The Art of being Strangers

vi.

The rain was pouring when I left home. Marigold insisted on coming to pick me up and drive me to Ansel's party. After some talking, I finally gave in and accepted her invitation. I could've taken a taxi after all, but she said she'd feel bad. I picked out a green sweater and deep brown pants, looking rather cozy. I quickly regretted my fashion choice when I saw Marigold outside my house, next to her gray car, wearing a short tight black dress and white fishnets. Rings were covering her fingers, and the black choker she was wearing caught my attention as soon as I saw her. I really meant it when I said she was cool.

She waved as soon as she saw me, excitement showing through her wide smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello, Creek! I'm so grateful that you decided to join us!" she grinned.

I smiled again as a response. As she got into the driver's seat, I got into the back seat. To my surprise, there was someone else in the car. She was looking pretty familiar, so I just assumed that she went to our school. But then it clicked. It was Esther. Basil's ex-girlfriend. The girl in Basil's Instagram post. I never asked Basil about her, though.

Esther's medium brown hair was tucked behind one of her ears, her black eyes mixing with the dark. Her neck was covered with many necklaces. She was wearing a white crop top and a pair of dark blue jeans. When she saw me, her thin lips twitched, slowly forming into a smile.

"I'm Esther," she said looking at me. "I don't believe we've met before, have we?"

"No, I don't think so," I agreed. "My name is Creek."

She didn't say anything else, nor did I. We sat in silence for a while, but then Esther started making small talk. We talked about non-meaningful things and waited as Marigold drove us to our destination.

"We're here!" Marigold announced, and the car stopped.

We all got out of the car and started walking towards Ansel's house. Esther was the first one to enter. Me and Marigold were behind, following her inside. The house was big. As soon as I entered, colored lights caught my eyes. And holy shit, Ansel sure was popular because there were quite a lot of people here. I saw some familiar faces, but I didn't want to lose Marigold so I just walked with her, ignoring everyone else. Esther wasn't with us anymore, but I saw her sitting on a couch and talking to a boy.

"Marigold, Creek!" a voice called.

I shifted my head and saw that Ansel was the one that called us. He was pretty tall, – taller than me, anyway – skinny, and his skin was pale. He had blonde hair that fell into his eyes from time to time. His eyes were like silver, dark around the edges and a brighter blue toward the pupil, and his cheeks were always red for a reason or another. Marigold took my hand again and quickly went towards her boyfriend. I felt relieved when I saw how Ansel was dressed because he was looking pretty basic too. Just a large white shirt and some black jeans. Marigold let go of my hand and got on her tippy toes, kissing Ansel. His hands grabbed her waist as he kissed her deeper. Great, now I was feeling like a third wheel.

Ansel pulled away, but he still held Marigold.

"Creek, I forgot about you for a moment there!" he said, letting out a soft laugh.

I laughed too so it wouldn't get awkward. "Yeah, still here."

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked me and then turned his gaze to his girlfriend. "Marigold and I are probably going to be drinking."

"Oh, no, no. I don't drink," I say as I shook my head.

"Sure you don't. We'll see about that," Marigold said smiling.