“Where is he?”

 

It was 6:05 PM and I was standing outside of my house waiting for Cody to take me out to eat for the second time. I gave him a second chance because it was unfair how I treated him yesterday at school when he didn’t deserve it. I also wanted to know more about him, so agreeing to him taking me out again was one way I could think of doing so. There was just something mysterious about him.But instead of being punctual like before, he was running late.

 

I decided to tie my hair in a ponytail today, even though I almost always have it down when not at home, but because we were going to be inside a restaurant, I didn’t care. I was wearing a loose fitting, dark blue top that hung just over a matching, medium length, dark blue skirt, giving me the appearance of wearing a dress. The sun was just beginning to set and I was flicking my hair side to side while waiting for Cody to show up, hoping he’d arrive any minute.

 

“He’d better be here soon,” I mutter. Wrapping my arms around my stomach,I slowly begin to think that it was too good to be true, and that he may just stand me up. I could understand why though; there were more beautiful women out there.

 

While I was waiting, the sliding door eerily opened behind me and caused me jump. Tipsy came stepping out from within the shadows of the now darkened home towards me, flaunting her tail side to side, purring in a light tone.

 

“Is he still not here yet, Miss Dadalian?”

 

“No,” I pout. “I get the feeling he doesn’t like me. That, or he does and he’s afraid of telling me.”

 

“Well, while I’m not programmed for this sort of thing, maybe he just ran into something along the way or got caught up in something.”

 

“Maybe…”

 

While we continued to talk, Cody finally showed up. I asked him if anything kept him along the way and he told me his mom needed him there till his sister got home from work. It must be hard to have to work and go to school. I wanted to say, but didn’t want to ruin the mood.

Upon seeing me he also notices Tipsy, who I quickly introduce. Their greeting was rather comical, him wanting to examine her and her staying just out of his reach, like a cat trying to catch fly. Eventually he gave up and began asking, detail by detail, how I designed and developed her. It was nice being able to share the ideas of my creations with someone who understood them. Not that Cocoa didn’t understand; she was just dumb struck more often than not when I tried explaining anything to her. She did listen intently though, never asking questions, mostly because she would be either more confused by the answer or return to being silent. Our conversations were not always one sided though.

 

After we left Tipsy, we headed toward Oodles of Noodles once again and decided to try ordering something different this time. After we were seated and our orders were taken, we started to talk. He started with his family, specifically his mother, and how she has had to undergo surgery various times a year for her many conditions. According to him, you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at her, but she has quite a list of medical problems that have gone up and down like waves across an ocean over the years. It was comforting knowing how much he cared for his family, though.

 

I decided to open up a little more and explain about my classes to him, mostly because he was prying a little, which I didn’t mind. He found them to be very fascinating, often at the edge of his seat listening to what I’ve done in each class. Even soon after our food came I couldn’t really take a bite as I explained everything to him. A guy that listens to a girl is a guy I’d want to be with, although I’d enjoy it more if I could have taken a bite of food now and then.

 

We debated over having desert for a while before finally deciding against it and headed home. On the way back, the street lights illuminated the both of us in the bright moon light. We held hands down the smooth pavement as the hum of what cars that were still going at this hour roared in the background. Even after leaving Oodles of Noodles, we still talked on and on about each other. Family, school, machines; it was amazing how much he knew, and how amazing his voice sounded.

Once we finally got back he walked me up to the porch and then gave me a quick hug before heading home. The moon was high in the sky, full as I’ve ever seen it, as I watched him disappear down the street, almost like a spirit vanishing into the shadows. Already missing him, I sigh and turn to head inside. To my surprise, I find Cocoa sitting on the couch. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday, so I was worried about her. Why didn’t she approach me in school today?

 

“What are you doing here Cocoa? I expected to see you at school but I didn’t run into you today or yesterday.” Kicking my shoes off, I go to sit down next to her.

 

Not even giving me an indication of acknowledgement, Cocoa continued to stare down at her shoes. From what I could tell, she looked both upset and angry, but mostly upset. She sat slumped there in a chocolate brown skirt and vanilla colored blouse. I tried asking her various questions but nothing I said seemed to really faze her. It’s like she was in a trance that could only be broken by the caster. Then finally she said, “So how was your date?”

 

I’m guessing Tipsy tipped her off to me going out tonight with Cody.

 

“It went rather well. We talked for a few hours before finally leaving. We even talked along the way home. He seems to be a pretty decent guy.”

 

“That’s cool…” she replied in a dismal voice.

 

Silence once more filled the room, like an empty church or abandoned street. Neither of us made much of an effort to talk to the other, me mostly because I didn’t know what to say. Something was bothering her and she wasn’t telling me. I’ve always told her if there was anything bugging her that she could easily open up to me and explain what it was. We were like sisters. But today something felt different, like she was being distant.

 

“So how have class-“

 

“They’re okay…” she answers before I can finish. Was I the blame for her feeling down?

 

“Cocoa, if there’s something wrong you can tell me. I’m not going to snap at you.”

