“Some new neighbors! Come look!” Elodie turned around and saw her sister standing in the middle of the dining room, a copy of Great Expectations in her right hand, looking like she was eager to get on with her reading.
Heloise huffed as she placed her book on the dining room table and took a seat to her sister’s left. She opened the blinds of the window to Elodie’s left and briefly glanced at the buzz of activity that her sister was watching.
After ten seconds, Heloise shrugged her shoulders and remarked, “Well, at least it looks like we’re getting some new neighbors who are in our age range. Nice to see some other teens for once.”
“I know, right?” Elodie exclaimed. “We need to go over and introduce ourselves to them. Not right now but in a few hours. What do you say?”
“We need to go over? You mean you need to go over. I don’t really want to. You’re the more social one.”
“Oh come on, Heloise! It’ll be fun! It’s just to say hello and introduce ourselves. We’ll be quick about it. Plus....” She gestured with her head in the general direction of the new neighbors. “Our neighbors aren’t just teens. They’re boys.” She raised her eyebrows with a light giggle.
Heloise shook her head and rolled her eyes at her sister’s boy-crazy behavior. “You’re acting like you’ve never seen males of the species before. You can go over, Elodie. I’ll stay here.” She closed the blinds of the window she was looking out of and rose from her seat. She headed directly for the book she’d left on the table.
“Are you sure? It won’t hurt to go over and talk to them. They won’t bite us, you know.”
Heloise paused with one hand on her book and her other hand on her hips. She raised her eyebrows the way she usually did when she was exasperated with her sister. Finally, she sighed. “Fine. But just for ten minutes. We’ll say hi and leave. Promise?”
“Yeah yeah sure, I promise,” Elodie responded with a wave of her hand. She was intending to stay as long as she wanted to and her sister would just have to deal with it. Besides, it wouldn’t kill her to be a little more more social for a while.
Elodie continued looking out the window at the new family, waiting for just the right time to make her move. She had already seen the two teenaged boys about her age and two adults walking behind them. She watched as the new boys hauled an new-looking green and blue couch into the house while the parents came and went with boxes in their hands. Elodie was so wrapped up in watching them that she didn’t even notice her sister left the dining room and returned later.
“So are you ready to go?” Heloise suddenly asked.
Elodie jerked her head and saw her sister standing about five feet behind her, decked out in a light raincoat and boots. “Well, you said you wanted to go over and talk to them. Let’s go then.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting you to be all ready,” Elodie said incredulously.
“Let’s just go and say hi. Remember, you promised.”
“Yeah sure, let’s go then!” Elodie squealed and immediately ran over to get her coat and boots.
As Elodie approached the door, she noticed her sister, who had been walking about ten paces behind her, digging her hands deep into the pockets of her coat, stray bits of hair falling into her face. Elodie dismissed it, not giving it a second thought as she rang the doorbell.
One of the boys Elodie had seen earlier that day answered the door. He was at least six feet tall with olive skin, a slight stubble around his chin as if he hadn’t shaved for a few days, and curved eyebrows. His face was framed with shoulder length, unkempt curly black hair and he wore dark brown pants and an orange t-shirt with a long-sleeved dark green zippered sweater over it. There was a charm in the way he stood so nonchalantly in the doorway, his eyes focused on Elodie’s face.
He opened the door and immediately saw Elodie, who was standing in front of her sister. He raised an eyebrow and greeted the girls with a simple hello. Elodie was very impressed so far with their new neighbor. He was even more handsome up close than he was from afar.
“So, you must be our new neighbors,” he said.
Elodie gave him a huge smile, her attempt at hiding the anxiety knotting in her stomach, and answered, “Yeah we are. I’m Elodie DeGarmo and this is my sister Heloise.” She turned her head and gestured to Heloise standing behind her, hands still in her pockets. “We live right next door.”
