NOT-NEEL LOOKED stunned, but quickly recovered. His dark eyes met mine as he stepped onto the doorstep, fully framing the doorway. "I could ask you the same thing, actually." He smirked. "Were you so offended by me forgetting your whipped cream that you showed up to where I live? Are you stalking me, Miss Almond Baba?"

I stared at him for a second, wondering if he was being serious, and then I said the first thing that came to mind. "Stalking? Oh no, that would require way too much effort. I prefer the coincidental appearances method. Um, surprise?"

It wasn't rational, it didn't deny his accusation of me being disturbed by his whipped cream offense, but it seemed to be a decent answer because Not-Neel's eyebrows raised like he was curious, but he didn't comment on it.

"What's your name? I blurted, and Not-Neel chuckled. He straightened himself up, all proper gentleman-like, and held out a hand for me to shake.

"Hi, my name is Finneas Ryder. But everyone calls me Finn."

Finn.

Suddenly I could place a real name to the face that was becoming so familiar to me. Not 'Mr Not Neel', but Finn. It worked; between his messy dark hair, sinfully dark eyes, the mischievous twinkle behind them, and the teasing curve of his lips, something just worked, and a name like Finn just perfectly fit this delinquent.

And I recognized the name from when Jolene had mentioned her two friends: Renzo and Finn. I had yet to meet the other person.

I realized I was staring when he cleared his throat amusedly. I took his hand hastily, hoping I shook it firmly enough to show my position as a (totally not) confident woman in society, and then he looked at me expectantly.

I stared back.

"And your name is..."

"Oh!" I felt my face heat up. Right then, I just wanted to dream up a rocketship and launch myself out into space, because I totally deserved to be isolated from the rest of mannered civilization.

"Hi, my name is Cora Turwal. And, um, everyone calls me Cora. I guess."

"Well, hello, Cora." My name on his lips felt so...strange to listen to, and I realized it was because I was getting used to the stupid 'Miss Almond Baba'. Finn let go of my hand, resting his arm on the door frame instead. "Nice to meet you. Alright, Cora, what are you doing here?"

"I- Um, Aunt Cheryl- I mean, Cheryl is my aunt, and...I just got here today and I'm going to be staying here for a while," I responded. "What about you?"

"I've been living here for a while for rent. Cheryl is the best though, treats us like her friends. Amazing woman. I feel like I can confidently say this is my place."

My cheeks flushed slightly. "Oh, I see. I didn't know..."

Finn chuckled. "Yeah, I don't recall your aunt mentioning specifically that she had such a lovely surprise package moving in."

I laughed (read: giggled like a toddler) nervously. "Um, thanks?"

He nodded, then paused. "Well, I should get going, Cora." He raised his eyebrows. "If you'll let me in, that is?"

I realized I was still standing in the way and quickly stepped away. "Sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know who died and made me the porch police."

What?

"Right, the porch police." Finn hid a laugh, his tongue in his cheek, and I wanted to cartwheel to the nearest police station so I could surrender myself for such unlawful, unlicensed blabbering.

"Yup."

Finn stepped into the house, and I went to close the door. But I must have been worriedly thinking about if there were any diets for people who yap when nervous, because I absently pushed the door when he wasn't even all the way in, almost squishing him like Play-Doh in a toddler's hand. I gasped, my eyes widening in horror, and I quickly caught the door.

I tried to remain casual like I hadn't just slammed the door in his face, but Finn noticed my panic.

He paused, raising his eyebrows. "You good?"

"Yeah," I whispered, mortified.

"Finn! Cora! Y'all have met, hmm?" I heard Aunt Cheryl's voice boom, and we turned to her. We started talking, with Aunt Cheryl asking if we've introduced ourselves to each other and whatnot, but I'm too busy looking at Finn. His demeanor was relaxed and friendly and open, compared to the more flirty tone before, which were things I couldn't imagine myself so casually doing, and I wondered how he did it. I would have to ask him, perhaps.

Ha. Yeah, as if.

We walked down to the kitchen, and just then I noticed a commotion of some sort right outside the door. Even though I saw this clearly, I was still startled when the doorbell started to ring incessantly.

I walked back to the door, frowning curiously as I unlocked it and swung it open.

"Please, please, please tell me a thin dude with a mop of dark hair did not show up at this humble residence already. It would make my impoverished soul quite very happy if that were true."

A slightly chubby dude around my age with frosted tips and a yellow shirt decorated in green palm trees stood on the porch, huffing and puffing as he caught his breath. His kind eyes looked at me hopefully.

Without thinking, I asked, "Well, does this dude in question have super dark eyes?" The guy nodded like he was pained. I shook my head remorsefully. "Then I'm afraid your impoverished soul just turned homeless, because...." I winced and jabbed my thumb to point inside the house.

His eyes widened and he stared at me for a second before he burst out laughing. "Why, I quite like you. Your kind name?"

Before I could even open my mouth, a voice from behind interrupted me. "This is Carol—"

"Cora. It's Cora." Offended, I stared up at Finn, who was suddenly standing at my shoulder in the doorway with me.

"-sorry, yes, Cora — she's Cheryl's niece by the way — and Cora," he turned to me, "may I present to you, Renzo Culpepper. Who, might I add, just quite pathetically lost this bet."

Ah, Renzo. So this was the other housemate.

