I was seated at one of the tables in the park of Richard Town, waiting for my dear friend Ed, on a warm Monday afternoon. The park was a lovely place with lush lawns and stone pathways in between; coupled with a few trees, many shrubs and a variety of flowers.

I liked to sit at the table near the bed of pink peony flowers. It gathered shade from a sycamore tree to mitigate the heat, and had a wonderful view of the fountain a few metres up ahead.

I was looking at the clear water sparkle as it sprouted down the fountain when my view was blocked by a short middle-aged woman in a long black dress. Her hands were covered in white gloves and she held up a black umbrella above her head, sheathing her from the heat.

I wrinkled my nose.

It looked like the black wide-brimmed hat, which was nearly the same width as her umbrella, hadn't been enough.

"Thank goodness I found you here, Rosa dear!" This Mrs. Plumberry beamed at me. She took out a white handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at the beads of sweat on her pale but flushed face.

I smiled at her. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Plumberry."

I neglected to correct her of my name because I realised people would always call you whatever they wanted. My parents named me Nkwanzi Rose, but enough people in Richard Town called me Rosa.

"I am here for a luncheon meeting, you see, but it so happens that I found a leak in my sink this morning, you know."

At that, I reached inside my satchel and fished my diary, which was more of a notebook than a secret-keeper.

"I made a mental note to write your mother about it, but it completely flew out of my mind when this luncheon business came along," Mrs. Plumberry continued and let out a little laugh at her forgetfulness. "It was a wonderful thing that I saw you, because it shocked my brain to remember. Fascinating thing the brain is, isn't it? Forgetting things one moment and remembering them the next, hm?"

"Indeed." I was already jotting down her complaint and once I was finished, I smiled at her. "I'll let my mother know and have the plumber come down there earliest end of today and latest tomorrow morning. Is that alright?"

Her mouth stretched into a grin, bringing out the wrinkles around her eyes. "That would be lovely, Rosa dear. Thank you."

"It's no problem, Mrs. Plumberry. Have a great day."

"You too, dear!" She turned and hobbled off onto the lawns.

My parents owned a flat in Richard Town, which had been handed down to my father from his father. It was a guesthouse called LightHouse, and it had been built some several years after the town was established. My parents did some renovations once we moved to the Town ten years back, and it was a source of not only income, but pride as well.

My mother struggled to handle it after my father passed on eight years back. It was not only on account of the grief, but also because of the prejudice against a woman handling work considered 'a man's job'.

Pfft.

It was both infuriating and frustrating, and I always had something to say against it.

My grandfather helped us out and slowly by slowly, she and I managed. I was only nine when my father passed on so I didn't know much about handling a business. But with a couple of years of learning and experience, I was able to truly be of help to my mother - unlike my silly younger brother, Jerry.

As I tucked my notebook back in my satchel, I heard the unmistakeable husky voice of my dear friend, Ed, from behind me.

"Girl friend!"

Without turning around, I raised my arm and made a 'come here' motion with my hand.

In a few seconds, Ed swung her legs over the bench and sat down, causing the bench to squeak a little from her weight.

"I present the goods!" she declared and placed a medium-sized light blue porcelain dish on the table.

As usual, she was dressed in trousers. She'd worn black trousers and a long sleeved grey shirt with the sleeves folded to her elbows, coupled with a black waistcoat. Her blonde hair was styled in a pixie cut, long on the front, and she wore black studs in her lobes.

"Look at the size of that thing." I ogled the dish, scooting closer to her. "Please don't tell me you filled the whole-"

"I filled the whole dish!" she cheered, dramatically removing the lid to reveal the contents.

The tasty aroma of pork samosas wafted to my nostrils first before enticing my stomach to rumble. The treasury that was the golden brown triangle goodies in the dish practically made me drool, and i nearly forgot that it would soon be lunch time.

"Ed!" I scolded. "I told you to get just enough for a snack before lunch! Did you buy out the whole shop or what?"

"This is just enough for a snack," she defended and picked a samosa. "Only two of these are for you, anyway." She took a bite.

There were about ten samosas in there.

I glared at her and she sighed.

"Fine, you can have two and a half," she 'resigned.'

I rolled my eyes and gave her a playful shove, to which she chuckled. I picked a samosa and took a bite, then had to stop myself from moaning in delight.

"I swear, Mrs. Lawrence makes the greatest samosas," I praised.

"Pork's always the best of everything," Ed stated in a dreamy tone.

"Strange hearing that from a pig's mouth."

It was a statement from possibly the most obnoxious voice I'd ever heard. Musical and siren-like, yet downright conceited and an incitement to violence. I could already sense Ed's murderous aura flare from beside me.

Poppy - the owner of the razor-sharp death voice - strutted from behind the table to the front, her slender arms folded over her small chest.

She'd worn a long floral sundress with thin straps. Her long brown hair was straight, shiny and beautiful as always, her perfume strong yet pleasant as always. The dress brought out the leafy green of her almond shaped eyes, and her flawless white skin didn't look the least bit coloured or sticky from the sun. I didn't think I'd ever seen her sweat. In fact, she was glowing.

In contrast, my skin was a shade lighter than the colour of coffee, and it had enough scars across my arms and legs, plus pimple scars on my face. It was mind-boggling how some adolescents managed to escape the acne epidemic. Ed and Poppy were part of those escapees, much to my disgruntlement.

Poppy flipped her hair behind her shoulder and shot Ed a scornful gaze. "A pig chowing down samosas made of pork. I don't know whether to call that cannibalistic or plain disgusting."

