Welcome Autumn

In my hands, I held a little realm. The words drew pictures, sang sounds, gave life and told stories. The comforting silence around me allowed for my full immersion, not that I could hear or feel anything besides the novel in front of me. I appreciated the author’s attention to the details; it pacified my never-ending curiosity.

“--re!”

I startle out of my reverie, a small hand placed on my shoulder jolting me awake. I gazed questioningly at the owner of the hand. My best friend, in all her pastel-pink hair glory, looking down at me with a smile.

“You’ve lost yourself in a book again, Kore,” a knowing grin on her face. “Are books really that entertaining?”

“Of course!” I answered with a wide smile. “You used to read too, but once it stopped being a requirement, which might I add was way back in elementary, you grew to dislike it.” Nix bashfully smiles, a dash of red painting her cheeks. I stood up from my chair, stretching out my stiff body with the book still in hand. “Now, what’s on the agenda?” I turn to her, who was patiently waiting for me.

“We aren’t doing much, just going out to eat and walking around, like usual,” she replied. “Oh, we can stop by the pet store as well, Theo needs his dog food.” I nodded in response, glancing at the small pomeranian who was sniffing about under the dining table. As I leaned down to stroke the feisty little thing, I recalled how he used to bark excessively when he was first adopted. Theo would bark up a storm, making Nix panic at the thought of bothering her neighbours.

“Are you ready to go? Neither of us has our license so we need to get going if we want to make it to the next bus, which is coming in… about 15 minutes,” I said as I stuffed the book back in my bag, trading it for my bus pass while fiddling with my smartphone in my free hand. I trudged over to the entrance, tote bag secured on my arm and slid on my black boots.

“Yeah, I’m good to go.” With her phone and bus pass in hand, black Converse sneakers on, and her grey Kanken backpack slung across her shoulders, she joined me at the entrance. I opened her front door, letting Nix walk out first before I followed behind her. The slight breeze that signalled the end of summer was a cool welcome after the intense heat in June. Nix locked the door behind us before we made our way down the rough pavement towards the bus stop across the street. As usual, the crosswalk was too far so our only choice was to jaywalk. We stood on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the cars to zoom by before making our way across.

Together, we stood side-by-side, heads down as we busied ourselves on our phones. “Oh, that’s right, I recently got into reading about zodiac signs. Kore, what was your sign again?” Nix spoke quickly, not even bothering to lift her head up.

“Hmm? I’m a Virgo, rather, shouldn’t you already know that?” I said with feigned hurt. “I can’t believe I consider you as my best friend when you don’t even know such things about me.” I sorrowfully complained. Nix glanced up from her phone long enough to shoot me a look of utter disgust, raise her hand, and flip me off.

“Anyways, it says here that Virgos are loyal, kind, hardworking,” she read aloud, smiling, “but they are also worrywarts, perfectionists, and overly critical. This sounds exactly like you!” I quirked an eyebrow at her, peering over her shoulder.

“I can’t say I disagree. What else does it say?” I asked and she continued her spiel.

“Virgos like animals, books, and healthy food— pfft, healthy?” Nix covered her lips as a giggle left her lips. “If eating cup ramen every day is considered healthy, then my worldview is skewed.” I smacked her on the head, gently. She flipped me off for a second time.

“Stop being a bother and let me finish reading this,” she complained. I rolled my eyes and nodded. “They are often misunderstood because they generally dislike asking for help, are very reserved and shy—an introvert, how fitting. Anyways, they’re not good at expressing themselves, are nitpicky, and can become fixated in small mistakes.”

“On what shady website are you reading off of?” I questioned, feeling mildly unsettled by the accuracy but also readily denying in my head that it was nothing but a bunch of rubbish.

“Don’t call it shady!” I shrugged off her protest and tapped her on the shoulder, pointing at the oncoming bus. “It was pretty accurate, you can’t deny it.” This time, I flipped her off as the bus came to a stop in front of us.

“Go ahead,” I mumbled as Nix boarded the bus with me in tow, putting our bus passes over the scanner before walking to the back to take our seats. We sat in silence for a few minutes before I spoke again and questioned her. “What do you think? Did it accurately describe me?” I turned to Nix, who was staring down at her smartphone again.

“Pretty much, I’ve known you since we were in grade 6. I can’t be considered your childhood friend but I mean, it’s been nearly 8 years.” Nix keeps her head down but the dark screen display is enough for me to know that she’s focused on our conversation. “Anyways, I’ve been by your side for that long, even if I don’t remember the many topics we’ve talked about, I’ve seen enough of your attitude, actions, etc. etc, to know for sure that you’re nearly a perfect description of a Virgo. I mean, you’re even a vir—” I smack her on the head again, preemptively stopping her words. She covered her mouth as her entire body started shaking as she held back the burst of giggles that were stuck on her throat.

I shook my head with an eye-roll, ignoring her as the restrained giggles came out as full-blown coughing fits, decisively playing it off as if she was a stranger to me.