Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Two

'You guys are so lucky,' Joey said at dinner with Esme, Ecie, Sara and Verde. 'I want to move to LA and come live with you guys.'

'Well you can always stay with us,' Ecie replied. 'We've got loads of space.'

'I just can't believe that your parents are going to fork out nineteen million dollars on a place for you to live,' Sara said. 'That's not to mention the rent and your college fees. I didn't realize they were so loaded.'

'But we'll probably have to pay for everything else like food and gas and clothes,' Ecie said. 'They're not going to give us any money.'

'Ha,' Verde laughed. 'I know that you'll both always be going home anyway. There'll be no point in you even having the apartment in the first place.'

'I mean E's lucky because she already has a job when we move,' Esme said. 'I'll be so poor.'

'Why don't you just get a job too?' Joey asked.

'Es is lazy,' Verde replied. 'She does nothing for herself at all.'

'That's only partly true,' Esme laughed. 'I'm not super lazy, I just prioritize things a little wrong.'

'Yeah, like Taylor,' Sara said. 'Are you guys staying together?'

'Oh yeah,' Esme nodded. 'He said he'd follow me wherever I went. It'll be good.'

'Are you and Paul staying together?' Joey asked.

'Yeah,' Sara nodded. 'He asked me to move in with him and I said yes. It's worth a try anyway. What about you and Owen?'

'We decided to split up when we go to college,' Joey replied. 'It was hard, but we knew it was for the best.'

'You'll find yourself a new boyfriend in no time,' Ecie joked. 'You'll be fine.'

'Yeah,' Joey nodded. 'But we decided that if we come back at thanksgiving and we still have feelings for each other, then we'll try and have a relationship.'

'You'll still be friends?' Esme asked.

'Yeah,' Joey replied. 'I really care about him and I don't want to break up, but we both need our freedom and stuff.'

'Well at least you guys have people to break up with or stay together with,' Ecie laughed. 'Me and Verd don't have to worry about that, do we?'

'Nope,' Verde laughed. 'We're free and single.'

'Are you not going to get back with Ed?' Sara asked.

'We thought it'd be for the best if we just left things as they were and we remained friends,' Verde replied. 'We don't want to have drama in college or anything.'

'That's sensible,' Joey nodded. 'You'll be fine in no time.'

'It's so weird how fast time has flown by,' Esme said. 'I can remember when we were all in kindergarten together, finger painting. What happened to all those years?'

'Oh I remember,' Sara laughed. 'Those were some of our best years.'

'Can you remember when we first tried out for the squad in middle school,' Joey laughed. 'We were so nervous of not making it together.'

'Yeah,' Ecie nodded. 'I remember that we stayed up all night with Verd just to try and get the routine perfect. Then when we auditioned it went completely wrong.'

'E came home crying that day,' Esme laughed. 'She's was actually bawling her eyes out because she thought she wouldn't make the squad.'

'But then we did,' Ecie smiled. 'And ever since then, it's been us two rocking the uniform.'

'Yeah,' Joey nodded. 'I think that Malibu Crest High was the making of us.'

'And now you'll both have to re-audition to get onto the squad,' Verde laughed. 'Thank god I'm not going to college with either of you because I don't want another sleepless night watching you guys practice.'

'I'm going to start crying in a minute,' Sara said fanning her face. 'All these memories are making me feel so sad.'

'Can you remember when Danny Newton pulled your hair in the fifth grade?' Verde said. 'You had just had your hair put into those awful ringlets.'

'Oh god,' Sara cringed. 'I remember that. He said that he thought my hair was a pogo stick or something and that it would spring about.'

'Whatever happened to Danny?' Ecie asked.

'He moved to Switzerland,' Esme replied. 'I think he's still living there now.'

'He was actually kind of cute,' Joey said. 'I think he was my first kiss. I can remember we kissed in the place where we kept all our bags and coats and things.'

'I remember that,' Ecie laughed. 'He was kind of cute. I wonder what he looks like now.'

'Don't even get me started,' Verde laughed. 'Can you remember those haircuts we got for our first day of middle school?'

'Oh yeah,' Esme laughed. 'They were terrible. We thought we looked so cool with them. I'm so glad my hair grew back quickly.'

'Same,' Ecie said. 'That was so embarrassing.'

'We were all so nervous about starting middle school because we left elementary,' Sara said. 'We were scared of growing up and moving to a new school.'

'It's good that we managed to stay together through all of that,' Joey said. 'I don't think we could have survived through it, if we'd split up.'

'What do you think the first day of college is going to be like?' Esme asked. 'For the first time, I'm actually really nervous about it.'

'Same,' Sara agreed. 'I think I'm happy I'm going with Paul because then at least that's one person that I know on a personal level, so we can talk and stuff.'

'We're going by ourselves,' Verde said. 'We're going to have to start all over again.'

'Just call us,' Ecie said. 'If it ever gets too much, just give us a call. We'll always be there.'

'And we can always come over and party at your place,' Joey laughed. 'I'm kind of wishing that I was getting my own place now.'

'But you're going to be in a sorority,' Sara said. 'You won't need a place after the first year.'

'You should totally be in a frat house,' Joey teased Verde. 'You'd have so much fun.'

'No way,' Verde laughed. 'My dad was in a fraternity and I vowed to never be in one. It's bad enough that I have to go to Rhode Island. I refuse to be a frat boy.'

'You'd be so cute if you were,' Ecie grinned. 'I would come and visit you all the time.'

'All the guys would want to be my friends then,' Verde said. 'They'd want me to introduce them to you.'

'Oh Ecie,' Joey laughed. 'I think you should stay away from Rhode Island.'

'Ha,' Ecie laughed. 'I am staying away from guys for a long time. I'm going to practice being celibate from now on. I've decided that I won't be with any guys til I've graduated from college.'

'Four years?' Sara stared wide-eyed. 'Really?'

'Really, really,' Ecie nodded. 'Guys are such a waste of time anyway. I'm so over all of that stuff.'

'As if,' Esme laughed. 'You say that now, but I know what'll happen.'

'You guys should have faith in her,' Verde laughed. 'She needs all the support she can get.'

'Thank you Verd,' Ecie said. 'Thank you for being so understanding.'

'Oh I wasn't talking about myself,' Verde joked.