"What's disgusting is your voice croaking away at any chance it gets," Ed was quick to retort. "It makes my ears bleed. It would do everyone in this town a favour if somebody just sewed your toad's mouth shut forever."

Anger flashed across Poppy's face and she chucked her arms down at her sides. "Well, you shouldn't talk with your face stuffed like that or you'll choke. That is, if you don't choke on your own fat first."

"Why you little toothpick-!" Ed slammed her hands onto the table, and I held her down before she could lunge at Poppy, even though I was seething as well.

I glared at the menace in front of us. "What do you want, Poppy?"

Poppy smirked and lifted her chin up. "Establishment Day is next Saturday."

Establishment Day, the 20th of June, was the annual celebration of the founding of the town by Sir Richard Barrington. He spearheaded its construction, gave it a name, and got its economy moving through trade relations with other places. It was a day of singing, playing games, lots of dancing, and of course food and drink. It was the merriest day of the year, and it was more enjoyable if you had somebody to go and spend it with.

"So?" I asked.

"So I wanted to know if you have a date to go with."

I raised an eyebrow, still not following. "What's it to you?"

Poppy snickered. "If you've forgotten, dumb one, then let me remind you," she said, "of how you so terribly wanted to go with Cyrus last year and you almost did. Except -oh - he actually liked me and ended up going with me while you sulked and moped about your sad and pathetic life with your equally sad and pathetic best friend."

My heart sank at the memory I had tried so hard to forget.

"I think maybe I should be the one to sew your mouth shut," Ed spat. "This town will revere me as a hero, just like Richard Barrington."

"Why would you bring that up?" I tried to keep my voice levelled as I asked Poppy, so that I didn't sound like I cared when in fact, I did. I was hurt and angry.

"Be-cause, dear Rosa, I don't want you to make a fool out of yourself again." She sounded concerned, but there was vindictiveness behind that statement. "Chasing boys who don't even like you, have never liked you, and will never like you as long as there is me." She placed a hand on her chest, smirking.

"Where?" Ed pretended to look around, with her hand on her forehead and her eyes peering. "I don't see anything special. Just a framework of bones that the wind will pick up easily."

"I'm not talking to you," Poppy replied through gritted teeth. "A trousers-wearing tomboy like yourself shouldn't even be listening to this conversation."

"Just leave us alone, Poppy," I growled at her. A number of people tested my patience in this town, and she was one of them. I just didn't quite understand why she had to pick on me.

"So do you have a date to Establishment Day or not?" she pressed. "Although I seriously doubt it, since you must have learned your lesson. Just spend the day sulking and moping like you did last year and will do every other year to come. No one would even ask you anyway. Has it even ever happened? Let me think....uhm, no. You're always with this pig, aren't you?"

This time, I was the one who slammed the table. "You're wrong, Poppy."

I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, but the fury was definitely driving me somewhere.

Poppy tilted her head. Some kind of challenge burned in her eyes, and was reflected in mine.

"About what?" she inquired. "Because in matters of comparison between you and me, I'm never wrong."

Slowly, I rose from the bench and my brown glare met her green gaze. She was clearly amused by how much she riled me up.

And then the words ran out of my mouth without consent from my brain. "I do have a date."

And immediately, I felt Ed's shocked stare burrow into the side of my face.

Poppy widened her eyes, but scoffed. "Really?"

She didn't believe me. Obviously.

"Yes, really," I mocked her voice the best I could.

She sighed. "Are you sure you didn't imagine this in your head? Or even if it is real, you must've chased him down and wore him out till he had no choice but to-"

"He's the one that asked me!" I snapped, fury dominating my brain once more.

I heard Ed cough, like she almost choked on a samosa. She was probably having fun watching me lie my butt off in a confrontation with Poppy, who looked surprised by my assertion.

"So you're wrong, Poppy," I told her. "Not every boy wants to be with you, and not everybody likes you. And this year, I have a sure date to Establishment Day who doesn't like you."

Poppy barked out a laugh. "A boy who doesn't like me?" she repeated like it was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard. "I thought you'd outgrown your 'imaginary friend' phase, Rosa. Now you're playing imaginary date."

My confidence wavered for a moment as my brain started to regain control because, well, I was playing imaginary date.

"But I don't care. It doesn't make a difference to me anyway." Poppy shrugged and stared at me with a mirth-filled smirk. "I would love to see this 'date' of yours. See you at Establishment Day, dumb one." She turned to Ed and looked her up and down in contempt. "Big one."

She then turned to leave, making sure her long hair hit my face.

"Yea, maybe I'll eat you up too once I'm done with these samosas!" Ed yelled after her.

Poppy froze in her tracks, and for a second, she looked like she had been caught off guard and didn't know what to do or what to reply. Then she kept walking, tripped over herself but quickly regained her composure, and stomped off.

I chuckled, because it was the first time I'd seen her clumsy.

"What the hell are you gobbling about? Do you realise that you just flung yourself into a fire pit?" Ed admonished me.

My brain was then fully functional. I threw my head back and whined, slumping back onto the bench.

"What have I done?" I groaned.

"You faced off and talked back to Poppy. For that, I congratulate you," Ed told me with a big smile, which I returned generously.

And then she smacked me right up the back of my head.

"Ow!" I yelped, holding the back of my head through my shoulder-length black yarn braids.

"But my sister, you are a fucking dimwit for the method you used!" she scolded.

Indeed.

A/N:

And behold my first chapter! Thoughts are welcome in the comment section.

Hopefully, I will be updating every Friday, and if I catch some time, then Mondays or Tuesdays as well.

Shoutout to @meha-k, who created the bookcover.