The Wallflower and the Prankster

Chapter Twenty-One: Back to Day Zero | Part 2

Dedicated to the person who noticed my first 1000 reads here before I did. :)

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Alazne

       Josh was greeted by Sara’s arms around his neck as soon as we got into the airport terminal. He didn’t seem to mind or even think much on it as he wrapped his arms around her waist. I couldn’t help but notice that ridiculous smile on his face as a laugh escaped his lips. He looked really happy to see her, more happy than he ever been with me.

But what did I expect him to do exactly? All through the airplane ride, there was nothing but silence between us. Not to mention the awkward looks we passed onto each other, and shifting. It was like we were strangers again. Actually, we were far from strangers. Josh wasn’t the type to behave like that around strangers.

In fact, when we first met he dragged me into the closet to hide from the principal because of one of his pranks.  So that leads me to the question: What or who am I to Joshua Grey, the infamous prankster.

Maybe I was just a wallflower to him, someone who just hides in the background without much expectations of socializing.

        Sara squealed when Josh moved his lips towards her ears. I couldn’t exactly hear what they were saying, but they both seemed more than happy to see one another. Almost intimate. Josh’s siblings rushed towards them and joined in on their hug.

        “Alana?” Mom asked me, her hands on my back. “You want to go talk to them?” She had a frown her face, her face was streaked with tears.

        “No. I’m fine,” I muttered, giving her a weak smile. My eyes moved towards my dad, who was standing by my luggage with his hands behind his back. Everything was back to normal. “I missed you, guys.”

        “Oh we missed you too,” mom said, pulling me in for a hug. “You have no idea how much your dad tried to contact you. He even offered to help with the investigation.”

        “Lauren,” dad cut her off before clearing this throat. “What she means is: we both were concerned about your well fair.”

        “That’s one way to put it—Alana did you get wider? You must’ve been eating well there.”

        It’s funny how most mothers would think their child was skinner, but mom was far from normal.  She patted my mid-section, before distancing her hands in a some-what small distance. “You were this skinny last time I saw you. Now look at you.”

        “Mom,” I said between clenched teeth. I could feel my face heating up. “Quit it.” This is so embarrassing! Couldn’t she say it in private?

        I quickly looked around, but no one seemed to acknowledge me. My shoulders slumped. I’m really getting ahead of myself. Who cares where I was or what I was doing—I am a wallflower.

        Unlike Josh. I glanced towards Josh’s direction and I noticed a couple of other people surrounding him—people from our old school. There were tons of them, and they all were fooling around.

        “You ready to go back home?”

        “Yeah.” I muttered. Home was way overdue.  Did anything change while I was away? “Let’s go home.” I wouldn’t mind a change, but the better question is: could I handle the change?

        “We also have to celebrate your birthday,” mom said, taking my handbag from my hand and guiding us towards the exit. “Did you do anything there?”