All in my head

Call

The night was long as I couldn't sleep. It feels a bit weird to know that you're actually alone in this world. You cannot really relate to anybody's situation. If you say that you've gone through the same situation or you know how it feels like to be in someone's place, you're simple lying. It's because everyone goes through different situations. Or even if it's the same then the level of harshness of the situation might be a little bit different and never the same.
It's been three days since I went out with Hale. We have only been talking to each other through messages. No calls. I just wanted to be myself again and do things like helping out Sara with her incomplete painting project. I remember that one day in between these homecoming days when Mum asked why I had such a hard time making friends and never went out with any of them.
I simply said, "You've seen those troubled teenage movies, right? Yeah well, I'm the protagonist." She didn't say anything after that. I did act pretty savage.
By the way, I don't even know what Sara's been creating the whole time. I have just been going to her house and painting on some canvas pads by filling colors in different shapes that I have been instructed to.
Sara gets too snappy and annoying too when things don't go according to what she has planned and the only thing I like about her is that she never judges people. Her love for art has made her someone who never judges anybody because everything in this world is art. She herself is a work of art. It's a very good thought actually.
These few days have been good for me. Although I did not get a chance to meet Hale but since I wasn't having my psychotic episodes anymore I felt at ease.
It was noon when I got a message from Sara. She said the exhibition was going to be held on day after tomorrow.
"Are you serious? Do I get to see the masterpiece?" I replied with a heart emoji.
"No you can't see it. We've got a special room to place it and no one can actually see it before the big day."
"Are you going to place it on your own?" I asked her again.
"No, of course not. I have a team provided by the exhibition coordinators." She replied. I could feel her smiling.
"Dad has planned a dinner for everyone today. I want you to inform everyone at your place." I got one more message.
"Okay. We'll be there. Every one of us will be there." I sent the message and I got an instant reply from her. "By everyone I meant Hale too. Dad wants to meet him."
"What? Why?" My heartbeat grew stronger.
"He thinks that Hale has brought happiness to you so he should meet him and thank him by treating him at dinner."
"Damn. Okay I'll invite him too. I'll just tell everyone. Bye"
"Bye." Her reply came.
I went to Mum and Dad's room to tell them about the dinner invitation. I hoped Mum didn't act way too much horribly at the news of having Hale with us tonight. She's been crazy for him. Ever since she knew about his existence she became a fan. I was often asked by her to make her meet him at least once but I always knocked it off by saying that he was too busy as he flew to Jamaica to see his Dad. This story wasn't true at all and Hale doesn't even know about it.
I came up the country Jamaica with reference to Liza Koshy's YouTube video. I have been watching her for a while now. Hale suggested me to watch them. She's very funny.
I knocked instead of barging in. "Come in," said Dad. I opened the door to see both of them sitting on two edges of the bed, respectively, both glaring at me with their bright smiling faces.
"Yes, honey?" She asked.
"Did you get a message from Sara?" I asked them while I was also searching for Hale's phone number on my iPhone.
"No. What's wrong?" Dad said.
"Nothing's wrong." I smiled. "They've invited us for dinner... and Hale too."
"That's amazing Aura. Now I can finally meet the man." Mum was blushing so much.
"You know what... there's no reason to blush. Don't do it." I wasn't angry, I handled it with peace.
"What? I'm just excited to meet him. He's a lovely man I suppose." She said again which made me very agitated.
"Okay. Let's get ready or we'll be late." Dad saved Mum from being thrashed by me. He winked at me, though.
I went back into my room and before changing into a dress that is suitable for dinner I called Hale. I was going to listen to his angelic hoarse voice after ages. Not literally ages but a very long time period of three days.
"Hello Aura." He said, making me relieved. I bet he smiled.
"Hi." I was happy.
"How are you?"
"Fine mostly. Thank you for asking." I searched for a perfect dress in my closet simultaneously. It was funny I had only three dresses in my closet as I always wore the comfortable garments every day.
"And why is it that you called?" He knew there was a reason.
"How do you know I called for a specific reason? Couldn't I just call you without any reason?"
"You can, certainly. But your voice sounds like you're in trouble." He broke into laughter.