“I’m Quentin. Quentin Rice. Come on inside, we’re just watching TV,” Quentin announced, giving Elodie a wink and flirty smile and opening the door wider so that she and Heloise could come in. “This is my brother Robert.” He gestured to the teenager standing behind him who looked a lot like Quentin except for a slightly different build and a completely different hairstyle. The aforementioned Robert gave them all a simple wave and went back to the sports game on the television.
The house was a one-story home like theirs but much smaller. As Elodie walked into the house ahead of her sister, she saw two large couches and a TV immediately to her left, boxes piled everywhere in the kitchen and living room, and even more boxes piled in the hallway to her right leading to the bedrooms. The TV was playing the local weather report, something about how the drizzly weather they were experiencing that weekend would continue into the week. The smell of microwave macaroni and cheese filled the air, and she could see a few plastic bowls set out on the kitchen counter. It didn’t look like any parents were home, or maybe they had just gone to bed early. It turned out it was the latter, as Quentin told them later.
“Sorry about the mess of boxes. We did just move in today,” Quentin chuckled, first looking at Elodie and then looking toward the kitchen at something unseen. Elodie grinned at his little joke as her sister pushed past her and took a seat on one of the couches next to Robert, clearly looking uncomfortable.
“So where did you move from, anyway? We don’t get new neighbors all the time around here in our little corner of Virginia.”
“We’re from Raleigh,” Quentin replied. He led Elodie to one of the couches in front of the television set and patted the cushion next to him. “Mom and Dad are hippies who wanted to get closer to nature. So we left the big city and came here.”
“Welcome to our little town then,” Elodie spoke, turning to face Quentin. She made a point of flipping her long hair over her shoulders and a small grin came across his face. They were sitting only a foot away from one another and from this close distance, Elodie could look him over a little more. There were the subtle curls in his dark hair as it flowed around his shoulders, the prickly, unshaven stubble around his chin, the cool way that his orange shirt and green vest rested on his broad shoulders, and his large, caramel hands resting on his knees. His hands looked large enough to completely envelop Elodie’s dainty ones.
“And thank you for the welcome,” he added. “By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the name Elodie before. Lovely name.”
She let out a nervous giggle before responding, “Thank you. It’s French.”
“Isn’t that the language of love?” he asked.
“Very original. That’s what everyone asks me.”
She wondered if he was aware of how nervous Elodie felt at that moment. With Quentin sitting just next to her, Elodie’s eyes drifted down to her hands knotted together on top of her knees. In the background, the television blared a weather report for the next five days, and in an effort to curb her anxiety, Elodie looked up at the screen and tried to pay attention, despite the banality of what was going on.
“So how does a girl with a French name end up in a small town like this? I didn’t know this town had such a large French population.”
Elodie turned back to Quentin, laughed and threw her hair over her shoulders again, making Quentin smile. “My Papa is French. He met my mom while she was visiting France. And that’s how I ended up with my French name.”
“So can you actually speak French?”
“Non, je ne sais pas parler français.” She raised her eyebrows to Quentin’s delight and chuc
kled to herself as he beamed at her little joke.
“Sounds lovely. I can barely speak English, so you’ve already one upped me!”
“Anytime, Quentin. Bienvenue,” she replied, her eyes still fixed on Quentin’s face as her palms began to sweat. She wasn’t used to this intense feeling coming over her and though she knew she sounded confident on the outside, on the inside she was anything but.
Elodie hardly noticed the time going by until she began to yawn from fatigue. She and Quentin had been talking for the last few hours about any and everything it seemed: school, interests, anything that came to mind. Only when she finished her yawn did she realize that she, Quentin, and his brother Robert were the only ones left in the room.
“Wait, what time is it?” she panicked.
“11:15. Oh and your sister left about four hours ago. She sure didn’t stay very long, did she?” Robert shrugged as he switched off the television, which was now showing a rerun of some show from the 90s.
