Dedicated to the person who noticed my first 1000 reads here before I did. :)

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Alazne

       Josh was greeted by Sara’s arms around his neck as soon as we got into the airport terminal. He didn’t seem to mind or even think much on it as he wrapped his arms around her waist. I couldn’t help but notice that ridiculous smile on his face as a laugh escaped his lips. He looked really happy to see her, more happy than he ever been with me.

But what did I expect him to do exactly? All through the airplane ride, there was nothing but silence between us. Not to mention the awkward looks we passed onto each other, and shifting. It was like we were strangers again. Actually, we were far from strangers. Josh wasn’t the type to behave like that around strangers.

In fact, when we first met he dragged me into the closet to hide from the principal because of one of his pranks.  So that leads me to the question: What or who am I to Joshua Grey, the infamous prankster.

Maybe I was just a wallflower to him, someone who just hides in the background without much expectations of socializing.

        Sara squealed when Josh moved his lips towards her ears. I couldn’t exactly hear what they were saying, but they both seemed more than happy to see one another. Almost intimate. Josh’s siblings rushed towards them and joined in on their hug.

        “Alana?” Mom asked me, her hands on my back. “You want to go talk to them?” She had a frown her face, her face was streaked with tears.

        “No. I’m fine,” I muttered, giving her a weak smile. My eyes moved towards my dad, who was standing by my luggage with his hands behind his back. Everything was back to normal. “I missed you, guys.”

        “Oh we missed you too,” mom said, pulling me in for a hug. “You have no idea how much your dad tried to contact you. He even offered to help with the investigation.”

        “Lauren,” dad cut her off before clearing this throat. “What she means is: we both were concerned about your well fair.”

        “That’s one way to put it—Alana did you get wider? You must’ve been eating well there.”

        It’s funny how most mothers would think their child was skinner, but mom was far from normal.  She patted my mid-section, before distancing her hands in a some-what small distance. “You were this skinny last time I saw you. Now look at you.”

        “Mom,” I said between clenched teeth. I could feel my face heating up. “Quit it.” This is so embarrassing! Couldn’t she say it in private?

        I quickly looked around, but no one seemed to acknowledge me. My shoulders slumped. I’m really getting ahead of myself. Who cares where I was or what I was doing—I am a wallflower.

        Unlike Josh. I glanced towards Josh’s direction and I noticed a couple of other people surrounding him—people from our old school. There were tons of them, and they all were fooling around.

        “You ready to go back home?”

        “Yeah.” I muttered. Home was way overdue.  Did anything change while I was away? “Let’s go home.” I wouldn’t mind a change, but the better question is: could I handle the change?

        “We also have to celebrate your birthday,” mom said, taking my handbag from my hand and guiding us towards the exit. “Did you do anything there?”

        “Of course she did,” dad said for me. “Why won’t she?”

        Mom frowned at his question. “I just figured since you know…Alana has a hard time to get along with others and all.” I bet my face turned red at her explanation, for some reason, hearing that made being a wallflower ten times harder. Is that the reason why people don’t care about me? I don’t get along with them?

        “Alana is still lovable,” dad defended. “I’m sure she made some friends.” His eyes flashed in my direction.

        “Yeah,” I stuttered, pushing my hair behind my ear. “I made a friend there. His name is Carter. Carter Dwight.”

        Dad coughed. “It’s a boy, huh?” I tensed a bit at his tone. It wasn’t frightening nor was it encouraging. It was more like he was deciding what kind of person Carter is.

        “He’s very funny,” I told him. 

        “There’s a difference between fun and too much fun, you know,” Dad said. I could feel one of his lectures coming up on what he witnesses as a police officer and the consequences.

         Thankfully, mom stopped him. “Anyway, tell us about your time there. I spoke with Beatrice. She seems like a very wise lady.”

        “I suppose she is. I never really talked to her really.” I shrugged. “She usually was out working on the case…” I trailed off. Was I ever going to see Beatrice again?

        “Alana, wait!” I stopped on my trail, spinning on my heels I turned to see the owner of the voice. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. Josh was running towards me.

        His hair fluttering tad, revealing the gleam of his diamond stud earring. He slowed down when he came near us, and gave a wave at my parents. “Hey, Mr and Mrs. Martina.”

        My heart tugged in disappointment. Even though his smile was back, he was still avoiding eye contact with me. “My parents were wondering if you three want to come over for dinner tomorrow. It’s kind of a celebration for our home-coming.”

        “Oh that sounds nice.” Mom clapped her hands together. “Doesn’t it, Alana?” 

        I gave a small smile, unsure how to answer. Dinner at Joshua Grey’s house. What a chance of a lifetime for a wallflower, I thought, sarcastically. How fortunate of me

        “Where’re your parents?” dad asked, suspiciously. He was kind of a formal guy, who didn’t really think highly of teenage boys.  “I don’t see them around here.”

Josh gave a sheepish smile, and scratched his head. My heart drummed in my chest. Why does he have that effect on me still? “My parents would’ve asked you three personally, but they are caught up in traffic.”

