C2 chapter two

Annabelle’s house resembled a mansion, all the items in his house were white, reminded a little of Kim Kardashian’s house, had little furniture, which gave the impression of the house being even bigger, but Lizzy thought he could not live that way, maybe could go crazy

Although she had gone several times to her friend’s house she was always surprised at the difference in reality between the two

- Feel free - Maeves talks walking to the kitchen

- Want to drink or eat something? - Annabelle asks

- Do you want? - Lizzy asks

Lizzy was a little shy girl, even going to Annabelle’s house for a while had not yet felt like asking for something to eat or drink

- Sincerely Lizzy, for a long time you come here, you can ask what you want

- You know I’m shy

- Let’s do this, I’m hungry and thirsty, but I’ll drink and eat whatever you ask for - Annabelle says, it was the only way she thought of Lizzy having a little freedom in her home

Lizzy begins to think, did not want to ask for anything so laborious, had a little shame to ask Miss Maeves and she was busy, was decided that they should eat simple laog

- I think I want a latte - Lizzy says finally

- And to eat? - Annabelle asks

- I think I’ll have cupcakes

Annabelle gives a smile, was happy to have managed to make her friend loosen up a little, even if it was something simple, choose what they would eat

They enter the kitchen and Maeves was using his laptop, she worked home office, next to him had a cup with latte coffee, even had a creamy foam in the drink

- Mom, I convinced Lizzy to loosen up a bit - Annabelle comments as they enter the kitchen

Lizzy gets a little embarrassed, taking away her grandmother’s house, could not feel at ease elsewhere

Annabelle opens the door of the kitchen cupboard and takes two 300 ml long glasses, takes the kettle and serves the cups, opens the refrigerator and takes a box of milk, completes both glasses and opens the drawer, taking two reusable stainless steel straws, Stir the drink, open the cabinet again and take the can of whipped cream, shake and cover the two drinks

- Taste and see if it’s good - Annabelle hands the glass to Lizzy

Lizzy takes the glass and puts the straw in her mouth and sucks some liquid, it was the best coffee she could have tasted, it was light and sweet, the milk mixture helped a little soften the bitter taste of coffee

- It was the best I’ve ever tried - Lizzy says finally

- Did you see mom? I’m not the only one who likes her coffee - Annabelle comments passing her arm around her mother’s shoulder

Annabelle puts her coffee on the table, goes to the closet and takes a tray that already had four cupcakes ready, shakes again the glass of whipped cream and covers the four, takes a container that contained colored granules and throws on top, takes them to the table and they sit down to keep Maeves company

Lizzy manages to spy a little on Maeves' notebook, she was a writer in a fashion newspaper, was giving some looks tips to use this winter, was in love in a long sleeved dress that went to the knee that Maeves indicated in his text

- How are your notes, my good? - Maeves asks typing in his notebook, stops and takes a sip of his latte

- I got a B+ in math, it was the only note I knew - Annabelle answers

- You can’t imagine how proud I am to see your school progress - Maeves stops typing and gives Annabelle a kiss on the forehead

- Surely that’s not what I’m going to hear from my mother - Lizzy says taking a bite of her cupcake

- How much did you take? - Maeves asks curious

- C-

- She always had difficulties in math mom - Annabelle comments drinking a sip of her coffee

- And to make matters worse, my mother charges me

- Annabelle had a lot of difficulty in math, but what she solved was that she talked to me and so I could find a way to help my daughter, if this advice is for you and your mother - Maeves says passing his hand on Lizzy’s shoulder

- That’s not how things work with my mother - Lizzy says

The matter was over there, they finish their coffee and eat their muffin, Maeves finishes his work and closes the notebook, gets up from the chair and stretches a little, it was a light job, but the back pain was complicated

Lizzy begins to look around the kitchen, unlike their home they did not decorate the house with Christmas ornaments, until it seemed a normal day, nor the Christmas tree that is the basics, they did not ride

- Why don’t you decorate the house at Christmas time? - Lizzy asks

It had been years since Lizzy realized that, but never had the courage to ask, because he thought it was because of the death of his father, but this time the curiosity was great and could not contain

- Have you forgotten we’re Jewish?

- But your mother gave you a Christmas present, where’s the point in that?