"First of all I am not in any kind of trouble. Second of all, my sister's father has invited you for dinner tonight at his house."
"Wait." He interrupted. "Isn't your sister's father supposed to be your Dad? Why are you referring to him that way?"
"No. No. No. I mean my cousin sister's father. Don't you know I don't have a sibling?" I was surprised at how he never knew this.
"You never told me that you did not have a sibling so I assumed you just didn't want to talk about him or her which apparently doesn't exist now." He's got a nice sense of humor but not plausible.
"Whatever. You're going to come and pick me up. I mean to say pick us up. Instead of driving alone you should drive us too. Okay?" I wasn't asking him. I was informing him about my plan.
"Alright Aura. I'll be there. What time is it that you want me to come?" He asked.
"It is dinner so... be here at my house at eight." I nodded.
"Is it a formal thing?" He asked, sounding nervous.
"Yeah... Kind of..."I made a face. "But not too formal, don't dress in a suit. It's formal but it's still casual." I warned him right away.
"Okay."
"Okay. Bye" I said.
"Bye." He said too.
I got ready in a black full sleeved dress. First I thought of wearing the beige dress but that was too much revealing for an occasion like that. It had cuts on the waist and it was bodycon too. I tied my hair in a ponytail but then I left it open and put a slim hairband. I applied makeup on my face for the first time in several years. Last time I did it was when I had to participate in an acting competition in my junior year at school.
I applied a little bit of the foundation and used a bronzer with a little bit of lip balm. That was it. I got ready within minutes. I went downstairs to see if Mum and Dad were ready. They saw me coming and Mum said, "Wow." I got uncomfortable with the 'wow'.
"What?" I snapped.
"Nothing... You look amazing... after a long time." Dad added on to help Mum.
I chuckled. "Should I say thank you?"
"We're okay without it." They smiled it off.
The doorbell rang. "I think it is Hale. I'll get it."
Mum stopped me. "I want to get it. Leave it all to me." She went on to the door, excited. She held the door knob and looked behind at us. I felt really socially awkward. She opened the door and said hello to him. "Hello." I can sense the awkwardness in his expression even though he tried to hide it beautifully.
I waved my hand at him from across the room. He was looking like a man today and he was also looking at me, surprised mostly. He wore a black shirt with a pair of black jeans. "Hello Mr. Anderson." Dad waved back at him and went forward to give him a hug.
"So you're the man." Mum sounded ecstatic. She was so happy that she couldn't stop grinning. "Should I get water for you? Or do you need anything else?"
"No. I'm seriously fine." He said with narrow eyes and lips that couldn't stop smiling.
"I think it's time and we should go." I whispered.
"Yeah we'll just get our things. You guys go and get in the car. It'll take a minute." Mum said and disappeared into their bedroom with Dad. We were left alone. We hugged each other.
"You look very pretty today." He sounded nervous.
"Thanks. Are you nervous?" I asked narrowing my eyes.
"A little bit." He said as he burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, I got your back." I poked on his nose with my index finger. I thought that was cute. Hale gestured for me to get out first. He unlocked the car and opened the door for me which was next to the driver's seat. Mum and Dad arrived soon after. They sat on the back seats.
We didn't talk for most of the drive except for when Dad corrected Hale as he was going on the wrong path. We had a warm welcome from Sara's family. Everyone greeted each other. Mr. Rylie escorted us to the living room. Mrs. Rylie was present today. "Thank God you knew we had a get-together today." I commented.
"No problem for me, Aura." She replied back, shaking her head more than required.
Hale looked at me with surprise. He might've thought I was acting unusually different. He eyed me in a question but I ignored it. Then he put his arm around my back to whisper into my cheeks. "Is there an enmity I sense between you two?" He narrowed his eyes.
"We'll talk about this later. I'll tell you. I promise." I said with a crooked smile near his face.
"Don't talk to yourself children. We have a social gathering going on around here." Everyone laughed. We sat at the living room and Sara served us something to drink. I sat with Hale on the longer couch with Mum and dad on the other end of it. Sara's Dad sat on a bean bag while her Mum sat on the other sofa. "Mmm... What is this thing?" It was delicious and I couldn't stop myself from complimenting it.
