Little Games of Love: A Novel

by Gabriela Paz

  “Yeah. We will see what happens. Let’s just enjoy today and be happy without thinking about anything else, okay? Eva pleaded.

  “Done. I promise,” said Cece. She was wearing a long red dress she had bought the other day, and she looked stunningly sexy. Red was her favorite. She showed a little bit of cleavage, and her curves did all the work for her. They headed toward the registration table, where they finally got their robes and graduation caps, and they proceeded to sit down in their respective seats.

  Tim was sitting next to Cece, and he seemed so tense in the way he looked all over the room. Next to Eva was some guy from her biology class she barely knew. Everyone was looking around, trying to find their families in the crowd. But there were a lot of people, and it was quite hard to recognize anyone’s face.

  Eva spotted her mother after a few minutes. She wasn’t sitting too far compared to the others, and she was holding the camera, which made Eva a bit nostalgic. Why hasn’t he called me? Or at least wrote me? Does he even know I’m graduating?

  She was certain her mother had talked to him at some point after he left —not that she ever admitted it, but Eva was convinced. She was only a child back then, to be fair, but now that she was old enough, she wished her mother kept her in the loop or at least told her what really happened.

  Claiming that the only reason she found out he intentionally left them was due to her detective skills was not good enough for her anymore. The truth was that there wasn’t much to investigate. He had taken most of his belongings, and his boss confirmed he had been promoted and moved to another city. It wasn’t a difficult mystery to solve.

  She suddenly felt like crying. No matter how hard she tried to contain her emotions, the feelings were so strong that they didn’t even ask permission to enter.

  After all the introductions and school procedures, they started to call each student one by one in alphabetical order. Thank God! “Cece, you will go first, and I will go shortly after. I don’t want to be here without you sitting nervously for too long.”

  “I know. I’m shaking Evs, literally. Hold my hand,” Cece said as the director got closer to the letter B. She was agitatedly shaking her leg up and down nonstop, making Eva more anxious. All of a sudden, the director blurted, “Cecilia Aurelia Blackwell.”

  Cece got up from her seat and slowly walked to the podium with a huge smile on her face. She looked stunning. She had such a strong and bubbly personality; many times, Eva wished she could be more like her, confident and happy or at least appear to be.

  It wasn’t much longer until the school director called her name, “Eva Coleman,” no middle name, plain and simple—that’s what her mother had decided for her when she was born. Shit, that’s me. Her heart was racing when she walked up to the podium to receive her diploma; her legs felt weak and she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking, but she hoped nobody noticed. As she came down from the podium, the school photographer snapped her picture.

  Her mom was standing nearby trying to wave at her every second she could. I can see you, mom. She posed the best that she could and kept smiling until everybody got a good shot. She loved photos, but she didn’t like her picture being taken. She felt that a photo was too personal, that it captured real emotion and truth in people, and she didn’t need anybody knowing more about her than what she wanted to show.

  There were many more pictures taken that day, nonetheless. She took many with Cece and other friends; it was never-ending. She was definitely going to have enough pictures for the rest of her life. But that was it; it was over, and she had successfully gone through high school and survived the graduation photo taking. Now it was time to celebrate.

  They decided to go to a dance club that night. Cece was in the mood to dance, and everyone else tagged along. Rosie and Camila joined them, and they happily walked into a nightclub with their fake IDs. Eva had never considered getting a fake ID, but she couldn’t refuse her best friend. She begged her for weeks and months until Eva finally gave in.

  They had been to a club two times before that, but this night was different as they were actually ready to get wasted. Eva wasn’t a club person. She always felt like her personal space was being invaded whenever this amount of people surrounded her. She also didn’t appreciate the smells and the dirtiness of the places. Laidback type of bars and the beach were more her thing for sure, but it couldn’t hurt to have a change of scenery for a special occasion.

  The place was packed, and the music was pounding loud. This club played house music mostly, which Cece loved. She jumped up and down like a crazy lunatic the whole time. “This is amazing! I feel so liberated!”

  “I know! Me too,” Camila screamed as she threw her hands in the air with the sound of the music.

  “Eva, Come on! Loosen up,” Cece said, giving her a friendly punch on the shoulder.

  Oh, God. “I think I need a drink,” Eva answered, knowing very well she wasn’t going to let loose until the alcohol affected her senses.

  “Just dance. It’s dark, and nobody is looking at you, so who cares about how we look!” Cece insisted as she kept dancing and getting her hips loosened.

  Eva didn’t mind the music. It was okay; she just wasn’t a very good dancer. “Okay, you are right, but let me go get a few drinks first.”

  “Okay, fine, I will go with you.”

  There were so many people inside the place that it was hard to move from one side to the other. The club smelled of tobacco together with smoke and sweat. People were drunk and some high; everyone was in their own world trying to have the best time.

  They all ordered drinks and somehow managed to get to the other side of the club to get a table in the corner. They ordered mojitos first, margaritas after, and finished with some vodka shots. Eva had never been wasted before, but this night she didn’t care. She wanted to get so drunk that she couldn’t remember a single one of her worries.

