It was the weekend.
The air was cool that mornig I got up, swept the sitting room, wiped the furniture and electronics, and cleaned the doors and fridge until everything gleamed. Then I moved on to wash my clothes, letting the sound of splashing water fill the silence. When I was done, I plugged in the electric kettle everywhere felt a bit chilly then went to take a warm bath. As I stepped out, my mom called from the kitchen, telling me to come and cook breakfast. I sighed playfully and walked into the kitchen. While I cooked, my brother Faris strolled in, teasing me as usual. I tried to ignore him, but he kept making jokes until we both laughed. When the food was ready, I called my mom to serve it, and soon everyone gathered to eat.
After breakfast, I went to my room, picked up my phone, and unlocked the screen. There were two new messages one from Jovi, one from Daphne.
Daphne had replied to my status: "Please send."
Jovi's message said: "Good morning, bby."
I smiled instantly. I replied to Jovi, but she wasn't online. Then I sent the video Daphne had asked for. She thanked me and asked how I was; we didn't talk for long after that.
I opened TikTok and started scrolling, half watching videos, half checking to see if Jovi had come online yet. After a while, she finally did. "Just waking up," she texted. I laughed. "By this time?" She sent a sleepy emoji, and I could almost imagine her voice saying it. We chatted for a while, soft and easy, until Mom called me to wash the plates in the kitchen.
I told Jovi I'd be back, and she said she was going to shower. I washed the plates quickly, but before I could rest, Dad asked me to fry plantain for him. I was a little annoyed my big sister was right there but I did it anyway.
By evening, I finally got some quiet time. When I came back online, I saw Jovi's statusshe had posted a screenshot of our chat. I smiled and replied to it, and we started talking again. I told her I'd soon go help Mom prepare dinner.
"Are you always the only one at home?" she teased.
"Not really," I replied, "I just always end up doing most of the work."
Before I went offline, I posted one of my edited videos on WhatsApp and left my phone to help Mom in the kitchen. By the time we were done, it was already dark, and I was exhausted. I showered, changed into something comfy, and finally checked my phone again. My notifications were flooded replies, compliments, little heart emojis. One message caught my eye: Celeste. She had never texted me before, never even replied to any of my posts. "Send your video," she wrote. I sent it, replied to a few other messages, and saw Jovi's text saying, "Your video's fine, bby." Daphne had also asked for it, and a few guys were trying to start conversations too.
When I checked Celeste's status, I froze for a second. She had posted me with the caption:
"Fine girl." I replied, "Thank you," and she asked how I was. We got talking it flowed easily. We even talked about age.
"I'm sixteen," she said. "Seventeen in a few days."
"Woo, you're older than me," I said with a laugh. "I'll be seventeen in a month."
Later that night, as I scrolled through more statuses, I saw Daphne had also posted me with the caption:
"Elaria ."
I smiled and replied, "My love."
She said, "You're beautiful."
We chatted for a while before I went to message Jovi again, but she wasn't online. So I went back to talking to Celeste. There was something soft about her energy, like someone who just wanted to be close without trying too hard. We talked until my eyes grew heavy. My phone slipped from my hand, and I drifted to sleep with a small smile on my faceunaware of how much these new friendships were about to change everything.