“They’re not here?” mom couldn’t hide her startled expression. Her eyes were wide and her bottom lip quivered a bit. She had a soft heart like that. “That’s too bad, Josh. You must be so disappointed.”

“No, ma’am. I’m fine just the way I am,” Josh said so matter-of-factly, so causally that I almost believed him. But Josh wasn’t fine. If he was fine, he’d look at me. If he was fine, he’d be running out this building and planning his next big prank, if he was fine—

I clenched my eyes shut. What did I know of Josh?  “Then I look forward at seeing them at the dinner,” I interrupted their conversation.

Mom gave me a warning look. Obviously she was bugged at my sharp tone and at how different I was from her. How odd of a child I was. After all, I’m a girl who barely had one friend. That’s not normal for an average teenage girl is it? 

“Josh.” Sara approached him from behind, and tugged on his sleeve. “We have to go now.” I inhaled, taking in Sara’s appearance. She hadn’t changed much except that she dyed the tips of her hair pink.

A big grin appeared on Josh’s face as he slung his arm around Sara’s neck, drawing her closer. “Well see you at dinner,” he said before both of them went back to their group.

“Aren’t those two adorable?” Mom exclaimed. Sadly, I couldn’t share the same enthusiasm as her. Yeah, they looked perfect for each other. Both had model looks, not to mention they most likely had similar likes and dislikes. They appeared like a match made in heaven, in my eyes.

“You think Sara will be at the dinner party?” dad asked to my surprise. Dad doesn’t usually concern himself with other people’s affairs. “The dinner seems more personal, for the people who were actually was part of the whole mishap, you know?”

“I’m sure Sara had her own problems dealing with it as the rest of us, after all Josh and her are pretty close.”

Mom had a way of making your opinions seem way wrong, no matter how reasonable it may seem to you and trap you into guilt. “I think everyone was affected by it,” I agreed. But they probably weren’t affected by it because of me, but more since they were all connected to Josh somehow.

We didn’t talk more on that topic. My parents talked about other things that were happening around town, and listened to my stories when I was away. It was strange at how much tales I had, of course, I didn’t talk about my moments with Joshua or my kiss with Carter. I doubted my dad could handle all the drama.

When we got home, I found they already prepared the dinner table, and decorated the house. Balloons were strung up on the ceiling, and music was playing gently in the background.

“Happy belated birthday,” mom sang as she gestured to the dinner table.  My dad grunted it as he dropped the bags on the ground.

“I told your mother it was too late for a party.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “But she never was one to listen to me so enjoy the party, okay kiddo?”

For once this day, I full heartedly laughed.  “You guys are a bit overdue, but I think I can make the exception.”

“I hope so, or you wouldn’t have gotten your present,” mom said, disappearing into the hallway. “Wait right here.” My smile got bigger. I looked at towards my dad.

“Any clues to what it might be?”

“You can wait,” dad told me, and pushed me gently towards the dinner table. I moved towards the table and took a seat on the table.  I took in the contents on the table, they cooked my favorite: pasta, cherry pie and lasagna.

A box in pink wrapping paper appeared in front of my face.  “It’s from both me and your dad, but I picked it out.”

“I thought we agreed to keep the idea thing anonymous.”

Mom nudged him with her elbow and sent him a warning look. She then slid out a camera from her pocket and directed it towards me. “Smile,” she sang. “I missed out a load of picture moments, don’t ruin these ones.”

The camera flashed every few seconds or so as I scrabbled to undo the wrapping. Once done, it revealed a cellphone box.

“Just to be clear: it’s for emergencies only,” Dad started his lecture. I could tell it was a lecture by the way his brows furrowed in concentration.

“With the exception of phone calls to your friends,” mom interjected. “Like the boy, you know, your new friend, Carter… perhaps.”

“We trust you’ll use it responsibly and not fool around.”

“Hush,” mom said under her breath towards him. “Alana proved well enough that she can take care of herself. You said so yourself.”

He thinks I’m responsible? A flattering feeling past through me and I grinned at my present.

“Yes, however she still needs to know her limits.”

“Can we talk about this another time?” mom asked, planting a kiss on his lips. That made him quiets him.  my father shrugged in response. Talk about awkward and weird, though mom didn’t seem to notice, but seemed rather pleased with herself. “So how about we start eating. We’re way behind schedule. The Titanic will be on television later, so we better hurry if you want to watch it.”

“Though you already watched it about a dozen times, “dad grumbled, pulling a chair for mom before he took a seat. “I don’t think it matters if you miss a few minutes or so. Besides it’ll probably be on again later.” He extended his hand and scooped pasta onto his plate. “Now let’s eat.”

I put the gift down on the table, and accepted the bowl from him. I wonder how Josh was handling his first day back. He probably was catching up with his friends and hanging out with Sara. Did he get his cellphone back? Should I ask for his number? Would he text me or call me?

What does it matter? My time being with Josh would be officially over after our dinner.  I shouldn’t care what he does, thinks or says. After all, like I told him: I shouldn’t—no, I can’t care about his personal business.