P

In front of me stood this person I knew all too well but couldn’t recognize. His devilish sneer sent chills down my spine. I froze in the moment, wondering how it all ended up here. My mind went back to when it all started:

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“Devi!” My mother called out, “I hope you’ve completed your homework before turning that T.V. on, I’m heading to the market, tell me if you want something.”

Grudgingly, I turn the T.V. off and head up to my room to study.

Right then I hear a voice say, “Hey, don’t you want to know what happens in the next episode? “.

I halted and spun around to find a boy about my age, tall and lanky with short-cropped black hair sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.

“Who are you?” I exclaimed, “And what are you doing in my house?”

“Oh, come on Devi, you know me. I’ve been your friend since childhood. I guess we haven’t hung out in so long you’ve forgotten me.“, he retorted.

As I came closer to where he was seated, I noticed that he had porcelain-smooth skin and dark greyish-brown eyes that glimmered like fire in the light. The corners of his lips were upturned making it look like he had a perpetual smirk on his face. Even though I didn’t remember him very well, he did seem vaguely familiar. And I anyway wanted to find out what happened next in the show I was currently watching. So, without being aware of the grave mistake I was making, I plopped down next to him and ended up binge-watching three episodes! After that, I quickly switched the T.V. off and headed upstairs to my room to finally finish my homework.

When I opened the room, I was aghast with what I found. There sat this familiar stranger on my chair with my English notebook in hand.

“Oh Devi, it looks like you’ve got a long and boring essay to write for homework and some math questions. Ugh! Why do teachers give so much homework? I thought senior year would be fun!” he whined. “Would you like to surf the internet? I heard there’s a big celebrity controversy going on right now.”

“Who are you and what are you doing in my room now?!” I exasperated.

I was so annoyed by this meddlesome stranger. He has no right to comment on my teachers or the homework they give.

“Relax Devi, I’m just a friend here to hang out with you,” he replied evenly.

“A friend?! I don’t even know your name!” I cried out.

“Of course you know my name. Everybody knows my name. I am Proc-. Never mind, what’s in the name anyway, you can call me P for short.” he said.

“Okay. Whatever. I need to get my homework done right now and that is what I’m going to focus on.” I replied, trying to work according to priority.