 

“Okay,” she began, taking a deep breath. “You’ve been spending more time with Cody these past 2 days. You didn’t even make an attempt to find me yesterday or the day before. Instead of running into you I ran into Aurora while on my way to see you and we spent a half hour talking. I continued after we were done and found out you were gone by the time I reached your locker, so I went to spend some time with Avery. And now I came looking for you at home, and Tipsy told me you were on a date.”

 

Aurora’s name popping up was the last thing I wanted to hear. But she was right; I made no attempt to find her today or yesterday. Cody was the focus of all my attention right now and I was neglecting my friendship with Cocoa, which I can tell pained her by her face and voice. It wasn’t fair to her.

 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been talking to you, Cocoa. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a boyfriend and I know I’ve kind of been spending a lot of time with him. But he’s been away for a few days, so we were just trying to make up lost time.”

 

At the end of my sentence Cocoa sharply stood up and started walking toward the door. Apparently my last statement stung her in a way I didn’t think I could, almost as if I pierced right through her heart. I was only explaining my reasoning for not talking to her. I had full intention on talking to her the first moment I got.

As she reached the door and it slid open, she turned around and said, “By the way, Aurora asked me to tell you that this weekend she wanted you and Cody to help work on your project. She already asked Cody and he agreed. If you did come looking for me at school, you would have known.” And without another word she was gone.

 

“Cocoa…”

 

The next day I was given no time frame on when to when to expect Aurora and Cody Saturday, and whenever I tried to ask at school, they both dodged the question or headed off to their next classes early. I wasn’t given an opportunity in class to ask, so I just gave up. Aurora I could understand; she had a grudge against me for no reason. But it was unlike Cody.

When Saturday finally did come around, I sat at home most of the day waiting, till the afternoon finally crept along and I finally heard a knock on the door. It was Aurora. After letting her in and getting settled, another knock soon followed afterwards, this one being Cody. Aurora had brought our project with her so we could finish it today as it was due next week, and since Cody had no part in it yet, we sat there explaining it to him.

 

“You have a nice place, Random,” Cody says after taking a look around. “So, when do we start?”

 

“Well start now,” Aurora steps in, pointing toward the outer placement. “We’ll finish off the panels and outer layer. Random, you can work on the internal wiring.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Cody replied, happy to help Aurora.

 

Without even including me, she’d already handed out jobs to everyone. Cody didn’t seem too obliged helping Aurora with the paneling, but I’d have rather been the one working with Cody.

While the two of them toiled away on the paneling, I was busy soldering and cutting the required wires. I often found my mind wondering away from our work and toward Cocoa often though. Even though I told Cody I was going to be busy Friday after school, I went looking for Cocoa and couldn’t find her, leaving the rest of my afternoon wide open. It’s like she was avoiding me.

 

For the most part, Aurora was keeping up a “nice” appearance in front of Cody, being polite and using “please” and “thank you” whenever she could. She even asked how the wiring was going twice throughout the project, which felt awkward to me. Cody didn’t seem to think anything was off and kept smiling all throughout, also asking how I was doing. It was actually going rather peacefully. Until…

 

“Hey Random,” Cody starts, bringing me back to my work, where my hands kept working while I was lost in my thoughts. “Where’s the bathroom?”

 

“Oh, it’s down the hall on the left,” I tell him, pointing toward the hall leading to the bathroom and my room.

 

“Thanks.”

 

Once Cody left, the nice act was dropped, faster than a hammer on a nail. It actually surprised me too, as I thought Aurora was starting to change. But that was my foolish mistake.

 

“So I hear Cocoa’s been avoiding you, hasn’t she? She talks to me quite often, though.”

 

Was she trying to get under my skin? “I’ve been trying to talk to her, but she never seems to be around when I go looking for her.”

 

“She’s around when I’m talking to her. She seems to frequently come over to my locker after school and tell me how her days are going. She tells me it’s what you used to do, but when you started dating Cody you began to do it less.”

 

“That’s not true!” I blurt out. “I’d never forget about Cocoa; I’ve been her closest friend for 3 years and counting. She’d never stop telling me about her life.” And yet even as I spoke those words I couldn’t deny the fact that I was ignoring Cocoa.

 

“She tells me she enjoys spending time with me, and with Avery. She tells me Avery and her are becoming close friends.”

 

Avery is the last person I thought Cocoa would be with. Aurora was trying to push me into a corner and I knew she was. Luckily, I had Tipsy here to back me up on how she really acted.

 

“Oh, by the way, don’t even bother with Tipsy. This,” she pulled a small pen shaped object out of her pocket, “will erase anything I say from her memory.”

 

And with that I was at a loss for words. Cody came back shortly after and noticed I had a frown on my face. He asked if I was okay and, not wanting to start an argument, I mustered a smile and told him nothing was wrong and went back to working on the wiring. Meanwhile, Cody and Aurora laughed and talked as they worked while I floated quietly in the background, my thoughts to myself, holding back small tears that began to well up in my eyes.