Talk to Me

Chapter 10

    bit of a shorter chapter today

    Forest wakes up to Damien gently tapping her shoulder and talking with a calm voice, "Hey Forest, We're home."

    Forests stirs awake, gently lifting her head off his shoulder, smiling softly at him before grabbing her phone and slipping it into the pocket of her hoodie, heading out of the bus with Damien falling close behind.

   Once they get to the back of the bus, Damien grabs Forest's bags and hands it to her before grabbing his own. Forest throws a quick and tired 'thank you' towards him before heading to her car. Since they just got back, they had the rest of the day off.

    Forest drives in relative silence just letting herself rest from the crazy month of challenges and games. She loved it and had a ton of fun, sure, but it was so mentally draining she was glad to be home to rest.

   She finally arrives home, placing her bag in the same spot she grabbed them from when she left a month prior, before hanging her keys. She heads to her room and flops down onto her bed, having missed the comfort and familiarity of it.

   After being with people all month, her empty house seems so lonely. She contemplates for a moment, before deciding to text Eloise. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something soon."

    She waits for a couple minutes before hearing her phone ding with a text from Eloise. "Omg Yeah of course I do! What do you want to do?"

   Forest tries to think about what they two could do without wearing out their social battery more. She remembers there was a thrift shop close to her house that she used to go to all the time. "There's a thrift shop close to my house if you're interested," Forest finally texts back.

    She waits a couple minutes before hearing her phone ding once again. "I love thrift stores! Send me the address" Eloise texts back.

   Forest texts her the address and grabs her wallet and keys quickly saying goodbye to her cat and heading out of the door. Once Eloise arrived, Forest quickly hugged her before they headed inside the thrift shop.

   The thrift shop had a comforting vibe. The lights weren't too bright, there was gentle music playing in the background, and the worker welcomed them as soon as they came in. This was definitely a nice change in scenery from what they dealt with the past month.

  Forest and Eloise walk around looking through the records. There were some really good options, each grabbing a couple. Eventually the two moved to the clothing section, Eloise finding some cute tops and a couple pairs of jeans that fit her style perfectly. After about an hour of strolling around, the duo decides to check out.
 
   Once they get to the register, Forest sees a basket of stickers which they can never refuse. They look through them quickly while Eloise gets checked out by the young girl at the register. By the time it was Forest's turn, she had picked out four stickers to go with her records.

   Because it was getting kind of late, the two decided to get a quick bite to eat before heading their separate ways. They headed to a McDonalds that was just down the street from the store. They walk together talking like they've known each other for years even though it's only been a month.

   Once they arrive at the McDonalds they each quickly order their food before finding a booth to sit down at. They get their food relatively quickly and throughout the whole meal the two couldn't stop laughing. At this point they are sure everyone in the restaurant must hate them.

   They walk together back to their cars. No matter how much Forest's social battery was worn out, hanging out with Eloise seemed to charge it instead of draining it. Usually when Forest gets home she has to just lay in bed but she didn't feel like that would be necessary with her.

   When they got back to their cars, Forest hugged Eloise quickly before opening her car door for her. Before Forest shut it she tells Eloise to tell her when she gets home. Forest gets back in her car and takes a deep breath, glad to have a new friend. She drives back home with the smile never leaving her face.

    Forest stays up pretty late that night just watching dumb youtube videos and scrolling on Tik Tok. Before she knew it, it was already one in the morning. Forest playfully rolls her eyes at her cat, "Binx why did you let me stay up this late?"

   She laughs at herself before heading to bed. The comfort of her own bed feeling even more relaxing after being without it for a month. She quickly falls asleep with gentle music playing in the background.