Chapter 6

“Brown or black?” Nelson called me too early to help him with his outfit for today’s community meeting.

“What brown?” Feeling groggy early in the morning, I covered my face with a pillow. “Seriously, can we talk about this later?”

“Turn on your cam please!”

I groaned as I did what he asked. And what greeted me was the full body image of Nelson Curtis trying on different sweaters. His room was a mess! His clothes were scattered on his bed, and pants on the floor — what was happening?

“Okay, listen. The brown one looks warm and aesthetic, right?”

I nodded.

“But black makes me look sophisticated. And that’s hot. So I might go for black,” he continued.

I nodded. Again.

“Wake up and help me out!” He said, panicking.

“Nelson, it’s seven in the morning. The meeting’s at two in the afternoon.”

“Baby,” he started, with his hand on one hip. “I’ll need all the hours to prepare for this community meeting.”

“You mean meeting Fern?”

“Yes. I believe that’s the only reason why I’m going,” he said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. “As you are only going because of Jackson.”

“I’m not!” My voice was too high that I sounded so defensive. And Nelson caught that.

“Shut up. You dig him a lot.”

“I don’t dig him. A lot. I just — I’m still getting to know him.”

“Girl, you don’t do GTKY like that,” he said as he continued to stare at his reflection on the mirror in his room. “I’ll show you what getting to know is like later.”

“You’re such a flirt!”

“And you should be too, at your age.”

Nelson went with the navy blue sweater he just bought online last week. After debating on whether to go with brown or black, he went with the one that wasn’t one of our options.

I was still in bed when the clock struck eight, and I was too tired to sit up. Staring at the ceiling, I realized I should also be concerned about what I should wear. Jackson sent a message on our group chat saying that the board wants to meet everyone face to face at the community town hall rather than on a video call as most of the members are not that techie. And they thought that planning on a video call is not as effective as a face to face discussion.

So now, I have to worry about what to wear.

I got up and immediately scanned my closet. Most of my clothes were long sleeves, sweaters, oversized shirts, square pants and just the normal pants. Just looking at my closet made me upset so I decided to just grab something later and that would be it.

The morning was uneventful. The news was the same. And I didn’t feel like watching anything horror — which was a first.

Time flew by quickly though, which helped. I didn’t have to drown myself in my own thoughts again.

It was half past one when I decided to change. But before I could do that, I heard knocks on my door. When I opened it, Nelson stood there looking like a fashion model. With his navy blue sweater loosely tucked in his jeans, his white sneakers on and brushed up hair — I almost didn’t recognize him.

Fighting the urge to laugh, I covered my mouth.

“Excuse me! I know I look F-A-B-U-LOUS,” he said with a glare. “And why are you still in your jammies?”

I shrugged, still fighting the urge not to laugh at him.

“Oh, the effort,” I said. “Definitely F-A-B-U-LOUS.”

“Shut up, and we’ll get you ready A-S-A-P.”

Nelson scoured my closet with a disgusted look on his face.

“The colors are hurting my eyes,” he said as he took one rainbow sweater and threw it at my face.

“Hey! You like rainbows.”

“Without sequins!”

Nelson ignored me for a minute as he continued mix and match my clothes. I plopped to the bed and my phone rang. It was Jackson.

“Hey!” he greeted. “You guys ready? We could all walk together there.”

“I — uh, we’ll be down in a minute. See you!”

“Okay. I’ll wait out here.”

I threw the rainbow sweater back to Nelson and shrieked, “He’s already down there!”

“Ssssh! It’s not like this is all my fault. You should’ve changed an hour earlier!”

Nelson handed me the only dress I owned which I hid in the corner-most part of the closet.

“This is the only decent thing you have,” he commented with a scowl.

“Glad you found it,” I said weakly. “But I don’t wear dresses.”

“Get changed now, or I’ll change you myself.”

I got up so quickly and changed in the bathroom.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I didn’t really appreciate what I saw. The dress was beautiful — knee-length, short-sleeved and teal-colored. I had no choice but to wear this, or else Nelson would throw a fit.

“You done?” he called out.

When I got out, he eyed me from head to toe and smiled. “I like it. Now, do you have sandals?”

“Can I wear white shoes?”

“NO!”

“Oh come on, please. You chose the dress already.”

“Fine. Now, let’s go ‘cause honey, I can’t wait to meet Fern.”

Nelson dragged me downstairs, and outside, Jackson was waiting. His smile grew when we came out.

“We’re so sorry for Vera’s lack of time awareness.”

Jackson laughed and looked at his watch. “We still got time.”

All three of us walked side by side with me in the middle, Jackson on my left, and Nelson on my right. The town hall wasn’t that far.

“So, Jackson,” Nelson started. “You owe me something.”

Jackson chuckled and nodded. “Fern is waiting at the town hall.”

“Let’s all walk faster,” Nelson said as he dragged me behind his steps.

Jackson just laughed and followed us.

As we got nearer, Nelson, with his hand holding mine, turned to Jackson and said, “Jackson, I’m entrusting Vera to you.”

“What? Excuse me?” My eyes widened at him, but he wasn’t looking at me.

“Thank you for your trust,” Jackson replied. “Vera is in good hands.”

“Wait — what?” I turned to Nelson, “What are you doing?”

“Girl, if I’m flirting today, I need you somewhere safe and at a distance. I don’t need distractions.”

Jackson led us inside the hall, and people turned to look at us as we entered. I couldn’t figure out if everyone was excited to have us here — except Jackson of course — because of the masks everyone wore.

“Jackson! So good to have you here.” An older man, who seemed to be as old as my father if he were alive, greeted Jackson with an elbow bump. “And who are these lovely youngsters you brought?”

