A Wolf in the City

10. I am in!

Raven.

On returning back home, I meet Flora in there with Jackie and they are at yet another argument when I walk in.

“Oh, you are back already, girl?” Jackie says to me as soon as he sights me while he has his phone stretched up away from Flora’s reach.

“Uh, obviously? This is not my twin or ghost in front of you, is it? And what on earth is going on here? Why are you guys fighting over a damn phone?” I ask, looking to and fro between the two lovers.

“Ugh, thank God you’re back, sis. They have been at this for hours, it is so hard to believe that these two are getting married soon. Do you not advice each other or something? I mean only someone who’s planning suicide will see this lady and say he wants to spend the rest of his precious life with her. It’s preposterous!” Winter says as she waltzes in while on her phone as usual.

She never liked Flora ever since she had been introduced to us by Jackie and she never hides it, not that she can hide anything even if she tries though, it’s Winter after all. At first, I thought that it was just because of the childish crush she had on my best friend but as time goes on, I got to know that she really just does not click well with Flora, the same way I don’t. It’s just that we can hide things better than one another.

“Oh, shut up, Winter. That’s just your childish crush talking, I am literally the best woman any man can ever have to himself and that’s why Jackie here clings to me and never wants to leave me.” Flora says, thus eliciting an eye roll from me.

“She is delusional too, ugh!” Winter says, not backing down so I know I have to stop her because she just does not know when to stop at all and I don’t want this dragging on forever.

“Winter, don’t you have picture to upload on ** and people to stalk on f******k or something? Leave adult business alone, you can not understand the matters of love.” I say with blatant sarcasm.

Winter looks at me like I am being crazy but she finally surrenders, not without getting the last words though, “I still remain on my stand that you can do better than this, Jackie. I am so disappointed.” She says before disappearing into her room.

“I am so sorry about that, Flora. You know how she is, she has no filters.” I apologize even though I totally agree with my sister.

I have told Jackie this too in several coded ways that I can, I even spelt it all out twice, but he is way too obsessed with Flora to see the light right now and so I have just decided to leave him and let him shadowbox until he craves the sunlight by himself.

Jackie and I met at nursery and became best friends straight away. I liked his curly blonde hair and the way he could make anything funny. We went through everything together. We were almost like siblings, we were inseparable. He was one of the funniest, sociable people in our year and I was quite shy, but we told each other everything and I knew we would be friends for life.

We would give each other silly makeovers, make up fantasy kingdoms where we were fairy royals who rode on pure white Pegasus ponies, go exploring down in the woods, sleep over each other’s houses nearly every day. He could change a frown into a smile when I felt down, he would understand my problems and help solve them, he was worth more than gold and would give all the love a heart could hold. He was always there for me, and he still is the same way I am too. We have just been together for so long to be apart now.

Not even Flora’s manipulations and jealousy can keep us apart. Well, it definitely reduces our time together of course, but she has never succeeded fully.

Yet.

A lot of time, she tells him that she does not trust our relationship to be platonic as we both claim it is, she even dares to ask me a question pertaining to it at one party where we had a truth or dare bullshit.

“Have you ever slept with Jackie?” She had asked with a straight gaze on me. After I shook my head, she went further, “Kisses? and not on the cheek, mouth?”

I shake my head again and she pestered, “Never? At all? You guys don’t like each other? Like a secret crush? You were never aroused by him? Never?”

I soon had enough so I told her, “Flora, if you don’t trust your man, just say so. Because I feel like it does not matter how much I keep affirming these things for you, you seem to already have something engraved in your head and I’m just wasting my time.” And that was how that died down.

Despite having gist from my day for my best friend, I decide to keep it to myself and let it out another day. Flora is here after all and she can be such a party pooper.

“Raven, you’re his best friend, do you think it is okay for him to deny me access to his phone like this? He has been keeping it away from me all week!” Flora says and I finally direct my attention at her and take in her appearance.

Flora has a sculpted figure which is twine-thin. Her waist is tapered and she has a burnished complexion. A pair of arched eyebrows looks down on her sweeping eyelashes. Her delicate ears frames a button nose. A set of dazzling, angel-white teeth gleams as she blows gently on her carmine-red fingernails. It is always a pleasure to see her flowing, moon shadow-black hair. Her enticing, constellation-blue eyes gaze at me over her puffy, heart shaped lips. She has a bouncy personality and a sugary voice, which I truly adore, if only she ceases from being such a natural Karen at all times, especially with me.

Not content to be just another drone, she always wears vibrant clothes. Clothes that simply look to me as wearing the bare minimum so she does not get arrested for indecent exposure, but she calls it sexy even when she leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination.

Looking back to Jackie for some explanation on what she is talking about, I wiggle my brows for some hints but he goes ahead to say something else unrelated, “I think you should check the reply to the application right now, Raven. That is so more important than Flora’s snooping around, I have such a good feeling about this one.”

“What? It came in already?” I ask, excited yet nervous at the same time.

“I saw a notification on your computer while I was playing games on it a while ago, just before Flora came in.”

I rush towards my computer at a corner of the living room and just as I am about to click on the mail, I stop abruptly.

“I can’t do this, Jackie. What if I am just about to read another rejection mail? I don’t think I can take this for the fifth time. I feel like this will be my last straw.” I say, paranoid.

“Uhm... then, maybe you just shouldn’t read it, Raven. Because if we are being honest with each other here, it’s quite obvious that it’s going to be a rejection again, applying at different times to somewhere like the palace is just delusional...” Flora says but I have had enough so I cut her negativity off.

“SHUT THE f**k UP, FLORA!” I yell and she goes mute instantly.

“Do you want me to just read it for you instead?” Jackie asks and I nod my head meekly.

He proceeds to do that while I have my head down and my palms intertwined, “I said it! Raven! I said it!”

I look up to see my best friend jumping up and down so happily, “Said what, Jackie?” I ask impatiently.

“You got accepted, girl! You got accepted, Now is the best time to tell you that I TOLD YOU SO!” He yells as he comes to pick me up so excitedly.

I go limp in his arms as I find it difficult to accept what he had just said and when I finally get myself back, I fist bump in the air as I yell, “I AM IN! I AM IN!”