The Whimsical World of Wanda

Chapter four

The following couple of weeks were extremely rough for Wanda. As the weather outside grew warmer, John's attitude towards her grew colder. He was friendly in class but online he was sending a clear message, "Leave me alone," Though he never explicitly said that, all his actions pointed towards this sentiment. He had unfollowed her Instagram account and would not respond to any of her messages anymore. Despite all this, Wanda remained committed to her plan to ask out John during the first week of summer break, which was fast approaching.

"Nick! Come on! Sign my yearbook!" Wanda pleaded with her friend. It was the last day of school and everyone had just received their yearbooks. "No, I refuse to do something so cheesy! It's nothing personal. I haven't signed anyone else's yearbook," Nick responded. Wanda let out a huff of frustration but knew it was no use trying to convince someone as stubborn as Nick. "Hopefully we can see each other over the summer! Maybe we can go to that Greektown parade?" Wanda suggested. "Yeah, if my mom lets me!" Nick said in a dejected tone. His mother was quite controlling and distrusted Wanda so she very rarely consented for Nick to hang out with her and Nick respected his mother too much to disobey her. "Well, in case I don't see you, have a good summer!" Wanda exclaimed. Nick waved at her and the two of them waved goodbye to each other.

Two days later, Wanda's Uncle Pete arrived from England. Pete was not her biological uncle but she loved him as though he was. Pete had met her father when they were both undergraduate students at the University of Manchester and they instantly became the bestest of friends. Even after her father moved to Toronto, they remained just as close. Her father visits England every year to see Pete and his sister along with his nieces and nephews (with Wanda and her mom joining him every other year) and Pete visits them every other year as well. Pete was one of those people that you couldn't help but love. He had a jolly disposition that was impossible to break and would spread to whoever was around him. He had this lovely Northern English accent that made whatever he said sound bright and cheery. "Uncle Pete! Oh, how I've missed you!" Wanda exclaimed when she spotted him waiting outside the airport. He was so happy to see her that he physically lifted her up into the air which made Wanda's heart feel warm. "I've missed your sweet face," he said as lowered her down. The two of them then entered her mother's car and giddily chatted for the whole duration of the car ride.

Alas, this jubilant air came to an abrupt end a few days later when Wanda asked John out through the messaging function on Instagram. Although she had predicted a negative response, the fact he blocked her on all of his social media channels was a catastrophic blow to her psyche. She was inconsolable. She spent every day in her room crying. There was no stopping the tears or her misery. Her parents tried everything they could to calm her down like reassuring her that "there are plenty of other fish in the sea" and that she had done nothing wrong, he was the jerk, but nothing helped. She had loved John so deeply that an act of such defiant rejection felt akin to someone stabbing her heart a million times. This earthquake of an event meant she simply could not enjoy her Uncle Pete's company anymore. When he left, she actually found herself feeling relieved because it meant that she would no longer have to retire to her room every time she cried.

The remainder of her summer was not much different to those sorrowful days she experienced initially after John blocked her. She was simply unable to move on from him. The only way she was somewhat capable of experiencing some happiness was to hold onto a sliver of hope that John would change his mind and decide he did indeed like her. One day, as Wanda was spending another day moping in her room she remembered something, "He works at Baskin Robbins!" she exclaimed. "Okay, then let's visit him! Which location does he work at?" her mother asked. "Well, um.... that's the issue, he never said the exact location. As a matter of fact, he never said he definitely works at Baskin Robbins. He just said that he probably would over the summer," Wanda explained. "Wanda! We can't possibly find him then! There's so many Baskin Robbins in Toronto," her mother replied. "Oh come on, this is the first thing that's made me happy in weeks! I've got to give it a shot. I know the general area he lives in, we'll just go to the nearest Baskin Robbins in that location," Wanda begged. Her mother still believed the odds of them seeing John were low but she could not say no to her daughter so she relented and agreed to take her there.

Alas, her mother's premonition was right. Wanda felt deflated from the moment she saw the person behind the counter was not John but she still had figured there was a chance he was just on his break and would return shortly. "Do you know if John will be in later?" Wanda asked the girl who was standing behind the counter. "I'm sorry, who?" the girl replied with a puzzled look. "John, is he coming soon?" Wanda reiterated. "There is no one who goes by John that works here," the girl said in a blunt tone. Wanda tried to suppress her tears but was finding it very hard to do so. Her mother could tell all this by the look on Wanda's face and suggested they go home. As Wanda's mother drove home, she tried to reassure her. "Well, we both knew it was a long shot so you can't be too disappointed," she said. "I know, I know. But I just wanted something to go right!" Wanda sobbed. When they arrived home, only their dog Bowie was there. "I guess your father left already for the movies. Hey, since it's a girls' night, let's watch a romantic comedy. We could watch your favourite, Pretty in Pink!" her mother giddily exclaimed. Wanda nodded her head but all throughout the movie she continually complained about how she wished she could find her own Andrew Mccarthy. "Awwww sweetie, he's out there. You just haven't met him yet. I was 35 when I married your father," her mother responded. Wanda hated when her mom said this, she found the idea of waiting until she was 35 to find her true love terrifying.