Sweater Weather

Jay

I hopped into the passenger seat of her car and buckled my seatbelt. Theia and I discussed a few ideas for prom until we arrived at Ophelia's house. I stepped out of the car and walked up to her doorstep. "Welp, good luck! Text me when you're done." Theia said before driving off. I took a breath and rang Ophelia's doorbell. I put my hands in my pockets. The door opened. It was Ophelia's brother, Elijah. "Hey," I said.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I, uh, wanted to talk to Ophelia." Elijah closed the door in my face. It sounded like he was talking to Ophelia but his voice was muffled. It sounded like he was asking Lia for permission to let me in. Elijah opened the door again but this time Ophelia was standing next to him. I smiled a weak smile but she didn't return it. She just said, "Come on in." I followed Ophelia as we walked up the stairs to her room. She left the door open. I sat on Ophelia's bed and she sat on her bean bag chair hugging her Llama plushie. She avoided eye contact. Silence hung in the air until Ophelia broke it by asking, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to apologize for the things that I said and how I acted on the Bridgemere trip. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that and I should have stayed calm. I was upset that you weren't talking to me. I'm sorry that I didn't think about how you would feel when I started dating Layla. I knew something was bothering you but I decided to just ignore it. I'm going to try and be a better friend and split my time equally between my best friends and Layla. I sincerely apologize for my stupid behavior and I just hope that you can forgive me." I said. She looked up at me and our eyes locked.

"I forgive you and I'm sorry too. I let my emotions take over as well. You were right. I should have respected that you wanted to spend time with your girlfriend and I should have expressed my feelings instead of avoiding you. We've always been together and I was having a hard time getting used to you not being around you as much. I missed hanging out and having a good time together. I'll try and express my feelings more in the future. I probably shouldn't have ignored you for as long as I did for such a petty reason so I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me too."

"Thank you for your apology."

"And thank you for yours. I really appreciate it." She said, "Um...do you want something to drink?"

"Water is fine." I told Ophelia.

I wasn't really picky with my drinks as much as I was with my food. I watched as she left the room and went downstairs. I got off of Ophelia's bed and admired the picture on her wall. They were pictures of different memories in her life. One of them was a picture of me and Ophelia when we were five. I remembered that there was two inches of snow on the ground. She and I had our winter coats, gloves, and hats on because it was so cold out. It was our first time seeing so much snow. We were so excited because we got to build our first snowman. We were so proud of it and I remembered how sad we were when the sun came out and melted it the next day. Another one of the photos was in 7th grade after we met Theia. It was a picture of me, Theia, and Ophelia at Bellowford Park on the swings. I stood there looking at the photos and thinking about all the things that happened at the time. I was so deep in recalling the different memories that I didn't notice her standing behind me.

"Simpler times." Ophelia said and sighed. I jumped a little and turned around.

She smiled. "Here's your water." Ophelia was holding a bottle of water.

I took it and said, "Thank you." I stepped away from her bed.

"So what have you been up to lately?"

"Theia is helping me plan the best prom night for Layla. I was actually going to meet with her after I apologized."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't want to keep you from doing that."

"No, it's okay. We can talk for a few more minutes. How have you been?" I asked.