Young Writers Society

Chapter Six

The first person she saw Friday morning was Ophelia, who waved at her. Sleep still in her eyes, Curi returned the greeting. She had been checking the mail, a mundane event she looked forward to every weekday when the woman had appeared. It surprised her to see Ophelia, but she thought nothing of it. Surely, a person had to have a reason to greet her at the mailbox.

“Ah hey, you are the cutie from the post office! Where's your mom?” Ophelia strode over on her long legs. Her hair was now in long strands with a bun at the top. Curi noticed she wore a lavender, ironed shirt with slim-fitting black pants. The color lavender and Ophelia seemed to go well together. If she had been more awake, Curi would have nagged herself for not being dressed just as nice.

“Hello Miss Ophelia,” Curi greeted politely despite her tiredness. She rubbed at her eyes. “Oh, my mom she's-”

Ophelia waved her hand in a gesture to stop her words. “Ah, it's not that important. I’ll see her tonight. Your mom is such a nice woman! Did you know she gave me a call to make sure I had directions?”

This answered why Ophelia stood outside her house so early. She had most likely wanted to scout out the place before work. She noticed Ophelia had a strong gaze on her. Curi accessed herself. Please don't have drool on my face, she thought.

“Sometimes, when I look at you I see a younger me,” Ophelia said, giving a short laugh. “Aw, can I hug you?”

Curi didn't quite know how to respond to the sudden hospitality, but a side hug never hurt anything. Besides, a part of her liked Ophelia, who was ambitious and fashionable. She wanted to be like that. When she had pulled away, Curi told her, “You know Miss. Ophelia, I was surprised to see you so early.”

Ophelia shrugged. “Yeah, my bad chickadee, I guess you’re not an early riser?”

Yawning, Curi managed an answer, “I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, but I’ll be alright.”

“That is too bad. On the bright side, the party sounds big. I've heard about it all over. I guess some influential people know your parents,” Ophelia said. She leaned her elbow on top of the mailbox.

Her parents' marketing had paid off. “Well, they know the Digis I guess, and there might be a buzz about their party due to fliers. I hadn't even known they ordered any.” Curi explained.

“Those are already out?”

“Yes, I guess in preparation for the party they were sent early.” Curi mused on the subject for a bit. She opened the mail flap and pulled out a stack of letters. “Still, I hope there's enough room to house everyone.”

Ophelia folded her arms. “The Digis, eh? I feel like I’ve heard of them, but I can't put faces to the name.” She scrunched her face.

“They are this well-known couple in the city, who are business people,” Curi explained, shuffling the letters.

Ophelia audibly groaned. “So, this probably means a lot more business people will be there right? I don't see how you can justify the party atmosphere with them there. This isn't a work function, so it should be fun!”

Curi could only tilt her head in confusion. “What’s so bad about businessmen?”

“Cutie, I was just making a point don't be worried.” Ophelia sighed and gave an odd smile, which looked more like a smirk. Her eyebrows arched mischievously. “I am sure tonight will be fun. I just know if you're not prepared stuffy-butts like business guys can mess up a good thing.”

“Nah, you have never been to an Andrews' party if you even equate it with boring. Most of the guests are unique like Mister Wolfeman.”

“He's a real hairy guy.”

Curi questioned, “You heard about him?”

Ophelia only shrugged and changed to a diminutive smile. “It's a shame what his papa is doing to him. I am trying to help the poor guy out.” Her eyes were such a dark color that Curi could not read her expression. Weren't eyes the window to a person's soul?

The woman twirled around in her ankle boots, in the grass surrounding the Andrews' mailbox. “Anyway, cutie, why don't you remind me what your name is?”

“It's Curi. What do you help him with?” Curi asked, staring at her intently. Ophelia had a cool head, but there had to be something more to her than at face value.

Either way, Ophelia appeared to be chill without being threatening. On another day, Curi might have prodded her more. She wanted to know how they had met, and what made Mister Wolfeman so sociable lately! Not only had he been convinced by his father to leave traveling for an office job, but he allowed outside help from someone he probably only met recently. What a strange turn things were taking. The wolf-like man had evolved.

“Graphic design,” Ophelia said, a short and to the point answer.

Curi played with the stack of letters in her hand, mostly bills and RSVP replies. It was time to go back inside the house. She couldn't ever remember holding a conversation outside next to her mailbox.