- It was something more symbolic - Annabelle tries to justify herself

Lizzy saw no sense in the act of Maeves, but preferred not to argue, it did not make sense not to celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, but to gift at that time, being that it was a custom of this party

- Have you thought about how you will tell your mother about the red note? - Annabelle asks

- No ,I just know her reaction won’t be the best when I break the news to her - It was the only thing Lizzy could say

- The worst thing is that you won’t be able to hide it for long

It seems until it was a curse, Lizzy’s cell phone starts ringing, takes out from inside the pocket and it was her mother who was turning on, she shows the display of the device to Annabelle

- Pick up - That’s all Annabelle could say

- What if it’s about my note? - Lizzy asks desperate

- School is not so quick to call your mother - Annabelle speaks shrugging

Lizzy stopped and thought about how Annabelle was right, did not need to be so paranoid about something that one time or another would need to tell his mother even, meets as quickly as possible before his mother surtasse with the delay

- Hello? - Annabelle answers

— Your father texted me that you haven’t come home yet, where are you? - I could tell by Pauline’s tone of voice how angry she was

- I came to spend the afternoon at Annabelle’s house, she invited me, I would get bored at home even until you arrive, Miss Maeves takes me to the house

- Tell your mother we’re going to watch a movie and we’ll take you away - Annabelle whispers

- Can I stay a little longer and watch a movie with Annabelle? - Lizzy asks

- Yes, but I want you to be home by dinner time - Pauline answers a little calmer

- Thank you mom, I love you - Lizzy speaks at last

- I love you too, baby - Pauline speaks before turning off the phone

They give a high five as if they were beaten, Lizzy did not like to stay at home only with his father, most of the time he was reading the newspaper or watching the baseball game on TV, so they did not have much to do together

- This time even I was afraid of Pauline - Annabelle comments

- That’s why I spend my day to day

Her phone vibrates, she turns on the display and it was a message from her father in her message application, she unlocks the device and decides to answer what he had sent her

Your mother called me, next time you go to your friend’s house you let me know first

- Parents - Annabelle comments rolling her eyes

Lizzy did not know what she meant by this, was 12 years without her father, did not know if he had become accustomed to the lack of a father or if life helped him comfort it more over time

Alright dad, sorry, I love you

- Do you really want to watch film? - Lizzy asks, not sure if Annabelle really wanted or if it was an excuse for Lizzy to stay there for longer

- Yes - Annabelle responds shrugging

- Must have popcorn with soda - Lizzy comments

- Sorry friend, we do not drink soda here, only flavored water - Annabelle says

- Then you ask why I’m ashamed to ask to eat things in your house

- Relax, it happened only once

Annabelle opens the cupboard and takes out a bag of bacon flavor microwave popcorn, puts the package in the microwave dish and puts to burst in three minutes

Take two glasses of glass and leave on the counter, open the freezer and take some raspberries that were frozen, put inside the glass and put ice water on top, for her that drink was better than a caloric soda

- You know there is light soda right? - Lizzy asks

- I still prefer the natural things that life offers us - Annabelle comments shrugging

Lizzy tasted some of the flavored water to see if she could break some of her prejudice, it was not bad, but still preferred to take a soda, or at least pick the fruits and make a juice

- Your kitchen is full of industrialized and you tell me you prefer natural things - Lizzy comments

The microwave beeps and Annabelle takes out from inside the cupboard a round glass bowl and puts it under the counter, opens the microwave and takes out that hot package,

- The good thing about this popcorn is that it’s already seasoned - Annabelle says taking a popcorn and tasting

- Then says she prefers natural things - Lizzy comments rolling her eyes

Annabelle shows the middle finger to Lizzy, takes the bowl and cup of flavored water and walks to the room, getting there Miss Maeves was sitting on the sofa talking on her cell phone and watching the series Gilmore Girls

- Apparently there will be no way to see the movie - Lizzy comments taking a sip in her flavored water

Annabelle approaches with long steps up to her mother’s back, puts her hands under her shoulder and asks her a question

- Mother, are you watching TV? - She asks softly not to listen

- Yes - Maeves responds by taking his phone close to his ear

- Lizzy and I wanted to see a movie

- Watch it in your room, there’s also a TV - Miss Maeves replies as if that was obvious

Annabelle shrugs and turns to Lizzy, both begin to climb the stairs to go to her room, what she thought was cool were the stairs have a cushioned carpet

