Chapter 4 Tough Exterior, Gentle Gesture

"Where have you been, Lucy?" Catherine asked, sounding angry and frustrated as soon as I entered the house.

"I have been searching everywhere for you. You better have something good to say."Catherine added.

"I went to make sure Mark was coming" I blurted out in a hurry to avoid making another statement that'd alert her mother to know that I left the house.

"Well then, is he coming?" Catherine asked not caring about my absence anymore.

"Yes he is." I replied.

"Are you sure? If you lie to me to save yourself, just know my mother would hear that you left the house without permission today." Catherine said.

"He is. I met him personally this time and he assured me that he would." I said reassuring Catherine.

"That's great then. I knew this birthday party would be different." Catherine said with a smile. "You better get busy with your chores, don't just stand there looking at me." Catherine added, trying to hide her excitement.

I rushed inside to see how other preparations were coming along. But I couldn't help but worry for my life. It was hanging on the line for a totally unreliable person. I just hope he comes.

It's almost 7pm, a party that started over two hours ago but Mark was still nowhere to be found. Thankfully, Catherine hasn't asked me about him yet. I'm sure she is just as expectant as I am. The party was already in full swing and in an hour from now, it would be ending. But Catherine was frequently gazing at the door, hoping Mark walks in miraculously. I couldn't help but think how absurd the whole situation was. Catherine was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mark, while I was anxiously waiting for him to arrive as well. I knew I shouldn't have taken his word for it, if he doesn't show up, he'd be my sworn enemy.

As I lurked in the shadows of the party, I did my best to stay out of sight of Catherine and her friends.

Just as I turned away from the door, I heard a voice call my name from behind me.

"Lucy?" the voice called.

I recognized the voice, it was Matthew. I rushed to the door to see if Mark was there, but Matthew stopped me.

"Don't bother, Mark didn't come." Matthew said.

"That good for...." I stopped myself recalling Matthew was Mark's best friend.

Matthew smiled, "Don't conclude yet. He didn't come but he sent a present." Mark said, showing it to me.

"What's the use of the present? I explained to him that it was important he came. But he still didn't." I said, feeling disappointed.

"You don't get it?" Matthew asked,

"Get what?" I said.

"Although he didn't come, he sent a present for the first time. After Catherine sees the present, I'm sure she won't mind his absence." Matthew explained.

Then I realized he was right. It was the first time Mark was sending a present to Catherine. She would definitely be pleased by his gesture. I let out a sigh of relief, "I'm not screwed after all."

"Hey Lucy," Matthew said, touching my arm lightly. "You seemed to have spaced out."

"Sorry, I'm just relieved. You should send the present to Catherine immediately." I said.

Matthew nodded and went inside the party to hand over Mark's present. As soon as everyone saw him, they all went quiet. It was definitely an awkward moment for Matthew but he kept walking, like a prince in shining armor. My kind of prince. Then someone broke the silence with an annoying statement.

"Who let the freak nerd in?" he said.

The voice was the one I knew very well. Benjamin, the third mean person I know. He was part of Catherine's flock.

"Yeah...." Catherine said. "You seem to have forgotten the lesson you were given some years back for attending a party you weren't invited to"

"I remember it very clearly, no one needs to remind me." Matthew said, "I just came to drop this off."

"Awwww, he even got you a present Cat. Isn't that nice" Emma said, just to irritate Catherine more.

"It's from Mark." Matthew blurted immediately.

"Mark?" Catherine asked surprised but yet looked excited.

She took the present from Matthew immediately. As she was about to keep it alongside her other presents,

Emma quickly said, "Cat, it's possible he's just using Mark's name for you to accept his present."

By that statement, Catherine immediately withdrew her steps but luckily Matthew had a way of proving it's from Mark.

"You can open it, " he left a note. From the note, it'd be evident that he sent it." Matthew said in his defense.

Catherine wanted to open it but she seemed convinced by Matthew's words about the note. So she just placed it with the others. If I could read minds, I would say that Catherine didn't want to open her best present in front of everyone just to prove it was from Mark. She had a content smile on her face as she turned back to Matthew.

"Thank you for sending it to me," she said, "but why didn't he come?" She asked.

"Well he wanted to but something came up." Matthew said.

Catherine was glowing with excitement on hearing that Mark would have attended if nothing came up. She held Matthew's arm and pulled him to the party properly.

"You can join us, you don't have to go immediately." She said,

Matthew looked like he had won a lottery on hearing that and he immediately joined in. Emma on the other hand didn't look so comfortable anymore. I didn't know if it was because Mark sent a gift or the fact that Catherine let Matthew join the fun. The party continued and I was finally able to relax. Although Mark didn't show up, he was quite reasonable to send a present to Catherine. It made things turn out fine. I was free to rest, Catherine was finally so happy and Matthew was allowed to join their party. It was a win for everyone.

As I went upstairs to my room, feeling so exhausted, I couldn't help but wonder why Matthew was always interested in Catherine's birthday parties even though he never got invited. I was intrigued to see him attend her twelfth birthday party, even with his broken arm.

During that time, Matthew had a nasty accident that left him bedridden for days. But because he didn't want to miss Catherine's birthday party, he leaped out of bed to convince his parents that he was okay. Due to him forcefully trying to use his arm then, he strained it and permanently damaged his little finger in the process. But he only got humiliated by Catherine and her friends that day. They all called him weirdo. After that day, he still didn't stop. He also came uninvited to Catherine's thirteenth birthday, and he was also humiliated in the worst way. After that year, he never showed up uninvited. Over the years that followed, he's always hoping to get invited.

I really don't know, but his persistence made me admire him even more.