The Other Side

Crazier

Chapter 8:

Erika

“Hey, Aid,” I said with a smile as I leant against the doorframe of his room. It was one of the old guest rooms at my place, and it was sparsely decorated. The walls were an off-white color, the tones of the room shifting from white to black to gray to white again. It was an even blend of the two contrasting colors, and was strangely pleasing to the eye. I don’t know how my mother managed to pull that off… Guess I’ll never know.

“Heya Eri,” He replied distractedly, still clicking around on his laptop. “I have a presentation due tomorrow, but otherwise I’m free today. You wanna go do something?”

“Heck yeah! I feel like I haven’t spent time with you in ages. When are we leaving?”

“Lets say, around 10 minutes?” He offered, glancing at the clock mounted on the wall.

“Where are we going though?”

“I don’t mind. Oh, wait, I saw this park along the road just a few days ago, do you want to go there?”

“You mean Fendell Park? Sure, we can go there. Picnic?”

“Definitely. See you in a bit,” he said dismissively, turning back to his work.

I went back down the stairs and headed into the kitchen, pulling out a typical wicker basket from underneath the sink. I grabbed a blanket from the airing cupboard as well, and then proceeded to search around for food.

I heard Ayden thunder down the steps hurriedly, and enter the kitchen. “Erika, are you going out with Aiden today?”

“Yeah, so I think you need to find some entertainment for yourself,” I answered, creating my masterpiece—a toasted cream cheese and salmon bagel. “No one’s going to be home today.”

“Sure, I’ll have Tyde, Tristan and some other guys over, okay?”

“That’s fine. We don’t have any food though, so if you need some go get your own.”

“Damn, I forgot about food,” he muttered to himself, pacing to his car keys which hung on the wall beside the stove. “See ya tonight Eri.”

I placed a few packs of chips in the basket and left it on the kitchen table, sprinting up the stairs 3 at a time to get to my room.

Wriggling out of my pajamas and taking my hair out of its messy bun, I let the loose waves down around my shoulders as I put on a plain white sundress, a wide tan leather belt, combat boots and a denim vest. A silver bangle went on my left arm next to my watch, and a matching star pendant hung from my neck. I carefully slid my Ray-Bans into my hair and put on a touch of eyeliner and mascara.

I also picked up my acoustic guitar from the stand and threaded the strap over my head, swinging it over my back. Then, I flipped my songbook open and found the song that I was thinking of, hurriedly double-checking the lyrics, chords and melody.

By the time I got back down the stairs, Aiden had already double checked the food in the basket and put in drinks as well. As he cast me a mock accusing look, I blushed.

“I can’t remember everything at the same time, alright?”

He grinned, showing a row of white teeth. “Good thing I’m here to ensure that we don’t dehydrate, huh.”

“Hehe, yeah, you’re like, so useful.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Glad you noticed.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go before I decide to gouge out my eyes with a knife.”