  Everything that happened after the vodka shot was pretty much a blur to Eva when she woke up next to Cece in her bed the next morning.

  “Cece, wake up,” Eva mumbled as she made an effort to speak. Her mouth tasted disgusting, and her head was spinning. How did I get here?

  “What, what time is it?” Cece said as she rolled over to the other side of the bed, getting more comfortable.

  “Wake up, Cece! What the hell happened last night? I can barely remember anything. I don’t even remember coming back home.”

  “Oh, don’t sweat it. We had fun, and we are home safe. Go back to sleep now.”

  “No, seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever drunk this much. I feel like crap,” she said softly, massaging the temples of her forehead.

  Cece chuckled even though she was pretending to be asleep. “That’s normal. It will go away soon.”

  “No, but what really happened?” Eva insisted.

  “Ugh, you are so annoying. It’s like 7am or something. Why are you awake?”

  “It’s actually noon, you bum.”

  Cece rolled over to face her. “What? Okay, fine, I will get up and tell you all about it. But there isn’t much to tell.”

  “Talk now!”

  “Well, after we had the drinks, we danced all night. Cami left earlier, and Rosie stayed. I ended up kissing some dude, and you danced all night with Rosie. You seemed happy and liberated. I was proud of you. And no, you didn’t start sobbing, which was definitely an accomplishment for you. You are officially considered a fun drinking friend.”

  “Oh my God, you kissed some dude? Ew, I can’t believe you kissed a random stranger! I didn’t kiss anyone, did I?” Please say no. Please say no.

  “Well, you technically didn’t, but I did see you make out with the pillow before you crashed on the bed.”

  Oh god, did I? I don’t remember that. “Haha, very funny.”

  Cece laughed. “We had a blast! And that’s all that matters. Then I called an
Uber to pick us up, and here we are.”

  “Wait, what about Rosie?” How can I not remember a thing? Did I have fun? I clearly forgot about my existential crisis, which is a good thing, I guess. God, I’m never drinking again.

  “Oh, she texted me her mother would pick her up, don’t worry.”

  “Are you sure? Well, I guess I feel kind of relieved I didn’t do anything crazy, but I still feel like crap.”

  “Come on, let’s go downstairs to get some food and aspirin, and we will survive this hangover. I promise you.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Change of Course

  Summer had officially started and Eva had still made no progress in her decision about college. She was not moving in any direction at all, and she didn’t feel like she was going to find out unless she did something about it. All day she kept thinking about what she liked and the things she could be good at.

  She had always liked art, painting, and using the computer to create things. Sometimes after she took a photo, she would completely transform it on her computer. She used Photoshop to create different effects while still making the image seem completely real. She had a creative imagination but didn’t know how to use it. She still thought she could take a few courses in photography to learn more. Then she could slowly work her way to finding people who would want to hire her. It only seemed so difficult.

  Suddenly her mind drifted to a completely different place. She started to think about the mystery guy and wondered if she would ever see him again. It’s not that she wanted to date or anything, but he was different or at least seemed different. Eva couldn’t trust her judgment anymore after what happened with Daniel. Nonsense Eva, stop it. You need to focus and get your life on track.

  Consequently, she decided to be proactive and started researching career options on the Internet. She took her computer and started to look for inspiration on a few web pages that could help her find what she was meant to do. Her mother had always encouraged her to follow her dreams, but she had also told her that if anything went wrong, she could always work at the salon. That would be Eva’s last resort, though, as she couldn’t even do her own hair or makeup.

  She spent hours online that day trying to find ideas and different job options she might like. There was one ad that caught her attention. It wasn’t even something she was looking for or had considered, but she was curious, so she clicked on it.

  The job posting read, “Looking for a part-time assistant to help in Sylvaine Dubois Art Gallery.” Eva had heard the name before and remembered passing by the gallery many times on her way to the mall. It was an intimidating place. She had always meant to go in, but it looked too posh; the type of place you didn’t feel comfortable in unless you had tons of money. Eva liked painting, but not as much as designing and taking photos. It wasn’t a bad job or a bad pay; however, she didn’t know if she would fit in or if she would enjoy it.

  For Eva, money wasn’t the priority when looking for work. She had always hoped to find something she was passionate about and could make a living at. It didn’t matter if the pay was minimum wage; all that mattered was that she loved it.

  Eva stared at the green button that said, “Apply now.” It was tempting. She had never applied to any job before; this was strange and exciting at the same time. She knew deep inside she should have been thinking about college, but she couldn’t help herself. Plus, she was the type of person who liked to avoid decisions at all costs; it was inevitable for her.

  As Eva got ready to close the computer, something inside told her to at least apply. Maybe it will help me figure out what I want and who I want to be. Maybe I’m meant to be an artist, or maybe not, but I gotta try something. So, she clicked on the button and decided to fill out the application.

