[Sorry guys, this is super long because I didn't know to condense my chapters at the time ^^;]
Chapter One
"So... my mom and dad said they are coming to your parents' dinner party," he told her. The boy had come to visit her after school, and after finishing their snack they were sitting in the kitchen.
Her brown eyes blinked in confusion before the realization set in. This conversation did seem familiar. Curi noticed the boy's expectant expression. He usually came off as an annoyance, but recently she had begun to enjoy his company, and she especially appreciated him reminding her about this news.
"Oh yeah, I found out about that yesterday… conveniently during dinner," she answered. It was common knowledge to her family that Curi was always susceptible to food or flattery.
Her parents hosted parties periodically at their home, and though most of the parties were pretty tame, if a party became too out of control Curi sneaked away to her room. She had been forced to attend too many of them throughout her childhood; and her latest means of escaping the dreaded event needed her to fake obliviousness. As long as she pretended to forget the party- it would not be her fault for not coming. She could have already heard herself chime out: "What? There's a party happening? I was so busy reading my Bible, organizing my sock drawer, and studying that I hadn't noticed. I guess I can come if you don't want me to further my education. These 'You-gots-ta-be a better student’ books are collecting dust. I can just drop out of school right now!"
It was a wonder why her parents even had such elaborate parties. Their lives could be considered dull without them though- what with one of her parents being a part-time librarian and the other being a professor.
"Huh?" The sound of her name broke her musing.
"Curi!"
"I said what's got you so ticked about your parents' party? Are they no fun or something?" Cooleo hummed in reply. "Why don't you just do what I do at family functions? Distract yourself with apps."
Curi silently scoffed at the boy with his high-tapered fade. Things weren't that easy.
She explained, “My phone's battery doesn't last long enough to drown out that foolery. Besides, my parents don't play that. Ever! All butts that live in the Andrews' household must be in a seat at the dinner table." She touched her forehead in frustration. "I know my parents are trying to pump social skills and great connections into my life, but the way they are going about it is annoying."
"Well, 'if all butts have to be in a seat' just cut your butt off." He flashed a smile with dimples the size of gumballs.
"You're such a weirdo, Cooleo." She wondered to herself why she considered them to be almost friends. There was probably some more paperwork to be done before that became official.
Cooleo NoLastName bumped into her path so often that she guessed he became a constant.
Despite his real name being Cornelius, to seem cooler, he had asked everyone to refer to him by his middle name after being teased at school. He had mentioned that his parents had gotten used to him forsaking his first name; and they often called him Cooleo as well. Curi had asked about his odd last name only once, and he had stiffly replied that the name had been passed down many generations. She hadn't asked again- thinking she had hit a sore spot. It was so easy to tell when the boy was bothered. Any time his coolness was called into question he went on the defensive.
They had only met three years ago at a library event, but it felt like... three years ago. She couldn't romanticize their camaraderie because he was a jerk half of the time. Still, the other half of him was easy to talk to, so she put up with him.
Curi drummed her fingers at a rhythmic pace on the table.
“Pssh, tssh, shh, tshhh...” Cooleo began to make un-rhythmic sounds.
She swatted at Cooleo for his unneeded attempt of beat-boxing to the sound of her fingertips. He had to know that he was annoying.
The table, currently stacked with pizza boxes, had endured as many horrid Andrews' work-family functions as she. This table had such history—she barely remembered all its tales. Too many kicks to the table leg on the right made the entire table collapse thanks to Mrs. Digi, who had pulled off a table leg to whack her bickering husband with at an Andrews' Valentine dinner party. Underneath the table, Curi could feel the squish of old hardened gum- which had been the work of a party guest too.
“Cooly-cooly—” she ignored his bemused expression."-Do you think this table might be partly evil? It has been used for every party."
“Nah. Who spends time thinkin' about woodwork?” Cooleo said as he raised an eyebrow.
She sighed at his nonchalant response, and he absentmindedly stroked his side of the table. As an afterthought, he added, “Curi-Curi.”
“Fool, it only works when I say it. Still, I think this old table is okay whenever food's around. Y'know maybe I just have to change my thinking. What if I started saying that one of mom and dad's parties could be fun?”
Andrews parties were okay, but something cringe-worthy or dramatic always reared its head before a party ended. None of this had deterred her parents yet, as they were confident no one could throw a party without a mishap here and there.
“Life and death are in the power of the tongue,” he said, not missing a beat. He folded his arms behind his head. "Doesn't hurt to be optimistic, though."
Curi couldn't argue with that, so the rest of their pizza was eaten in silence.
+++++
From his room, her brother Taveo yelled that it was time for Cooleo to get going. He was president of a local math club, after all, and needed the kitchen to hold his meetings. Curi believed her brother actually felt concerned about how much pizza was left. She and Cooleo hadn't realized how many slices they had eaten while talking since what was left resembled a greasy ghost town.
“No worries, Taveo, there's at least one slice left with your name on it. Thanks for lookin' out for me man, I have to catch my bus soon.” Cooleo understood Taveo's true intentions as well but managed to be polite about it.
“Knowing Mom, she would eat a piece of it just to spite you! You know how she feels about food going to waste!” Curi called to her brother. Taveo dashed to the kitchen so quickly that she swore the carpet caught fire. He then shooed them out of the kitchen to eat in peace.
She walked Cooleo out to her porch. Daylight was winding down, even though dinner was a few hours away. Leaves covered most of the visible driveway, and the rest were obscured from view by the family car. She felt the last rays of the sun on her skin, which made the back of her shirt feel warm.
