~Nerissa~

Seriously?

I stared down at my door lock, letting out a frustrated huff. I jammed the key into the hole and twisted—nothing.

Slipping the purse strap off my shoulder, I grumbled under my breath. “Have I been cursed? What sort of evil have I encountered this period?”

Fishing my phone from the maroon purse, I unlocked it and swiped, tapping one of the more recent numbers. It picked up on the first ring.

“Hello, Iris. You would not believe what just happened—”

Iris, my loud, sarcastic, and overly intuitive best friend, cut me off.

“Don’t tell me your door lock jammed again!”

“Exactly! Iris, this is getting ridiculous. It’s been like the seventh time.”

“Why don’t you consider changing your door, Nerissa? It’s probably faulty. And don’t call me to crash in my room when Adrian is around,” she warned, then joked, “You know how he gets.”

Adrian was Iris’s boyfriend.

“I don’t exactly have a hobby of being the third wheel, Iris,” I replied dryly, phone lodged between my ear and neck as I tried the lock again. Thankfully, this time it gave way.

Walking into the house, I placed my bags on the table and headed straight to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I snatched an apple, took a big bite, and collapsed onto the couch in the living room with a sigh.

Groaning. 

Today had been hectic, “Bruno—” I called out to my dog only to remember I left him at mom’s place for the weekend, she had been adamant about it spouting off something about him needing to change environments and see the world at times. 

Something, I on the other hand, was deeply skeptical about.

“Are you still there, Nerissa?” Iris’s voice rang through again.

“Yep,” I answered, popping the ‘p’.

“So, I was saying—Adrian has been really sweet lately. Like… weirdly sweet. And secretive about something. I think this is it, Nerissa. Maybe he finally wants to do it.”

“To propose?”

“On the mark!” I could hear the snap of her fingers. A mental image of my brunette friend with her wide blue eyes winking popped into my head.

 “You know me so well, Nerissa. But I’m feeling jittery. I’ve been pretending not to know, but finally, after five years, that man is getting a clue!”

My lips curved into a soft smile. “I’m so happy for you, Iris.” My mind briefly wondered, at the word, “marriage” my nagging mom popped up, my smile stiffened.

Getting up, I walked into the bedroom to change and head straight into the shower, pitting the call on speaker.

“I’m your bridesmaid, remember? No one’s stealing that position from me—not even Bella.”

Bella was the one who made us a trio, the blonde haired, brown eyed, stunner, she’s elegant and poised though she was always closer to Iris than I was. Sometimes I keep wondering how we all became friends.

“Speaking of Bella… have you been able to reach her? She just suddenly went MIA, like poof—vanished off the face of our planet, Gia.”

I stepped out from the shower, steam still curling into the air. Walking into the room, I pulled open my drawer—and froze.

I wasn’t listening to Iris anymore. My eyes were fixed on something else.

Strange… I remember keeping my pajamas somewhere around here. I rummaged through the drawer, searching for my favorite polka dot pajamas but came up empty.

“Nerissa?” Iris called, snapping me out of my daze.

“Sorry, Iris… It’s just—I can’t find my favorite pajamas,” I groaned.

“The polka dot ones?”

“Yes! Did I leave them at your place during the last sleepover?”

“Nope. You didn’t.”

“I don’t know, Iris… I’ve never thought of myself as careless, but lately things just—keep going missing. It’s like I’m losing stuff every day. Am I secretly a mess and never noticed?”

“Don’t be stupid, Nerissa. We both know that’s not true. You’re the most observant and careful one among the three of us. Remember when I couldn’t find things? You were always the one who immediately remembered where I’d put them.”

Her words soothed my nerves. She knew how frazzled I got when things were out of place—it felt like a thousand ants were crawling under my skin. I couldn’t sit still, pacing back and forth, wearing holes in the floor.

And it didn’t just wear the floor—it wore down the people around me too.

“Okay, Iris.” I sighed. “Seems I’ll just have to wear something else tonight. Ugh, I hate this.”

Whining into the phone, she chuckled. “You’re still a baby, Nerissa.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Let me go get dressed. Adrian’s coming over tonight. See you—muah!” She blew a kiss into the phone as I giggled, then ended the call.

The moment the call ended, the room fell into silence. I sighed again and randomly picked out something to wear.

After changing, I plopped onto my bed and stared up at the white ceiling.

Just then, my phone beeped.

I picked it up, squinting at the glare from the screen.

 “You’re no longer a child, Nerissa. You better stop acting like one and get yourself together. At your age, your elder sister was already married with kids! Don’t you want me to hold my grandchildren?”

I muttered under my breath, “You already have three.”

 “By the way, I scheduled a blind date for you at Kingston’s. It cost a fortune. Don’t bail on it.”

—Mom.

‘So that’s why she took Bruno’ I stared blankly at the screen. It took me a whole minute to fully process what I was reading.

Messages like this always made me question if she was truly my mother or just a well-dressed drill sergeant.

Placing a pillow over my face, I screamed into it.

Frustrated.

Then excitement creeped in.

‘But… Kingston’s? Really?’

A place you couldn’t get into with just money? Maybe she pulled off one of her mysterious “connections” she always refused to talk about.

‘Whatever. I’d just treat it like sightseeing.’

‘Iris is going to turn green with envy,’ I thought, chuckling to myself at the image of her stunned face when I tell her.

“You know what? I’ll keep it a secret.”

I grinned—completely unaware of what I was about to walk into.

If I had known, I would never have kept it a secret.

Never have walked in.

Author’s Note:

Your mom sends you this message. What’s your reaction? Put it in the comments!