Ella Quill had spent much of her morning loitering beside the telephone with her cell phone also planted firmly in her back pocket. Phoebe, the best friend she hadn’t seen in person for ten long years, was home and she was not taking any chances, she would make sure she didn’t miss a single call. Ella’s mother, Rose, had been amused by her daughter’s enthusiasm, and had tried in vain to convince her that Phoebe would need to catch up on a lot of sleep after such a long and tiring journey home from Africa.
“It’s no good watching the phone, Love,” Rose smiled. “Phoebe will call when she’s good and ready and not a minute before – why don’t you relax, Ella? Go watch some TV or read your book, just punch in a bit of time?”
“I can’t Mum,” said Ella with a sigh. “Phoebe’s home – she’s home – and I’m finally gonna get to catch up properly, and we won’t have to Skype ever again!” She curled her fingers up into fists and punched the air several times. Rose laughed and shook her head, it was lovely to see her daughter so excited, and she only hoped that Ella’s and Phoebe’s friendship had truly endured the years and the miles between them. Neither she nor Ella would have to wait long to find out.
The front doorbell rang. “Get that Love, would you please?” called Rose from the kitchen. Ella screwed up her face a little, annoyed to have to move from where she had been hovering beside the phone. “Oh okay,” she muttered under her breath, then pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket before running to the front door. Ella flipped open her cell phone to check the messages for the hundredth time as she grabbed the front door knob and heaved the door open, eyes fixed on her cell screen.
“Hey El!”
Ella’s head jerked up and her eyes popped as she recognised the voice that had just spoken her name.
“Phoebe!” she squealed with such volume that Demetrius winced and covered his ears with his hands. In an instant, all nature of telephones were forgotten about, and the two girls were locked in a huge embrace that seemed to wipe out ten years of separation in a moment. They were jumping and dancing and squealing and crying and laughing all at once, and the commotion brought Rose running from the kitchen.
“Ahh, Phoebe love, you’re here!” she exclaimed and joined her daughter in squeezing Phoebe tight. The sight filled Demetrius’s heart with joy, and he had to bite his lip in an effort to stop the tears that were welling in his eyes. ‘Not very manly, Dem’, he chided himself.
“Hello Dem,” said Ella shyly, once she had let go of Phoebe. “It’s nice to meet you in person instead of just in cyberspace.” She laughed and hesitated before giving Demetrius a warm embrace; she was sure that they would become great friends and was looking forward to getting to know Demetrius better.
“Go on through to the den, kids,” said Rose, ushering them in through the hallway to the cosy family room. “You have so much to get caught up on; I’ll bring drinks through in a while.”
“Thanks Mum,” smiled Ella, as she closed the den door behind her then bounced up on to the huge corner sofa beside Phoebe and Demetrius and sat cross legged and eager to hear all.
“I actually can’t actually believe you’re actually here Phoebe!” Ella was grinning from ear to ear, and her babbled words made Phoebe giggle.
“Actually?” Phoebe teased, and they all laughed. “It’s so great to be home, El. We’ve had an amazing ten years – but there definitely is no place like home!”
The teenagers talked animatedly for what seemed to them like a few minutes; in reality, their conversation consisted of almost three hours of non-stop chatter. Mrs. Quill brought in refreshments and refills on several occasions, and smiled even more than usual at just how happy her daughter and her friends seemed to be.
Eventually, when Phoebe felt content that she had told Ella everything of importance from the last ten years, and had heard all of Ella’s news, she unfolded her crossed legs, stretched, then looked from Demetrius to Ella.
“Ella,” Phoebe started, searching Demetrius’s face for a reaction. “We have some stuff to tell you, big stuff… Crazy stuff!”
“What? Wait… Are you two…?”
“What? No! Ella, he’s my best friend!” Phoebe scolded her friend for even thinking that she and Demetrius were anything more than buddies, but blushed despite herself. “No, what we’re about to tell you is entirely bigger and crazier. I know you’ve only just met Dem properly, but you trust us, right?”
“Of course I do, Phoebs, I trust you guys more than anyone else.” Ella’s face was serious, her eyes fixed on her friend’s face. “So come on, what’s the story?”
Phoebe and Demetrius looked at each other with expressions that said ‘where do we start?’ then Phoebe puffed out her cheeks and started their fantastic story from the only place she could think of – at the beginning.