Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Six

Ecie sat on a bench with Verde eating frozen yogurt from large cups as they watched people walk past them.

'I don't know what we're next going to do,' Ecie said. 'We've followed him all over the place.'

'When is your mom going to introduce you?' Verde asked.

'I don't know,' Ecie shrugged. 'Maybe they broke up or something.'

'Maybe,' Verde replied.

'Yeah,' Ecie nodded. She tucked stray strands of hair behind her ear as the wind blew. 'So how are things with you?'

'Good,' Verde replied. 'I miss Ed, but it's all for the best.'

'Where is he? I haven't seen him since the summer.'

'He's travelling,' Verde replied. 'He'll be back after Easter.'

'Right,' Ecie nodded. 'That's a long time.'

'Yeah I know,' Verde replied. 'In the space of that time we would have gone to Cabo and Palm Springs.'

'That's so crazy.'

'Yeah,' Verde nodded. 'Did you see the doctor?'

'Yeah,' Ecie replied. 'He said that my ankle is fine, but I should still take it easy. He said that I should be able to go back to cheering in a few days.'

'You've got no hands though,' Verde said. 'How are you going to do that?'

'Do you remember camp in like the sixth grade?' Ecie asked. 'I learnt how to do one sided cartwheels and stuff. I think I'll be fine.'

'Were you bummed about the Surf?'

'Yeah,' Ecie nodded. 'But I guess that's what I deserve for pushing myself.'

'You shouldn't think like that,' Verde said. 'You don't deserve anything bad.'

'Yeah well we all interpret the world a little differently.'

Verde shrugged. 'I think that Grayson might actually like you for real this time.'

'Why do you think that?'

'The way he was acting in Catalina,' Verde replied. 'I've heard stuff around school as well. Things aren't looking really good with him and his girlfriend. They're relationship is on the rocks.'

'I make the mistake of thinking that I need a guy in my life to make me feel happy and whole,' Ecie replied. 'I keep making the same mistake.'

'What are you talking about?'

'I've been having a thing with Langley,' Ecie replied looking down at her hands. 'I wouldn't say it was anything serious, but we've been hanging out a bit.'

'In Catalina?'

'That's when it started up again,' Ecie replied. 'We were kind of together over the summer and stuff.'

'Ecie,' Verde said. 'Do you really like him?'

'It's his eyes,' Ecie replied. 'It's his stupid mesmerizing perfect flipping eyes. Every time I look into them, I feel so safe and so secure like nothing can hurt me. It's like I'm falling for him all over again and it happens every single time.'

'As long as you're happy,' Verde said. 'I just hope you understand how serious these kinds of things can get.'

'I know,' Ecie said looking at her BlackBerry. 'We should probably get back to the store. My break ends in five minutes.'

They got up and left the bench and made their way back to Chêne de Pois.