He’s right. Elodie glanced around and didn’t see her sister anywhere. She deduced that Heloise had probably gone home, which didn’t surprise Elodie. After all, she wasn’t much for social engagements, especially with people she didn’t know very well.
“Well, I should probably get going,” Elodie huffed. She turned to face Quentin. then leaned forward to his left ear and whispered, “See you tomorrow, Quentin.”
“See you in school.” He gave her a nonchalant wave before getting up from the couch to walk her to the door. The two of them were all talked out from the last few hours, so their walk to the door was quiet.
Her heart did somersaults in her chest, but all she could do was simply wave goodbye. She waved goodbye and she left their house. Her conversation with Quentin left Elodie with a buzz in her head and a flutter in her heart that she had only ever felt a few times before. All Elodie could think about was Quentin and everything about him. She analyzed his voice, like the way he said he’d see her in school tomorrow and how he was looking forward to it. She analyzed his different smiles, remembering how his cheeks rose with that first smile he gave her as he laid his eyes on her at his front stoop. Nothing else could enter her mind
By the time Elodie made it through the front door, it felt like ages since she’d been home. Before she left the house, she hardly knew Quentin, only admiring him from afar. Now she felt completely changed, and she wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing yet.
Their mother was still awake, engrossed in a television show. Her wavy red hair hung in wet strands around her face, falling against her pajamas. She looked up from the TV set at the sound of Elodie taking off her boots. Heloise was nowhere to be found. Then Elodie heard the sound of water starting up and the slam of the shower door from the bathroom next to their bedroom. That answered her question.
Shannon rose from the couch, switching off the television with the remote in her hand and setting it down on the TV stand. She approached Elodie, who was just staring into space with no doubt a faraway look on her face. Remembering the smell of Quentin’s cologne was making her dizzy with the memories of that evening.
“So I take it that your visit with the new neighbors went well?” Shannon inquired.
Elodie snapped out of her reverie, turning her head to face her mother. It took a moment for Quentin’s face to disappear from her mind before she broke out into a huge grin and answered, “I think you could say that, Mom. He’s.... wonderful. I can’t even explain it.”
“You don’t have to, sweetie. I can see it all over your face.” Shannon chuckled.
Elodie was never good at hiding her feelings. She felt the heat of a blush coming to her cheeks and she gave a nervous laugh.
“I know that look. I was young once too and I remember it well. Bonne nuit.” She brought her daughter in for a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. It was her usual nightly routine with her daughters and Elodie didn’t mind it one bit.
“Night, Mom.”
Elodie strolled over to the bedroom to gather her night clothes while her sister showered. She stood in the middle of the room still pondering everything that evening and though she normally would have taken her shower right after her sister did, she was so exhausted that she simply put on her pajamas and fell right into her top bunk. All she wanted to do was think about Quentin.
As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep but nervous sleep, where her dreams alternated between seeing Quentin for the first time at school the next day and going out on dates with him. Holding his hand. Kissing his lips and everywhere else. It was enough to make Elodie sick with anxiety when she woke up suddenly to the sound of her alarm. Oh my God....
The morning passed in a blur for Elodie. After a quick shower, she made a point of picking out one of her best outfits: a white and flowing long-sleeved flowery top that cut just low enough that Elodie wouldn’t get into too much trouble for violating her school’s dress code, her favorite pair of dark blue jeans, and her favorite, lucky silver bracelet. She must have spent at least forty minutes in the bathroom making sure her face was made up perfectly.
“Oh my, aren’t we all dressed up today,” Heloise remarked when Elodie finally joined the rest of her family at the breakfast table. Heloise had already eaten most of her cereal and their mother was in the study doing some writing, her usual morning routine. Francis was already at work, as of a few hours ago as usual.
Elodie tossed her hair over her shoulders and announced, “Thanks. I need to make sure I look my best today. You know how it is.”
“If you spent as much time on yourself and boys as you could on your studies, you’d be a genius by now,” Heloise muttered to herself, not even bothering to look at her sister as she took a sip of hot lemon tea that Elodie could smell from across the room.
