show her emotions or something, so Catherine called Lucy and Lucy threaten me to check up on you.” Daniel walked up and punched my chest softy. “She didn’t have to threaten me though, I mean I would have come here regardless.”

“She did all that?” I asked now looking at him.

“Of course, I mean you guys are friends right? We all are? Anyways, so you’ve seen Chiyo after so long. Let’s go on a walk and talk about it.” Daniel had a big smile on his face. Not one of happiness, but one that told me he was here for me.