Celestial Worlds

Chapter Eight

I wake up on my own, without any knock or call. I rub the sleep from my eyes and head to my bedroom’s bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I stay in yesterday’s clothes and grab the book Debby gave me. I run downstairs, almost tripping in the process. I successfully go down without any scratch and notice that nobody is in the Living room. I go inside the kitchen door and see Jonathan, his back to me, cooking what seems like eggs.

    “Good morning,” I greet him, my body only halfway through the doorframe. He turns to me, his spatula scraping the pan vigorously, and smiles a sweet smile.

    “Good morning, piggy,” He replies, his eyes with a mischievous glint. I narrow my eyes at him and punch him lightly at the side. I peek over his shoulder and tease, “What’s that?” I say, pointing at the pan and curling my lip in mock disgust.

    “Shut up or I’ll pour oil at your face.” He laughs and turns off the stove. “I can’t cook shit. Can you cook?” He asks me with teasing eyes. I narrow my eyes at him but I don’t refuse, too late to back out.

    “Sure I’ll cook…shit,” I say even though I don’t know what shit means. He laughs hard at my curse and says, “You look adorable cursing.” My cheeks flush. So that’s what shit means, it’s a curse word.

    I clear my throat, “I’ve never really cooked egg before,” I admit. He laughs and sits at the island.

    “I’ll instruct you.”

    He does. He tells me to scrape off the egg off the pan and open up the stove. Then I pour some oil in and crack eggs in a bowl then beat them I actually make a joke out of the beating thing; I pretended to punch the egg and we laugh together. I pour the beaten egg and cook it. It isn’t that hard, in fact, I never knew it was so easy to cook. I flip the egg in half forming the shape of a half moon. I place it in a plate and fan it under his nose and tease him, “You find this hard?” He laughs and pushes off the counter.

    “Don’t flatter yourself.”

    “I learned from the best.”

We finish eating and do the dishes.

    “So…where’s Debby?” I ask while placing a plate on a rack.

    “Mom? She went to the mall right? To buy clothes and probably buy some useless things she always buys.” He hands me another plate to dry. “Nick is coming over. I-If that’s okay with you.”

    “What? Of course it’s okay.”

    “Thanks.”

    After we finish washing dishes, we sit on the couch and watch some morning shows. Mostly game shows then Jonathan flips through the channels and lands on an animated channel. It looks fun.

    “Honestly,” He says, “I like cartoons better than those TV shows,” He turns to me, “You think that’s lame?”

    “No. Watching cartoons is better than watching a spinning wheel or watching people guess prices.” He laughs at that and we watch together. Laughing when the character gets crush and turn into a shape, or we laugh when the character swallows something bigger than its size.

    I find myself wishing life would be so much like cartoons. You stumble and fall but you don’t seem to get hurt; you get crushed or are beaten but you don’t seem to be damaged. And in the end, everyone is still happy. Everyone seems to love themselves just the way they are, they accept what life was given to them and they seem to still enjoy their lives. I find myself frowning at my thought. Being a Mortal isn’t easy as I thought. Jonathan sees me frowning. “What’s wrong,” He asks.

    “Hmm? What? Nothing.” My pitch rises to show innocence.

    Jonathan furrows his eyebrows. “You sure?”

    I nod and say, “Sure.”

    Minutes later, the doorbell rang. Jonathan sprang from his seat to open the front door. A tall, lanky guy with dark curly hair and brown eyes enters. He greets Jonathan and gives him a ‘fist bump’. Jonathan acknowledges his presence by greeting him ‘Nick’. So he was the friend Jonathan was talking about earlier. Nick catches my eyes. He hold them for a moment too long when Jonathan pipes up, “This is Victoria, Victoria, this is my friend Nick.”

    “Hey,” Nick and I say in unison. We laugh at each other for a while. Nick nudges Jonathan at the side and says, “She your girlfriend?” I now just noticed that Nick has an accent I recognize, British. Jonathan turns pink and I giggle at that.

    “No, man. Shut up. She’s a friend of me and mom.” I turn to Nick and give him an enthusiastic wave. Nick laughs but eventually waves back. He turns back to Jonathan and says, “Shame, man. Shame.” Then he plops down on the couch beside me and Jonathan beside him. I open the book Debby gave me last night and starts reading. I forget everything that they say or any sounds they make. This is the first time I’ve read a book like this. Most books are biographies, history books, and stuff I don’t really find interesting. I find myself enclosed in this book; my brain indulging every word I read and my eyes scan hungrily along the pages. This book is so good. I’m just at the part where Alice meets a guy called Mad Hatter when Jonathan calls me. I grunt and say, “What?”

    “Chill, I was just asking if you want ice cream,” He says defensively, handing me the most delicious tub I have ever seen. This time it’s white with black bits along it.

    “What flavour is this?” I ask, marvelling at the tub.

    “It’s cookies and cream. Sure as hell you’ll like it.” He winks and turns his attention back at the movie they’re watching.

     I scoop out a chunk and shove it in my mouth. This is unbelievable. “Ohmygoshthisissogoooooood,” I say, it comes a little too muffled but it’s clear enough to let Jonathan burst into a fit of laughter.

    “I’ll make you another one later for our midnight snack.” I smile at him partly because he’s making me ice cream and partly because he just invited me for midnight snack. I turn back to my book and continue reading.

www

“I’m home!”

    Debby bursts through the front door carrying about a dozen paper bags in one arm. Nick has left afterwards, planted a kiss on my cheek, and me and Jonathan are cleaning up our mess. Jonathan drops his rag and runs to hug his mom.

    “You were gone for a long time,” He says, like stating the obvious.

    “Sorry baby,” She says and she breaks away from their hug. She turns to me. “Hey honey! Look at these, come!” She gestures me forward toward her and she sifts through her paper bags. “These are amazing! Here,” She says, handing me at least half of what she bought, “bring these to your room and try them on.”

    I take the paper bags she handed out to me and say, “Debby, I-I…thank you. Thank you so much.”

    “Don’t mention it.”

    I march upstairs to my room to try on the clothes. They are brands from: 51 floors, Sugar and Spice, After, and some other fancy named brands. They consist of shorts, cotton tee shirts, jeans and pyjamas. She also included some sweatpants with a note: For TV marathons with my son. I blush. Even she notices our closeness, is it that obvious even to other people?

    It doesn’t matter. For a second, I don’t feel the slightest twinge of sadness. I feel happy. Because for the first time in my life, I feel like I have a family.