“Glad to be here, Mr. Goodwin.” I could see the smile in Jackson’s eyes even with the mask on when he turned to us. “This is Nelson Curtis and Vera Lee, my neighbors — Vera, Jackson, this is Mr. Bill Goodwin, the president of our committee. He’s the one who organized the meeting for today.”

Nelson and I shook hands with Mr. Goodwin, and he warmly welcomed us. “Thank you so much for being here with us,” he said.

“It’s our pleasure, Mr. Goodwin. Vera and I have always wanted to join the committee and its activities.”

I raised my eyebrow at Nelson. Have always wanted to join? I almost chuckled beside him when he pinched my arm. Luckily I had my mask on which covered me mouthing “Ow!”

“Yes, that’s true,” I agreed.

“Very well, then. Have yourselves seated so we can start shortly.”

“We have always wanted to join?” I asked Nelson. “Do you remember what you said to me about these meetings and events?”

“People change, my dear. People change,” he said with sarcasm in his big eyes.

The town hall was just a small room with less than thirty chairs arranged neatly into three parallel rows with an aisle in the middle. Jackson guided us to the second row on the right. A young man was sitting there all alone.

“Fern!” Jackson called.

I felt Nelson tensed by my side.

Fern turned to us and smiled with his eyes. His clean cut curly hair was so adorable, but his big brown eyes accented his whole beautiful face — even with the mask on I knew he’s gorgeous. And I could confidently say this young and good-looking man has passed the Nelson Curtis standard.

And before we could say anything else, Nelson reached out to shake Fern’s hand as he stood up to greet us.

“Nelson Curtis.” I bet a big flirtatious smile was plastered on his face. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Fernando Sanders — but I go by Fern.” Fern seemed to be dazzled by Nelson too as both of them didn’t let go of each others hands.

“Okay,” I said to break the contact. We shouldn’t be shaking hands right now. “Hi Fern, I’m Vera — Vera Lee. I’m Nelson’s best friend and Jackson’s — uh —“

I didn’t know what to say which made me look stupid.

“I — uh, next-door neighbor,” I continued.

“And soon to be girlfriend,” Nelson interjected which made me shot a glare at him. He didn’t seem to notice as he was busy studying Fern’s face. Typical Nelson.

“Will you sit with me, Nelson?” Fern asked.

“Love to,” he replied before he turned to me. “Go sit somewhere else,” he whispered before nudging me towards Jackson.

Really? He left me just like that? For a guy he just met?

“Come on,” Jackson said. He was amused by all this. “Let’s sit on the left side.”

I followed Jackson, but my eyes were still on Nelson who was chatting animatedly and Fern listening intently. I couldn’t believe him.

“They’re really getting along, aren’t they?” I asked Jackson.

“Yeah. I bet Nelson is loving every second.”

“He is! He really is!”

“And you?”

I was taken aback. He was asking about me?

“What about me?”

“Well, you haven’t really spoken to me since we left your house. And you look lovely, by the way. The dress suits you. Is everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah. Everything’s okay, really.”

“Oh,” Jackson’s face fell. I really wasn’t good with this. But I didn’t want him to be upset.

“So, what are we here for?” I asked.

His eyes lit up and told me all about how every year, the township of Addersfield hosts a charity event to nearby towns, foundations, homes for the elderly and orphanages. But this year, all the donations received and gifts in kind would go to the hospital in town.

Jackson was about to tell me more, but Mr. Goodwin already presented himself on stage, with a microphone in his hand.

“Good afternoon, everyone! It’s such a beautiful day in Adders.” His voice was so warm, it made me miss my father.

“As you all know, it’s December next week. And the Annual Addersfield Christmas Charity event, or the AACC, is fast approaching.” Everyone clapped when he mentioned the AACC. I bet my grandmother would be here too if she were still alive.

“For the past few years, we’ve been sharing our blessings with different townships and foundations. We even visited orphanages, elderly homes — we reached out to communities that needed our help. And now, I believe, our help is needed more than ever. This year’s beneficiary will be Addersfield’s very own hospital.”

Everyone clapped once more, and so did I. I never participated to events like this before. My grandmother was the active member of the society. All I ever did was lounge at home and drown in books and horror. But right now, I felt the urge to join willingly. This would be my first.

“We are giving back to our doctors and nurses, and every hospital staff — we want to thank them for their service and hard work. And of course, we’ll be sharing our gifts with the patients and their families as well. Right now, we need each other’s support to get through this pandemic.”

This was very heartwarming. If I knew it would feel like this, I would’ve gone with my grandmother years ago.

“I’ve already coordinated with the mayor and the sheriff. We have their support. And, I forgot to mention, we’ve got tons of sponsorships and donations for this event. This is going to be the biggest AACC in the history of Adders. Now, what I need is two volunteers to spearhead the event — be in charge of the program and the planning. But of course, we’ll all be with you in every step of the way.”

“Hey,” Jackson nudged me. “Do you want to?”

“What?”

“Volunteer.”

There was excitement in his eyes, and I knew mine held so much thrill too. I nodded without wasting another second thinking. Jackson shot his hand up in the air, catching Mr. Goodwin’s attention. And everyone fell silent.

“We volunteer — Vera and I.”

And the next thing I knew, Nelson and Fern were clapping on the right side of the hall. I was all smiles, although my mask covered my huge grin. The people around us clapped their hands and I could see the smiles in their eyes too.

Except one.

A girl whose face I wasn’t familiar with — not that I really know everyone in Adders — glared at me with so much hate I could feel it a couple of chairs away. We stared at each other for a short while, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance leaving the hall.

Who was she?