Annabelle opens the door to her room, every time Lizzy entered that place always had something new, that time Annabelle had placed a collection of teddy bears from Disney’s Tsum Tsum collection in her bed

- What’s the difference between these teddy bears and others? - Lizzy asks approaching the bed

- If you throw them on the floor belly up, they start bouncing - Annabelle replies

Lizzy takes the Cheshire Cat bear from the cartoon Alice in Wonderland to see if it was true, threw the cat on the floor and he returned to her hand, and even made a funny noise, it could be the fraction between the floor and the spring

- One of the reasons I didn’t want to eat up here, I don’t want to dirty my bed with popcorn crumbs - Annabelle talks by putting the bowl on her dressing table

Annabelle’s bedroom floor was all covered by a fluffy pink baby rug, but that didn’t mean it was comfortable lying there

- I don’t want to be rude or rule your room, but I’m not in the mood to lie down - Lizzy comments

- Can I convince my mother to watch TV in her room? - Annabelle asks putting her hand on her chin

- I find it a bit difficult since she did not give that option - Lizzy replies shrugging

- Difficult, but not impossible, I’ll be right back - Annabelle says leaving the room

Lizzy was alone in that huge room that looked more like a doll room with all that pink, now began to see the side of Miss Maeves, because she wanted to make Annabelle detach so much this color

Annabelle’s bed was single, covered by a pink quilt and with several tsum tsum in her bed near the pillow

There was a dressing table near the window, she put hair ornament and her brushes, the mirror that came along was covered with pearls, reminded much something related to mermaids

There was a 32-inch TV facing the bed, Samsung era, of curiosity Lizzy takes control of the TV that was on the dressing table and turns on, had almost all the applications installed on that TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Disney+, Spotify, Deezer

- Poor rich girl - Lizzy comments rolling her eyes

Starts to hear footsteps and immediately turns off the TV, did not want Annabelle to know that she was touching things, because she hated curious people

She stops at the bedroom door with her sweaty forehead, tries to catch the breath she lost going up and down stairs, supports an arm on the door and the other hand puts on the knee

- I’m sorry to tell you my good friend, but I failed at the mission - she says dramatically

- The mission you invented to do, have you ever thought about being an actress when you grow up? - Lizzy asks mocking

Annabelle again shows middle finger to Lizzy

- You don’t do those ugly things around your mother - Lizzy comments

- Obviously not

- What did she say?

- Said it was my freshness and that it was just me being careful not to drop popcorn on the bed, and that she arrived in the room first - Annabelle talks about throwing herself on the bed - But I have a solution, first let’s watch the movie and then eat the popcorn in the car

- I have to agree with your mother that it was your freshness

- This is a plot against me

- What do you want to watch?

- Cruella, available on Disney+

Annabelle walks to the bedroom switch and turns off the light, goes to the bedroom window and pulls the pink curtains to cover some of the clarity that was left with that sunset, wanted to make the room look like a cinema

Take the remote on top of the dressing table and turn on the TV, enter the Disney+ application and go to the search window and type the name of the movie, was the first to appear, until it was the only one that had that name, had also the suggestion of the film of 101 dalmatas when they finished watching

- The cinema is ready - Annabelle comments giving play on remote control

Watching the movie that way was even tastier than with the reflection of the sunset in his eyes, it was one of the movies that Lizzy was most eager to watch, thanked the fact that Annabelle was in love with Disney at that time

The film lasted two hours and 14 minutes

In the end he played a song called Call me Cruella from the indie band Florence and the machines, it was one of his mother’s favorite bands

He was sad when the movie ended, he would have to go home and not see his best friend for a week

- I was super happy in the store when you commented that I’m your sister at heart - Lizzy says

- But it’s true, or tell me you don’t think that about me either - Annabelle jokes

- Of course I do, you fool

Lizzy takes a pillow from the bed and throws it at Annabelle, who does the same, and so began the war of pillows more fun than both have had in life, but without making much noise, did not want to take a white Miss Maeves

- Lizzy, your mother called me asking if the film is over - Miss Maeves asks still downstairs

- Yes, we’re coming down - Lizzy replies

jumps on Annabelle and gives her a strong hug, the only certainty she would have was the miss she would feel to meet her best friend every morning

- I will miss school and especially you - She talks giving a kiss on Annabelle’s face