I moved to let Renzo (who was still out of breath) inside the house, and then asked, "Wow, another bet? I hope you aren't depriving anyone of whipped cream this time?"

Finn gave me a guilty smile. "Did I turn you into some sort of holiday-drinks-for-all activist?"

I shrugged. "Someone's got to do the hard work."

Finn grinned at me before he turned and clapped Renzo on the shoulder. "I haven't seen a downfall this quick since my New Year's resolutions to stop pretending that 'just one more drink' won't turn into a midnight trip to an abandoned water park." He muttered the last part almost to himself, and I laughed silently from behind them.

Renzo just casually waved a hand at his friend's remark as we walked down the hallway. "Consider this loss a down payment on future victories, my guy."

"Sure, sure. That's a classic," a voice piped up ahead of us, and I was startled to see Jolene's knowing smile near the kitchen. She walked towards us and joined us, pinching Renzo's cheek affectionately to which he just rolled his eyes.

"The backdoor was open," she giggled in response to my shocked expression. "I took a shortcut." She winked, and I blinked out of my stupor as we walked down the hallway to the kitchen to help set the table.

It happened so that dinner was a jolly affair.

And it was loud. Very loud.

I sat there, trying to catch up on the four different conversations running, all while wondering how just three extra people could make such a difference. And then I realized that it depended on exactly which three people it was, because if there were three of me, the dinner would have been filled with comments on the weather or the pros and cons of organizing spice racks alphabetically. I pondered this between bites of Aunt Cheryl's chicken pot pie and cornbread.

Also, I managed not to choke on anything through all of dinner, even when Renzo revealed that once he'd accidentally sent his beach day pics to his math professor. I'd simply held my breath until the surprise passed (okay fine, until Finn noticed my face turning red). Sure, I wasn't too easy-breezy about it, but the don't-choke-don't-croak end goal was reached, Finn's concerned eye-brow raising aside. I admit, I would definitely have to work on the subtlety.

Still, I considered it a personal win for me.

⬫⬫◍⬫⬫

The next day, I refused to go out to 'explore'. Sorry not sorry, but my little stunt as Dora the Explorer yesterday didn't prove all too successful, did it? I think not.

After breakfast, though, Aunt Cheryl offered to take me to the gardening store so I could buy some indoor plants, and I readily accepted. This was because I knew that there was no way any trouble would happen there, and specifically, certain dark-eyed people wouldn't show up. This I knew because Finn was saying at dinner last night how he greatly dislikes gardening because apparently it's quite banal for him. Of course I would find the exact thing quite amazingly relaxing.

At the store, something quite...eye opening happened. 

As I was casually frolicking by the foliage plants in the indoor plants section, something caught my eye near something called a peace lily. Almost tucked under the pot but not quite fully was a small slip of paper, similar to what one would find in a fortune cookie. 

But this paper didn't have a printed message; instead, it looked like someone had scribbled it on in a sharp black fine tip pen. The edges of the small slip were traced with barely visible dark blue glitter, catching the light prettily. I gently untucked it from underneath the pot, wondering if it came with the plant and if I should ask a worker about it. That's when I caught sight of the small 'this message is made for you'  lettering, and I realized that someone did place it there in hopes of spreading a small social message. 

I knew that these types of things were silly at most— maybe someone trying to be quirky, or maybe a nutty person thinking they were a gifted messenger from heaven or something. Either way, I knew these fortune cookie-type messages were something just to read, maybe reflect on, and then toss over your shoulder. 

But then I read the message on the paper: 

An adventure awaits you just beyond your comfort zone.

It wasn't much. Nothing, really. But I reread the message and stood there trembling as I clutched the paper in wonder. Perhaps this really was a message from the universe, reminding me that change is the only thing that doesn't change. Then I remembered where I was and realized that maybe it wasn't that deep when someone in another aisle coughed like they had an entire garden of venus flytraps in their lungs.  

Still, the message resonated with me profoundly, and I kept the paper crumpled into my fist as we paid for the plants that we'd gotten (including a little cactus plant that was too cute and looked too lonely surrounded by the other towering prickly plants). 

In the car as we drove back, Aunt Cheryl looked concerned because, well, it would be slightly concerning if your usually nonsensical niece suddenly looked wise and inspired post buying a cactus at the local plant nursery. 

I just told her I was excited about the plants, not wanting to mention the little message, for some reason. Was I slightly embarrassed? Maybe. If I told her about it, would she try to help me out in some way? Definitely. 

And I didn't want that. I didn't want her to worry that I was analyzing my life right in such a way. It felt strange, wondering if maybe I should get out more often, speak more, do more, and stop being so...reserved. 

The thing was, just the thought of imagining how I would do it made my hands slightly shake like I was playing in an exclusive tambourine-and-maracas band, and made me break out in a sweat, because I had no clue what to do about a comfort zone that I just realized existed, like, yesterday. 

So of course, I didn't know how I would start stepping out of it.

The best bet for me was that maybe I could find this zone on Google Maps or something. 

...Just kidding. 

___

A/N: There's only two types of people in the world...those who like gardening and those who don't...🪴✌️

P.S. What do you think is the best mindset to have for dealing with awkward social situations? If you could give Cora advice, what would it be? 

P.P.S. That voting star looks prettier when it's glowing (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
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