“Well, it was nice talking, Miss Ophelia, but I gotta get back inside.” She said goodbye.

“I’ll be on my way too! I should get to work. Bye, though I guess I will see you tonight!”

Curi curled her lips. After she got a plate of food, she hadn't planned to leave her room

“Ehh, I think I am going to sit this one out. I’m not a party person despite who my parents may be.”

“Aw, Curi tonight won't be boring at all. At least, peek your head through the festivities.”

Poor Miss Ophelia had no idea of what the party could entail. Hopefully, things could be on the lighter side and lean toward mediocrity. Her mom and dad had made sure to get rid of any peanut jars in the house this time.

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Curi snacked on cheese crackers by the handful. Salt clung to her fingers, and she licked it away. Party preparation had finished yesterday, so everyone had a chance to relax before the party, truly the calm before the storm.

She had been given the day off from homeschooling, and after her conversation with Ophelia, she spent it watching TV. She had watched four episodes straight of some hospital drama she had never seen. Remy, the title character, had been resuscitated more times than humanly possible and his bride could do nothing but cry. Honestly, Curi was tired of the excessive tears, snotty noses, and corny plot but it numbly entertained her enough to pass the time. Taveo had fallen asleep during the second episode's climax, and her dad, who had taken off from work, studied in his room.

The house was in a state of calm. When a commercial break had come, she walked around the house to see what her mom was doing. Maybe she was still on the computer, promoting the party on social media? Mom was not in her bedroom, the kitchen, or the bathroom.

She half-yelled,“Mom? Where are you?”

“I'm in here, Curi!” Faintly she heard Mom's voice. She could not have been in the main part of the house.

“Mom,” Curi began, “Where exactly is here?”

“In the garage!”

Curi saw her mom stood near a pile of clothes, the family's clothes. It wouldn't have been like her parents if they didn't throw all the dirty clothes behind doors to fool company that the house was clean.

A particular item bundled up on the ground caught her eye. “Aw, so this is why I couldn't find my favorite housecoat!” Curi picked up the red, faux fur item. It certainly smelled like it belonged there.

Her mom told her not to worry about it because she would clean it for her later. Curi thought better than to say it had already been a while because she didn't want to be scolded. Still, she missed the red thing like it was a comfort blanket.

“Aucuria,” her mom said, voice like a mixture of strong and gentle. “I honestly want to thank you and your brother for helping me so much. I understand you don't care for these parties Curi, though I wish you would...”

“Would what, Mom? I would help you anytime even for these dreaded dinner parties.” Curi told her, throwing the housecoat on the ground.

“Sweetie, that's just the thing. Me and yo daddy-”

“You mean your dad and I,” Curi corrected. Her mom's country way of speaking still crept into her speech.

Mom shot her a sharp look but relented.

“Your dad and I talked about some things last night. He told me he never wanted his baby girl to be forced to go to something she didn't like. I guess De'ron had noticed for a while that you weren't very fond of them.”

Curi nodded. That seemed like the type of argument he would make for her. It had always been her mom that pushed for her to attend. For all his bad qualities that upset her, she never once had to be convinced her dad loved her.

“Curi, you don't have to come to the party at all. I would like if you at least greeted the guests before you hide in your room but that is up to you. Your dad said you're old enough to decide for yourself what you want to attend.”

Leave it to her dad to unhook the metaphorical chains she had. She should have been pleading her case to him instead of her mom all these years.

The option not to attend the party threw her through a loop.If she did not go, there was going to be a part left empty inside herself. How was she going to laugh about this with Cooleo? And she wanted to show Toki around if he came. She couldn't even use her fake obliviousness plan because there was no need.

Not being forced to go the Andrews' biggest party yet? Now, she, Aucuria Janae Andrews, didn't have a reason to be there.

Mom looked surprised at her daughter's conflicted expression but chose not to comment about it.

“Curi-baby, also, I can save you a plate. I will just set it aside.”

Curi decided, at that moment, that she didn't need to go to the party. If her food was taken care of that's all that should matter. But, she would probably visit for a few seconds to see if she could squeeze another story out of Wolfeman and see Ophelia. Maybe it was to keep her perfect party attendance record, but she wanted to at least say she had been there. She just needed to be gone before the troubles-starters, the Digis, arrived.

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This is chapter six of a story I wrote almost two years ago. Thanks for any reviews/critiques and comments! Hopefully, I can do a lot of edits and rewrites over spring break.