Suburbia

Why is she here? Why can’t she just leave me alone?

“Can I come inside?” She asks. She pauses, waiting on me. But when I only stare at her she continues, “Please, I- I need to explain.”

She has a skittishness about her, her lips are blushing red where she has been continually chewing on them and she is twisting her fingers around and around in her palms. She looks pleadingly up at me and I slowly, carefully, step back to give her space to walk in, regarding her as a wild animal, ready to pounce at any moment.

She hurriedly follows me as I head towards the stairs, glancing back over her shoulder through the glass doors as if someone were watching her. I lead her up into my room, motioning towards a chair for her as I sink onto my bed, crunching the covers between my fingers to help steel myself against her.

“Why are you here?” I ask her bluntly, “Do you really have something to say or are you just here to mess with my head?” But I can tell as I say the words that she is here for a reason, she has a slight desperation about her that isn’t easily feigned.

She blinks up at me; she seems so fragile and delicate, like a single word could knock her down. “You’ll think I’m crazy.” She whispers, her lips catching each other on all the tiny bite marks as they brush together.

I laugh a small, derisive laugh, “I am the expert after all.”

“That’s why I came to you; I knew I had to tell someone, soon, I didn’t think I could keep going with her for much longer. I thought you might be the one to understand,” she is suddenly talking so fast the words begin to stumble over one another in their haste to be heard, “But, also, she wants to talk to you too, I don’t know why or what about, she just does. That’s why I came to talk to you today, I wanted to tell someone, I needed to. But she scared you away. She scares everyone away.”

I look at her face, I try to see what she’s thinking, what sort of game she’s playing with me. She isn’t making sense. She’s breathing hard and heavy, as if she’s fought some terrible battle, not gasped a few words. “What do you mean? Who are you talking about?”

Eve is chewing on her lip so furiously now that it’s only a matter of time before it tears. She takes a deep, hicuppy breath before she whispers in a trembling voice, “Vanessa.”

I tried to think of anyone called Vanessa at school but everyone there has faded into one indistinct blur.

“Who’s Vanessa?”

Eve pulls her hands to her mouth so that her voice is muffled and echoes slightly in the cup of her palms, “You’ll think I’m crazy,” she sniffs, “Well, I suppose I am crazy.”

I only stare at her, waiting for her to continue. Her hands fall from her face as her shoulders slump and her face drops into a look of resignation.

“When I was little, five or six, I didn’t have many friends, well, I didn’t have any friends at all. So, like a lot of kids do, I made an imaginary friend. Called Vanessa. She was a bit bossy but she was nice and she was all I had. But after a year or so had passed, I decided I wanted to make real friends,” She takes a deep breath before continuing, absentmindedly digging her fingernails into the back of her hands, “But Vanessa wouldn’t let me. If I talked to someone other than her she would make me say horrible things to them, pinch them, stuff like that. I wasn’t in control anymore; it was like I was Vanessa and not me.”

Her eyes flick up at me to see what my reaction is but my face is blank so she keeps going, her voice getting faster as she talks, “I kept telling myself that If I waited long enough she would go away, she would leave me alone. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t let me tell anyone about her, she doesn’t like me talking to people at all really... except you.”

Now my face cracks into a disbelieving smirk, “Me?” I laugh, “And why would she let you talk to me of all people?”

Her face pinches at the look on my face, “I- I don’t know, I think she finds you interesting. I don’t know why, it’s only recently she started caring, she- she wants to talk to you I think.”
I sit and stare at her for a few moments to check that she does actually think I will believe this. That after all these years of taunts and jokes at my expense I wouldn’t have learnt my lesson.

“So, basically, your imaginary friend from when you were six, the one that gets jealous when you talk to people, finds me interesting and would like to talk to me?”

She looks up at me sadly, “You don’t believe me.”

“No, that makes perfect sense, why on earth wouldn’t I believe you?” I exclaim

I look down at her heart shaped face, she has finally cut through her lip and a little bead of blood has blossomed there. My voice is heavy with regret as I murmur quietly, “You know, I actually thought you were on my doorstep for a real reason, just for a second there.” I sigh, “Look, I don’t think you’re mean enough to have wanted to do this yourself, so just tell whoever made you do this that you did your bit and it’s my fault that their hilarious little joke didn't work. But, you know, kudos for the originality, never heard this one before, it might have been fun to see where you were taking this one,” I stand up and walk over to the door to open it for her, “But I think you should leave now, you and your little friend, whatever her name is.”

I look towards Eve expectantly, waiting for her to sigh and leave, confused that I didn’t fall for her amazing plan. But instead, she slowly raises her head from her lap and turns to look at me, her eyes burning emerald before she snarls, “My name is Vanessa.”