Chapter 11 - Chapter 9: Calling names

Chapter 9: Calling names





When I woke up that morning, the window was open, the curtains only halfly closed, dancing on the entering breeze. The sunlight that crept in did it silently, softly and gently landing on face.





Opening my eyes with some reluctance, I saw a patiently waiting ceiling: Take your time, it’s weekend anyway.





I turned my head to see if Russ was still sleeping, but he wasn’t for he was sitting beside my bed. His chin resting on his crossed arms he had placed on my bedside. He was looking at me. There was a smile on his face.





“ ‘morning.”





“Hey Russ.” I rubbed the last pieces of the night out of the corners of my eyes.





“Did you sleep well.”





I nodded.





“I didn’t sleep much, your dad snores too loud. But I guess, I should thank him, because your sleeping face was just too cute. I wasn’t bored for even a second.”





Not bored looking at a sleeping face? Maybe I make a lot of facial expressions and sleep talk. Maybe I even sleepwalk, performing an entire play. Then I wouldn’t get bored of looking at a sleeping person as well, I think. Unless it’s a boring play like ‘The princess on the pea”. I never really liked that story.





“Do you to eat breakfast in bed?” He asked.





That’d be nice, so I nodded.





He got up, kissed my forehead and went downstairs. Huh… I guess he feels at home here or something, going down to make breakfast in someone else’s kitchen, unaccompanied by the one you are staying with.





Within a couple of seconds Russ already poked his head through the opened bedroom entrance.





“Uhm, your mom had already prepared something for us, so… here I am again.”





He walked in with two plates with something that included a lot of fruit, eggs, dry crackers, and a white sauce.





“How many calories is this?” He wondered.





Before accepting his offered plate, I stretched my limbs in bed and sat up.





“We can go and jog it off again.” I suggested.





“Okay.” A smile, flipping his head a bit to the side so that his bedroom-hair bounced a little.





“But not long. It’s Sunday.”





“So?”





“Sundays I’m spending with Maya right?”





“Like I said: so? Leave her be. She’s no fun.”





Right and I am. We chewed down our breakfast quietly. Russ finished sooner than I did (I can’t help it, I’m a slow eater) and took the opportunity to sit behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.





“The way you eat is truly beautiful.”





Weirdo.





The doorbell rang, silence, steps could be heard on the stairs.





“Jenny! It’s a beautiful Sundaymorning! Let’s go for a walk!” Maya said as she entered my room. Her neutral expression turned into a sour one as she saw Russ and me on the bed, me just having finished my plate. “What the hell are you doing here! It’s Sunday, so get lost!”





“Oh, don’t be jealous Miss Hothead, for it’s far too late for that. I spent the night here, and why couldn’t I, for Jenny and me have already kissed you see. Many times.” He pecked my cheek, then rubbed off his own kiss with his cheek. His arms pressing me harder against his body. Where did that come from? Not quite the opening line.





“YOU ASSHOLE! KEEP YOUR DIRTY LIPS OF HER CHEEKS!”





“Not only her cheeks I have dirtied, but her sweet lips also. So weep and go to hell.”





“YOU FREAKING WISH!”





Maya ran towards us, raising her hand, then, suddenly, falling down on her knees, slapping her hands against my cheeks, pulling my face towards her, kissing me. Her lips were way softer than Russ’, which I found strange, because I’m sure Russ uses lip salve and I doubt Maya would go through the trouble. I once heard her say that split, dry lips looked cool.





“YOU dog!” Russ jerked me away, so that I fell on the bed on my side, my plate landing on my pillow. When I turned my gaze towards the two other parties, I saw them both standing up. Yelling, name-calling.





The world had gone mad.





As they kept on yelling, I sat quietly on the bed watching the scene. They were really going at it. After the name-calling, they started quizzing each other to see who knew me best and thus was a better friend.





Maya: “Did you know that Jenny got almost hit by a car when she was five?”





Russ: “Did you know she doesn’t have a favourite colour, though green has a slight preference?”





“Her favourite bands are Mandy Moore, Guana Apes and System of a Down.”





“She’s had over fifteen different hairstyles in her life, all copied from celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Demi Moore, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, Christiana Aguilera and Marilyn Monroe.”





May I note that that was all my mother’s doing and that I amazed by his memory. Russ once had suggested to look through each others photo-albums. I dragged all mine to his home and we had spent the entire afternoon looking through them (and his of course. He was pretty at every age and incredibly cute when an infant). Remarkably enough Russ could figure out which hairdo was from what celebrity. Not all, but a lot.





“Speaking of which… Did you know her real name isn’t Jenny, but Mary? Named after Marilyn Monroe.”





Russ eyes enlarged, Maya gave off a glow of victory.





“Right Jenny?” She smiled satisfied..





The boy then looked at me with eyes that pleaded: Say it isn’t true.





I said nothing, just nodded.





“Why didn’t I know this! And how come a witch like you does?”





“That’s because this little witch is better friends with Jenny, than you are, that’s why. We tell each other stuff, like: secrets, stories, memories. So you go weep and go to hell.”





That wasn’t really true though. I didn’t tell much about my life, not out of my own initiative anyway, it was mostly Maya who was talking and I would comment or ask a question. Same with Russ.





But it happened during a sleepover at Maya’s. When I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, she had taken the opportunity to go through my stuff, including my wallet which held my passport. She then found out that my name wasn’t Jenny but Mary Buncley. She asked me why and I explained.





“But her mother said… she was named after Jennifer Lopez.”





“True, but later on. I mean, c’mon, use your brain idiot! JLO has been famous for several years but not seventeen! So how could she ever be called after that woman at birth. Her mother was a major fan of Marilyn Monroe back in the day for her beauty and success and the way she was adored by everyone and thus Jenny was called Mary, but then when JLO got famous, her mother nearly fell in love with that woman, for she was so independent and strong. Plus Marilyn Monroe was on drugs and speculated to be very unhappy, and that is not something you wish for your child, so she altered Jenny’s name into the one she carries now.”





Yeah, in that direction. My little brother Michael was called after Michael Jordon, but that was also an altered name for the name given to him at his birth was Gordon, as in Gordon Lightfoot, a singer whom mom was in love with when she was younger. My little brother’s bedtime song was ‘If you could read my mind’ which mom sang for him every night as he was a baby. Apparently my bedtimesong had been ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’.





But papa always thought that Gordon was too gay a name for a guy. So, for his birthday, mom gave papa the present of renaming his son, who then came up with Michael as in, like I said, Jordan.





They tried to get the new names through at the municipality house but the people there found ‘We don’t like the celebrities the names are referring too anymore.’ not a good enough reason for an official name-change. So the rest of the family, the school and the doctor were simply informed about our new names and everyone started calling us Jenny and Michael up to where they even forgot we ever were called otherwise.





“Anyhow, get lost Russ. Jenny get dressed, it’s our time now.”





I really don’t want to be forgotten by them, ever. They are just too weird, too much fun. There was only one week left for gathering information, perfecting the experiments, before studying for the exams started.





After the exams…





…I will make myself unforgettable to them.











Lover.. ..friend.. ..heartbreaker.. ..enemy.

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