  There was little experience required since it was more of an assistant type job: setting appointments, answering calls, greeting potential customers, and basically being the artist’s slave. It would be just like any other assistant job. Eva finished filling everything out quickly as she didn’t have much of a resume, and finally, she pressed, “Submit.” She was laughing inside because she figured that whoever read this application would probably think she was a moron. Oh well, too late. It’s done now.

  As the days kept passing by, Eva wasn’t doing much other than her usual morning run by the beach, taking a few photos, and hanging out with her mom. She liked running a few times a week; it made her feel active and useful. She wasn’t the most athletic girl in appearance, but she was slender and wanted to keep it that way. Her runs were never very long, usually twenty minutes tops; since she had so much free time, though, she made it a goal to try and run a little bit longer each time.

  She liked feeling the fresh air and listening to her favorite songs while she ran. Cece had left for Miami on vacation with her parents for the first part of the summer, so she hadn’t seen or talked to her friend for a few days. Afternoons were terribly slow for her now; no school and no Cece. She felt a bit useless as if her life had no purpose. It wasn’t until later that day, when she checked the mail, that something completely shook her.

  It was a letter from Pensacola State University. What on earth? At first, she thought it was spam or one of those pretentious recruiting letters. But it wasn’t that at all.

  Shock marred her features upon reading the first few lines that said, “Congratulations! You have received this letter to inform you of your acceptance to Pensacola State University into our Graphic Design program. Our staff is convinced that you will become a great addition to our student body…”

  She turned the letter over a few times to see if this was a mistake and had been sent to the wrong person. But her name was on the envelope and on the letterhead. How could this be? Did my mother secretly applied to this university for me? How could she have done that without asking?

  She didn’t know what to think or feel at that moment; she was dumbfounded. It made no sense. This had to be a scam, and she was reading too much into it. Or maybe this was just a trick, so she would call the university so they could try to sell her the program. That had to be it.

  Eva was never the best student in her class. She didn’t like studying or reading boring passages. She liked to create things and to let her imagination run free. She had always received a B on tests or sometimes even a C. It depended on the semester and how motivated she was at the time. She didn’t really have a favorite class besides art, and mostly, she tried to get by in school to be done with it.

  She kept reading the letter over and over. The next semester of college was starting in roughly two months, and it was technically too late to apply. She was planning that ‘if’ she decided to go to school, she would go in January to have more time to plan and figure out what she wanted to do for sure. But if the letter was true, she could potentially go to college in August, which was right around the corner.

  Eva sat on her living room couch that afternoon and started making calls. She called her mother first because it surely had something to do with her. The phone rang a few times, and thankfully her mother picked up. “Everything okay, honey? I’m still at work.”

  “Hey, mom, did you apply for Pensacola college for me by any chance?” She asked casually, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

  “Oh, no, honey, I would never do that without your permission. Why?”

  “Yes, I figured. Never mind. Have fun at work. Love you,” she finished and hung up before her mom could ask any more questions. That wasn’t the answer she was hoping to hear, and she was surprisingly disappointed. If my mom had nothing to do with the letter, who did?

  She kept thinking over and over again, who else could have sent this letter? The only other person was Cece. But she had her own stuff to think about, and she was on vacation. There was no way she could have sent out an application for Eva. Could she have? But, when? How long ago?

  This was her last option, so she called
her friend. Cece answered the phone right away and seemed thrilled to catch up with Eva. “Hey. I thought you would never call.”

  “Hey, how is it going over there?”

  “Not bad at all. What’s up with you?”

  Eva started the next sentence with, “Is there any chance you perhaps sent an application for me to Pensacola State?”

  Cece was quick to respond, “Why, did you get accepted?”

  Eva didn’t know what to think when she heard that answer, so she repeated, “Did you or did you not?” There were a few seconds of silence.

  Cece sounded embarrassed, “Yeah, I might have. Don’t get mad, please! I wanted you to be close, and I wanted to help.”

  “But how? I don’t understand. I didn’t even take the SAT’s!”

  “I know, and you’ve made my life that much harder because of it. I had to get help from your mom to get your transcripts and grades. They didn’t require the SAT’s thankfully, but you do have to take a placement test when you arrive.”

  “My mother helped you with this? But…I just spoke to her, and she told me she had nothing to do with the letter.” What is happening!

  “Yeah, she’s good, isn’t she? In her defense, it was all my idea. She had no choice but to help me. But you didn’t answer my question, did you get accepted or not?”

  Eva didn’t know if it was pure anger or pure joy she was feeling at that moment, but the moment she heard the words, she started jumping up and down the couch. Apparently, she didn’t even know how much she wanted to go to college, and she hadn’t felt this excited in a long time. She had been accepted to the school and to the program she’d been considering.

  This is crazy. The smile on her face didn’t lie, and she didn’t care if she broke her friends’ eardrums when she screamed. “I can’t believe you did this! I hate you and love you at the same time. I can’t even be angry at you right now. I just received an acceptance letter to the program!”