I have been ready since seven, but I haven’t mustered the courage to leave my house, truth be told I would like to get there since 7:30, I just don’t know if I would be able to deal with all the awkwardness of being there alone with the, girls… but, at the same time, I want to be there early to see Cris, and I don’t even understand why, I just know that that’s what I want right now.
I’ve been pacing in my room for the past 20 minutes, I sit in my bed, I stand up, I put my hair up, I put it down, I change my sweatshirt; I’m beginning to feel anxious and I don’t understand why either, its just a party and it’s not like it’s the first party I’ve ever gone to… I think. Because of my migraines, there are things sometimes that get a little confusing when I try to remember them, but while it can be a little frustrating, it doesn’t really affect my day to day, so I just let them go.
But, anyway, my hands are now shaking a little, I see the time and its 7:25 now, so I make a decision right then to just go, without dwelling on it.
Once I get to the closest station, I text Cris to ask her to send me the exact location, because even though the area seems vaguely familiar, I can’t really tell exactly where I am, and I don’t want to get lost. I arrive to the house and I stay outside for a few moments, it is such a huge house, at least two stories, and I start thinking about how huge the party is going to be and in the amount of people there’s going to be and I start feeling anxious again, I start thinking about leaving and just apologizing to Cris, and just before I make the decision to leave, the door opens and Cris comes out.
“Hi! I’m so glad you’re here, we’re far more behind than we thought, and we need as much help as we need, come, let’s go in.”
She takes my hand and pulls me inside the house, we go across the receiver, the living room, the dining room, we go into a hallways and then downstairs all the way to the bottom floor; she doesn’t let go of my hand at any point, not until we make it to the basement when we came across Amira and Nora. I see how their eyes immediately go down to our joint hands and Cris let’s go immediately.
“Girls, this is Joana.”
Both of them turn to look at me, Nora raises her hands and introduces herself and Amira just tells me her name, then she turns to look at Cris and walks away to the other side of the room to where Viri is hanging some decorations. Cris touches my shoulder and signals me to follow her, so I walk behind her until we reach a huge couch where the fifth girl is sitting down with a cup in her hand.
“Hey, Eva.”
The girl looks up and almost spits out what she was drinking when she sees me.
“Eva, this is Joana. Joana. Eva.”
Eva comes close, gives me a double kiss, and hugs me rapidly.
“Joana, its nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
We stay in silence for a few seconds, in which they share a look I don’t quite understand.
