Page 3 of Stuck with my Frenemy
Chapter Two
Cherry
Standing in front of the two-story house with pink and gray siding, I popped the bubble I just blew with my gum, smacking my lips together. “Oh dear Cupid, look at this place! It’s like heaven in a house.” Strutting forward, I spun around when I didn’t hear Ebony’s footsteps behind me. “Seriously, Ebs, let’s hop inside and check it out.” Excitement flooded me, and I couldn’t help it. I jumped, spinning in a circle in a graceful ballerina maneuver. “Eek! I just can’t even wait!”
The loud thumps of Ebony’s feet against the pavement made me believe she didn’t like the place. Shrugging, I blew it off. There was no actual way this woman couldn’t look at this and think, “Wow,” even with her dark and dreary self.
Stopping beside me when she arrived, she aimed a glare at me. “Don’t. Ever. Call. Me. Ebs. Again.” Speaking slowly as if I was stupid or something, she just kept staring at me. Grinning at her and showing all my teeth, I blew a bubble, tapping my heel on the ground to the beat of one of my favorite songs. Her eyes focused on my foot, and then they fell back on me as if she wanted to ask me what the heck was wrong with me, but she pressed her lips tightly together and kept moving, stomping up the stairs and disappearing inside.
Clapping, I followed. Finally! I couldn’t wait to see. Like a human child on Christmas morning, I stepped into the foyer, a gleaming wooden floor sparkling from the sun cascading through the large windows in the room to the left. A soft breeze brushed over my cheeks as I tried to take it all in at once. Pastel pink walls smacked me in the face, and happiness erupted inside me as I took in the white framing around the windows and the gray crown molding.
Ebony stood in the center of the room with the large windows, her hands planted on her hips. I decided to check the rest of the house out while she glared at the walls to show them who the boss was. A modern kitchen rested at the back of the house, with black granite countertops, white cabinets, and stainless-steel appliances at the ready. A two-seater table sat in the corner, beneath two windows caddy corner on opposite walls. My heart bloomed, and I pressed forward, looking out the double-pane window above the sink into a cute backyard littered with tiny animals, flower bushes, and a pretty tire swing that hung from a thick branch protruding from a large oak tree.
“Ebs, I was right. It’s heaven in a house. Look at this cute little view.”
The loud footfalls of Ebony preceded her arrival, and she cocked a hip, that permanent glare etched on her pretty, albeit dark, face.
“Do you actually listen when people talk, or …” she trailed off, a muscle ticking in her jaw.
Pointing with enthusiasm, I rushed toward her, grabbing her arm to drag her to the small backyard. “Seriously, just take a little peek. If your heart doesn’t just melt, it will surprise me.”
Gawking at my hand wrapped around her arm as if it had grown a head, Ebony jerked out of my hold. “My heart doesn’t melt. It burns like fire. And if you don’t remove your hands from me this instant, I’m going to turn you to ash.”
“As if that would ever happen.” Laughing like a hyena, I rolled my eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”
“Keep talking and see what happens.” Ebony crept away from me, and I leaned my back against the double sink.
Chuckling, I waved a hand in front of me in dismissal. “Oh my gosh. You so are, and I’m not just saying that. If you could only hear yourself.”
“I don’t need to hear myself to tell you I’m dead serious when I ask you to stay away from me.” She stepped outside onto the back porch.
“As a heart attack, right?” Blowing another bubble, the loud pop spread the gum all over my face and had me picking pieces of it off my skin. “Oh, I hate when this happens.”
“Maybe don’t chew your gum like a cow then.” Peering out the window, I noticed Ebony didn’t smile when she said that. In fact, her face stayed the same, like a woman staring at a dead body in the middle of a crime scene.
Yikes. I might have to work extra hard to get her to open up. But, I knew myself. Like a cancer, I grew on people, weaving my way right through the thick walls they erected around themselves until I wedged right inside their hearts.
Ebony stood no chance.
Playing with a chunk of my hair, I nudged my shoulder against her when she walked inside to stand next to me. “Like I would ever stop. I’m cute, and the gum only adds to that. Not everyone can pull off this pale color, but I do it brilliantly, adding just enough pink in my hues to make it pop.” Winking, I angled my head at her. “The power of makeup. It can transform anybody into a beauty, even you.” My face stretched when I widened my eyes in excitement. “Oooooh, can I do your makeup? Please, please, please?”
Ebony didn’t even blink at me when she spat out, “No.”
“Oh, come on.” Pushing against her shoulder must’ve been the wrong thing to do because she narrowed her eyes at my hand. I didn’t pull it away, though. What was she going to do? Bite it off? “Don’t be like that. It would be so fun. Like so much you won’t be able to stand it. It’ll be like those human slumber parties. We can paint our nails, do our hair, our makeup. Come on, Ebs. Live a little. Embrace your inner goddess.”
Shaking her head, Ebony crossed her arms over her chest, her chin—which was way too small in my opinion—tilting toward her chest to the point it almost touched it. “We are here to work. Does that sound like work to you?”
I nodded eagerly. “Yes. Getting beautified is the hardest kind of work if you ask me.”
“Yet nobody did, so how about you just shut your mouth?” Ebony’s eyes turned to slits. “Go find your room and stay out of my way.”
“Oh, Ebs, we’ll be the best of friends. Just you wait and see.” Chewing like a cow in a pasture filled to the brim with long green grass, I skipped forward, almost slamming my shoulder into the wall. “Oops.” Giggling to myself, I kept going. “Catch ya later, alligator.”
I swore I heard Ebony growl, but that couldn’t be right. Ladies didn’t growl.
Climbing the stairs two at a time, I shouted, “Yahoo,” when I got to the second level, singing at the top of my lungs because I knew it would annoy her but also because it was part of my master plan to wiggle right into her heart. It all died when I opened the first door on my right. “Ewww. This room needs a major redo.”
Black walls tried to claw my eyes out, and dark wood that looked just a shade lighter made me want to puke. The color black was awful. Anyone who wore it should stop. Like yesterday. It was definitely the color of death. Gross.