Elodie placed her hands on her hips and scoffed. “And what’s that supposed to mean? Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Elodie retorted. “What’s your problem anyway?” She didn’t even feel hungry that morning, so she didn’t bother to go get herself a bowl of cereal. Instead, she went over to the kitchen where their mother had set out some fresh strawberries to go with breakfast.
“You promised we were only going over last night to say hello. But no. Of course we didn’t. And I should’ve known because that’s how it always is with you. You only think about yourself all the time. Do you know what it was like for me to be over there with you while you acted ridiculous and threw yourself as Quentin while I sat there, bored out of my mind trying to make conversation with his brother? I left after only fifteen minutes because I could barely stomach your behavior. It was like hell! And don’t say that I didn’t try to be sociable. Robert is not very exciting to talk to at all. The only thing he was interested in was the stupid sports game on the television.” Heloise got out of her seat and stalked toward the kitchen, practically tossing her bowl and spoon in the sink.
“You’re just jealous that all the boys want to talk to me instead of you,” Elodie spat back, a half-eaten strawberry in her mouth. She threw the green top of the strawberry into the open trash can next to the counter and stomped over to her sister. “Maybe you should put a little more effort into being nice to people. I’m pretty sure that if you had actually sat there and talked to Robert, he would’ve been nice to you back. But no. You have to hide behind this..... whatever you want to call it, with your sarcastic comments and being all weird and ugly. It’s no wonder so many people dislike you!”
Heloise had been looking off in the distance as Elodie spoke to her, and with that last sentence, she looked at Elodie like a dog that had just been kicked. Her face fell and Elodie thought she saw tears welling up in her sister’s eyes.
“Why do you have to be so mean to people?” Heloise whispered, her voice breaking at the end. She crossed her arms and started stepping away from her sister.
“Oh stop being so sensitive. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true and you know it.”
“STOP IT!” Heloise screamed at t
he top of her lungs as tears began streaming down her fallen cheeks. “You never know when enough is enough, do you? You push and push and push, that’s all you do. Just shut up and leave me alone.”
With that, Heloise stomped to their room to get her backpack. She kept stomping her way to the front door, bringing her hand to her face every so often to wipe away tears, and slamming the door behind her.
“Whatever,” Elodie retorted, throwing her hands up in the air. “I was just being honest. Whatever.”
With that, Elodie picked up her backpack and walked out the door, locking it behind her. Besides, she had Quentin and the rest of her friends to look forward to seeing at school. Or maybe she’d catch a glimpse of him walking to school. No doubt, with their school just down the hill, that he’d be walking to school like she and Heloise always did.
Except that she didn’t see him at all walking to school that day. Her heart sank deep into her stomach as she walked into the front doors of the school. But she couldn’t let anyone else see her sadness. As soon as she walked in, she saw her friends and she had to put on her usual happy face.
Only after she said hello to her usual group of friends did she hear a familiar voice behind her and feel a tap on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw him standing right behind her, his cologne filling her head with the memories of the night before. Quentin looked just as good that morning as he did the night before. That anxious feeling she had that morning came back, as Elodie couldn’t believe he was standing there in front of her after all. A huge smile came across her lips and she eagerly introduced him to her friends, who were standing around looking intrigued at Elodie’s new acquaintance.
“Make sure you come and sit with us at lunch, unless you have other plans of course,” Elodie teased.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Quentin said with a grin.
Around 6:30, the doorbell rang, breaking Elodie out of her thoughts. She ran to the door and saw Quentin standing on the porch, looking great as usual. She thought she might have seen some hair gel in his hair because his hair looked more slick and it went away from his face a little more than usual. Elodie opened the door and seeing him standing in the vestibule of her house made her heart almost leap out of her chest. She was happier than ever to see that he was the first one to come to her house.
Elodie and Heloise Page 2