"It's a passion fruit mock tail." She replied with enthusiasm. Sara blushed whenever anybody would complement her on something she had done. One time when she figured that her painting was to be published in an art gallery, she fainted in her classroom. We can't blame her biology because she was just a fourth grade kid.
"Where'd you get it?" Mum asked.
"I made it." She replied, trying to act modest.
"But we don't have any passion fruits available here. Where'd you get them?" I added.
"I ordered them a couple of days ago." She took her glass too.
Everyone was having a good time when Mrs. Rylie had to interrupt with her non-sense questions. "So Hale..." Everyone shut their mouth. "Are you guys a thing now?" Hale looked over me with discomfiture. "How long have you two been together?" she asked with a hint of guilefulness in her tone.
"We're not a thing." I intervened in the conversation which was about to begin. "God! Don't say that." My face would've been red with fire but it didn't happen as Hale came to my rescue.
"We're not a thing Mrs. Rylie but I'm sure we'd try." Everyone chuckled.
"Young man, you've got a great sense of humor. I'm impressed." Mr. Rylie spotted out.
"Have I?" He joked.
After an awkward silence My Dad asked Hale. "So... What do you do? What are your interests?"
"I'm a musical man. That's what your daughter said when she figured out I sing and play some instruments."
"Of course you are. What instruments can you play?" Dad said.
"I can definitely play the guitar and a piano. I'm okay with the drums and I have a hidden talent. I'm pretty good with the kazoo."
"Oh! Wow!" I heard noises from across the room. "You never told me about the kazoo." I pointed out in whispers.
"I never felt the need to. We're busy talking about other things, right?" He made his point of view clear. Meanwhile Sara's Mum wasn't enjoying. I could see this from her expression. She sat there motionless. I knew that she was plotting something uncanny and viciously scrupulous.
"Well I'm not going to ask you to play or sing something for us right now or it would be absolutely weird-"
"No. It's okay." He cut Dad's words. "I can sing for you guys."
"I have a guitar with me." Sara shouted out loud.
"Bring it. I'll play something for you guys." Sara quickly went into her room and brought a guitar immediately.
"What will you play?" I asked slowly so that only he can hear it. He replied, "It's an original song." He started to strum the guitar and I got lost into its tune. Then he sang the vocals.
Heaven only knows
What I would've done
If this person right here
Would be gone.
The symphony she makes
With her lovely mistakes
Got me feeling high
On my life right now.
She's just an angel
On this earth
Trying to make her way
To be happy
She's an angel
She's an angel
She's an angel
She's all I have wanted to be.
She's all I wanted to keep.
She's a prize
I've won.
Oh do you even know
How lovely she is?
It was so lovely that my feet tapped to the rhythm of it. When he was done with the song everyone cheered and clapped for him except for Sara's mother.
"That was amazing." Mr. Rylie spotted out.
"Actually, Aura asked me a couple of days ago to write a song about her. I did. This one I played right now is the one."
"Oh my God. That's so sweet. Thank you." I said.
"That was amazing." Mr. Rylie cheered him up.
"That's not it Mr. Rylie. Hale guarantees that if you give him a situation he'll come up with a song for it within seconds." I declared out loud.
Everybody hooted for him and Mum came up first. "Okay. You're on a beach with Aura and she isn't talking to you. Come up with a song for that."
"Mmm..." He thought for a while then started playing the guitar and singing as well. "I'm sure you tell me anything under the sun. Like how you think I'm special and the only one..."
"Wow..." I said.
"I'll say the next one." Sara said. "You're in a school and you have to give a pep talk to the students seated in the auditorium."
"Who says? Who says you're not perfect? Who says you're not worth it? Who says you're the only one that's hurting? Trust me. That's the price of beauty... Na... na... na...." He ended the song right there. I was just enjoying the moment. I sat there next to him and had the most amazing time of my life.
"Wow. You're really fast." Dad pointed out. "But I've got something too. You're in love with someone who is cheating on you and you know it but you still keep on forgiving that person."