“You think Toki and his parents are going to come?” Cooleo asked her. Toki had moved into Curi's neighborhood a few months back, but he had already struck up a friendship with him.
“Oh! Why? You mean so we can have like a kids table?” Curi honestly asked. Most people her age didn't come to the Andrews' parties.
Cooleo's cool expression flickered for a moment to one of annoyance. Apparently, she had answered incorrectly.
“Are you serious? What are you- three years old? You do realize we are both too old for that. I asked because he's new and might want to hang out.” He shrugged on the handles to his backpack and retied his shoes. His jeans were dirty but he managed to keep his sneakers perfectly clean.
“No! Ugh, you wouldn't understand. I was just saying...” Curi trailed off. Of course, he wouldn't think of the possibility of kids or teens, in their case, getting fed first. He hadn't attended one of her parents' dinner parties before, so ways to get to the food quicker wouldn't cross his mind. Maybe she had been too naive to think he would understand, or maybe she was just bad at explaining things.
“Actually, I was wrong because you sure do look twelve." He peered closer to her face, rubbing his chin in fake contemplation. "Scratch that—I meant eleven.”
The urge to snap at him was tempting. She glared at him so evilly—a grown man would have cried. However, because he was Cooleo, it didn't faze him. The sudden instance of his bratty side ticked her off. He made her patience run short.
“I said I hope you miss your stupid bus!”
“I won't if I'm tracking it on my phone!” he smirked, pleased with himself.
Sometimes, she thought he made a game of it, seeing how long it took to tick her off.
Unknown to her, Cooleo marveled at how easily she got upset. They were both quick-tempered people, but maybe hers was just a bit faster.
“Shut up, Cooleo!”
With a wave, he descended down her street, laughing. Despite herself, she returned his wave, crediting it to her need to be polite.
She looked forward to talking to Toki later. She never felt like taking an aspirin after talking to him.
+++++
Curi paced around her room, deep in thought. She had thought about emailing Toki to see if he was coming to her parents' dinner party; but she didn't think he would respond. Toki was never one to check his emails or texts or any forms of social media. Did he even use technology at all? Much of her thinking was in vain since she didn't have his email address.
She absentmindedly eyed a math problem in her textbook. She should have studied her lesson for today, but after distracting herself with the vast wonders of the internet, she had vetoed the math lesson until tomorrow- which gave her two lessons of math to do in the morning. She would hate herself for this tomorrow probably, or perhaps she’d just add a whopping three lessons onto the next, next day.
Her mom hadn't had a decent education until high school, so she had decided to take her children's education into her own hands. As soon as Curi knew how to write her name and open a textbook, her older brother and she had been home-schooled. Still, Curi definitely slacked on her work whenever her mom didn't have the time to chastise her, and her laziness didn't hurt her until she had weekly math tests.
The somewhat messy bedroom fit her well. The walls had never been painted, so the off-white color had gotten dirtier and dirtier through the years. Schoolbooks were placed on her computer desk, and sharpened pencils collected into one circular container. She slung her used clothes into a pile on her bean bag chair, and who knows what was underneath her bed. However, her bookshelf and art corner were organized respectively by alphabet and color. She could keep her hobbies tidy—but the rest of her room? Not so much.
Curi glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand, greeted by the flickering red numbers. She had eaten dinner hours ago, and was marveling at how quiet the house was. She spread her legs across her bed frame, slippers almost dangling off her feet. The silence gave her time to think. On a regular day, she would have been thinking of what to paint, her favorite couple from a book series to read about, or the cheapest way to buy a handheld game online. Now, the approaching dinner party consumed her thoughts. When she thought of the party- she imagined a countdown clock. She couldn't remember the last time she had enjoyed a dinner party.
The only party of her parents she remembered that stopped early involved an irrational Mr. Digi threatening to injure people with empty peanut jars. The tension in the dining room had been so heavy that a young Curi had been afraid to burst out in tears for fear of being the first one hit with a jar. The memory still made her stomach twist in discomfort and, to her internal embarrassment, her eyes water. Curi wasn't going to replay that horrid night in her head. The other parties had only been boredom and frustration, not downright ridiculous like that day.
Despite Mr. Digi offering to finance and promote their next party, the rebuke her parents had given him after the event had been severe enough for them to almost never invite the man again.
The Digi family was influential in the city and first helped spread the word of the Andrews' parties. They were partly the reason why Curi's parents knew so many business people too. It certainly didn't excuse the Digi's cartoonish antics, but it made sense why her parents couldn't quite throw them away. The Digi's could easily mess up their reputation within the city.
Curi didn't like the Digi family. The older couple had always reeked of mothballs, fought openly in front of everyone, and took home too many plates of food without contributing. Curi still hadn't forgotten a party, in which Mr. Digi had finished his plate of food and then started eating off hers. He had shushed her with a wrinkled finger and told her to stay in a child's place. She had been tempted to bite that finger off, but her mother had de-escalated the event by making her another plate.
There had always been an off aura about the bickering married couple, and Curi always hoped they would not return. Her parents continued to put up with them, to the point Curi believed they genuinely liked them. If the couple was going to badmouth her parents, she wished they would do it already so they could all get on with their lives.
I just need to do something else, Curi thought. Rolling onto her side, she unplugged the electronics near her nightstand and got ready for bed. She didn't go to sleep until around midnight because her night-owl habits surfaced whenever she tried to go to bed at a decent hour.
Hopefully, she'd dream about something good.
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