Forty-four

Eloise, determined to address the situation and bring some clarity to the air, took a step closer to Jade with a hopeful smile playing on her lips. Her heart fluttered with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation, her emotions a swirling tempest inside her chest. She had missed Jade's company over the past few weeks and felt an urgency to mend whatever invisible rift had grown between them.

"Hi, Jade. I haven't seen you in a while," Eloise greeted, her voice a delicate melody that carried her longing.

Jade, her earlier display of emotions still etched into the lines of her face, attempted to mask her vulnerability behind a facade of composure. Her eyes, however, betrayed the turmoil swirling within her. "Yes, hi," she responded, her voice holding a hint of tension that didn't escape Eloise's keen perception.

Pretend nothing happened, and everything will be fine, thought Jade, clinging to the notion as if it were a lifeline.

Eloise, attuned to the underlying currents of emotions, wasn't easily deterred. She sensed Jade's unease like a distant storm brewing on the horizon. With a gentle persistence, she probed further, her tone a careful blend of concern and affection. "What's wrong, Jade? I feel like you're acting strange."

Jade's defenses faltered for a moment, but she quickly gathered them back around her. She responded with a practiced nonchalance, "No, don't worry. What have you been doing for the last two weeks?"

Eloise, refusing to be diverted, offered a vague response while keeping her gaze fixed on Jade. She knew that some truths were meant to be hidden, concealed beneath layers of friendship and loyalty. "Nothing special. And you? Have you been going to school?" Her words held a weight that only they two could understand.

Jade's curiosity, however, was an unstoppable force. She pressed on, her determination shining through her eyes. "Yes, great. And what were you doing with Naoka?"

Eloise found herself caught off guard, her heart racing as she tried to find the right words. She stumbled over her response, the hesitation betraying the complexity of her emotions. "Well, you were at my place earlier…"

Jade's interruption was swift and assertive, as if she refused to let the truth slip through her fingers. She pressed forward, demanding an answer with an insistence that couldn't be ignored. "I asked you my question first, so you have to answer me."

Caught between her loyalty to Jade and the desire to maintain harmony, Eloise chose her words carefully. They hung in the air, a fragile bridge she hoped would carry her intentions across. "Oh well, nothing special. Don't worry about it," she evaded, her silent apology to Jade mingling with her words.

Jade's dissatisfaction simmered beneath the surface, a restless energy that threatened to boil over. But she held back, not pushing further. Instead, she reached a resolution that hung in the air like an unspoken understanding. "If you say so. I'm going home. See you next time, maybe."

Eloise, unwilling to let the conversation end on such a bitter note, reached out instinctively. Her fingers brushed against Jade's arm, a gentle plea in her touch. "Wait," she implored, her voice a soft current carrying her sincerity.

Jade turned, her expression a tapestry of emotions ranging from skepticism to longing. "What?"

In that moment, Eloise allowed her vulnerability to shine through, her words a baring of her heart. "Don't worry. There's nothing going on between me and Naoka. She's my friend. So, if you have a problem with that, remember, she's just my friend. So, don't be upset about it."

A glimmer of relief danced in Jade's eyes, a stormy sea finding a moment of calm. She relented, her resolve softening. "Okay, see you tomorrow, maybe."

"See you tomorrow," Eloise echoed, offering Jade a genuine smile that held a promise of brighter days. She wrapped her arms around Jade in a warm hug, a silent reassurance that transcended words.

As Jade walked away, her inner turmoil found a measure of solace. Eloise's words echoed in her mind, a lifeline she clung to amidst the chaos of her emotions. "Suddenly, I feel much better knowing that Eloise and Naoka are just friends. It makes me feel better," Jade acknowledged to herself, a faint but genuine smile gracing her lips.

Eloise's own thoughts swirled like a dance of fireflies in the twilight. She marveled at the intricacies of girls' emotions, their capacity for both tenderness and turbulence. "Girls are really complicated," she mused softly, reflecting on the delicate threads that wove her relationships together.

But even as the night deepened and the world around her quieted, a new voice intruded upon Eloise's thoughts. It was a voice that seemed to materialize from the shadows, a presence both ethereal and unsettling. "Eloise, my dear Eloise," the voice called out, its cadence dripping with an enigmatic allure.

Startled, Eloise's head snapped around, her heart racing in her chest. Her eyes searched the darkness, seeking the source of the voice that seemed to seep into her very soul. "But where does this voice come from? Show yourself," she demanded, her voice a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.

A soft chuckle, as if carried on a whisper of wind, reached her ears. "Don't look for me like that because you won't find me. I find myself in you, so stop looking for me uselessly. You look stupid like that," the voice replied cryptically, its words weaving through her mind like tendrils of smoke.

Realization dawned upon Eloise, a shiver running down her spine as understanding settled in. "So, you are part of me," she deduced, her voice a mixture of fascination and wariness.

"Yes, I am," the voice confirmed, its presence both a comfort and a disconcerting mystery. It offered no further explanations, leaving Eloise to grapple with the weight of its revelation.

"Wait, what's your name?" Eloise ventured cautiously, her curiosity pushing her to pierce the veil of the unknown.

A mocking chuckle echoed in the recesses of her thoughts, a sound that seemed to dance at the edges of her consciousness. "I'm you, and you're me. So, I don't have a name. You're really stupid," the voice retorted, its words a playful tease that held a hint of darkness.

As Eloise continued her journey homeward, the encounter with the mysterious voice remained a whirlpool of thoughts in her mind. "So, you're a part of me, but you're not here to help. You're a presence that lingers, waiting for the right moment to emerge," she deduced, a mixture of intrigue and caution coloring her thoughts.

By the time she reached her doorstep, Alana's voice brought her back to the world of the tangible. "What are you doing, Eloise? Come home," her master's voice beckoned, a reminder of the responsibilities that grounded her.

"Yes, master," Eloise responded obediently, torn between the reality of her daily life and the enigmatic encounter that had left its mark on her psyche.

Before the voice faded completely, it left one final, eerie warning etched in her thoughts. "Don't tell anyone about my existence, you understand." Eloise nodded, her compliance a silent acknowledgment of the otherworldly nature of her experience. She knew that unveiling this surreal encounter would only invite skepticism and doubt.