"Ooo... That's a tough one. Na... na... na..." He started to think of a few songs and he strummed the guitar all of a sudden when he finally found the song. "And yes I let you use me from the day that we first met and I'm not done yet. I'm falling for you. Fool's gold." Everyone applauded for him with claps and cheers.
"Okay that's enough for now. Let's eat dinner first." Mr. Rylie said.
Hale left the guitar leaning against the sofa and helped me get up too. My legs were sore from sitting in one position. I stretched and almost tripped on the ground but Hale caught me from behind. "Oh God, I'm clumsy." He laughed when I said this. "Just be careful." He slowly released me from his hands.
"What have you cooked?" I asked Sara as she usually handled the kitchen section in a get-together.
"See for yourselves. Be seated first."
All of us sat around the table. Hale sat next to me and my other side was left empty for Sara to be seated but she was busy in the kitchen. She got lost for a moment because she couldn't decide where to sit. I told her to come and sit next to me as I had saved it especially for her. "Thank you Aura. Where would I be if you weren't there with me?" She giggled.
Sara told everyone to uncover the lids of the dishes placed before us. Everybody began to compliment her for all those lovely things she had cooked for us. "Oh my God... I love this ravioli." Hale said.
I took some of the ravioli too but I also took some steak with rice. I wasn't much hungry so I kept it minimal. Everyone was chatting to each other while they ate. Hale was a big part of the conversation. They spoke on the most absurd topics of all time. For example, they talked about why Ralph from 'wreck it Ralph' started to like Venelope from other game. They had a serious conversation on this topic. I remember they also talked about the Titanic ship. My family had a funny streak to themselves.
After we were done eating Dad wouldn't stop complimenting Sara on her newly discovered cooking skills for 'exotic food'. Before, she used to cook the normal food we eat everyday but that day was special. Sara said that she cooked only because Hale would be with us. "Aww... Thank you so much, Sara." Hale thanked her.
"Don't mention that." She said.
The dinner passed out well and it was followed by another round of completely illogical conversations. I noticed that only Sara's Mum and I were the ones who never spoke except for one time when I was so much involved.
Dad asked Hale how we met and it made Hale completely speechless. "We met in school." I said on behalf of him.
"Oh... you guys were in the same class." Mr. Rylie asked and Hale was speechless again. I had to answer in rescue.
"No. We met at a school event. He... had come... to my school... to perform." I had to build up a story as I did not want any of them to know that we met at the hospital for the first time. "Em... That is how we met. I was involved with the preparations... so I met him that way." I nodded to make it sound real.
"Whatever..." Said Dad and he continued to talk to him for the next one and a half hours.
It was time to go now. We said our goodbyes and hugged each other. Hale dropped us at our house and when we reached home, Mum and Dad went inside.
I was still there with him, standing near the car. He leaned towards the car with his left hand and I stood facing him.
"I had a great time today." He nodded.
"I wouldn't say great. But it was okay."
"Okay." He smiled by brushing air out of his nostrils. "So... you're looking nice today."
"I know that." I smirked. We laughed together.
"Are you just going to sleep now?" He asked.
"Yes. I'll try to sleep. It's not something I'm extremely good at." I joked.
"So... I'll see you later then." He sounded nervous.
"Don't you want to talk right now?" I tried to sound like I am offended, not literally.
"Oh no... I would love to talk." He got impassioned.
"Just kidding. I think I'm going to sleep okay today." I made a thoughtful expression.
"Alright then... Bye Aura. Sleep well." He said to me in a very low voice.
"Good night." I jumped forward to embrace him. I held him very tight. He, too, wrapped his hands around me. It was so tight that I could almost choke him. The reason I held him so tight was that I did not want to waste the moment. I had already lost someone who I never even met in reality and losing someone again was something I couldn't bear at all. He noticed all the emotions that I had put in the hug so he kissed the back of my head. He never broke off the moment. He stayed in that position until I wanted to.
When I felt it was okay to leave him I did so. He placed his hand on my cheek and kissed me. I clung to him and his other hand reached for my waist. I came closer to him and the proximity gave me butterflies in my stomach. He loosened the grip from my face and my waist.
I smiled inducing it on his face too.
"Bye." I said.
"Bye." He said too.