The child, the Wild and the Morbidly awkward Introvert

Cora─Best Friends Forever

I was dressed up again to meet a bunch of celebrities and famous people I hardly even knew. The green and black dress I wore with the clackety black shoes, large black earrings and lace clutch bag made me feel like I was trying too hard to be someone I could never be. I was only temporary anyway but was struggling to cope with the harsh truth that Sparrow was in love with someone else. Someone he hardly knew. Yet he felt like he knew her very well. I had been friend zoned. By a pretty man. My life was spectacular!

"You have never been quiet for so long before." Sparrow muttered as he led me into an eatery full of the glossiest people I had ever seen.

I shot him a brave smile.

He suddenly wrapped an arm around my waist, making my legs give way so I was forced to lifelessly fall against him as he led me to a table in the middle of the room. I made a big effort to sink gracefully into the chair he pulled out for me.

It was only after he sat down alongside me that I noticed how pretty all the other people were. The men were casually formal princes with bouffant hair dos and the women were diamond-decked primadonas with mounds of make up on their opulent faces. I felt like a dull moth forced to befriend butterflies as I noticed all eyes were undeniably on the masterpiece beside me and gripped my clutch bag tight enough to make my knuckles hurt. Why had Sparrow picked me when he could have had anyone else in the room? Did they know I was only a temporary replacement for a more permanent solution? My face felt scalded.

"Heard your latest album blew away minds." A busty blonde sat across from me told Sparrow, her mountanious busts threatening to spill out of her dress and crush me.

I watched Sparrow out of the corner of my eye for a reaction.

His jaw clenched as he focused on not looking at her offerings. "Well...you know what my fans are like. Nothing could really be done without them-"

She shot me a coy little smile. "Such a humble beast is he not?"

I forced myself to smile back, feeling like a fat lump of lard.

"Cora is an artist too-"

I shot Sparrow a threatening, toothy grimace; did he really have a death wish?

He seemed to ignore me completely.

I focused on trying to pinch his leg.

He gently pinched one of my fingers.

I almost gasped...then noticed busty-blonde was looking at me eagerly and decided to string together a sentence. "Well...yeah...I mean...erm...I...yes...I like Salvador Dali and the whole surrealism concept-"

She nodded blankly, eyes repeatedly drifting to Sparrow who was talking to four people in one go, somehow seeming completely relaxed.

I cleared my throat and looked at my lap, face aflame.

"May I know your secret?"

I looked up in confusion at another, simpering woman with coppery ringlets and wide eyes.

She gestured at me. "Isn't she just...pin thin Lizzie?!" She nudged the blonde. "So put together and elegant and I wonder how she manages it."

I felt my throat try to suffocate my next cohrent sentence. "I just try to...well enjoy food...as much as I can..." I sounded like a robot.

"And is your hair really black?!"

"Yes." I would have bitten my nails if I was a nail biter.

"The other day Lizzie and I were talking about you and Sparrow and how we think the two of you make a lovely couple-"