The Ambiguity

In a small white room with lighting from the sunshine, a young woman in her 20s with medium brown hair in her beautiful tan skin looking at the window with insecurity. Zooey for multiple times, she has suspicions to herself. Tomorrow, she will have a reunion with her friends in high school. 

She looks at the sky; hopefully, it will give her an answer, should she go to the reunion or not. It has been ten years since she graduated from high school. With so many unwanted experiences, she doubts that she should go to that reunion. Meanwhile, half of herself wants to show others up about her change in the past ten years.

“You should not be afraid of them. You did nothing wrong. Now, you become another you. You have already changed,” Zooey says to herself. 

A few minutes after it, her phone rings, and her boy-friend messages her. 

‘Hey, Zoo. Do you want me to accompany you to your reunion? I guess you need a companion :p.’ 

“Argh, he’s so annoying. Why he makes me feeling worse, I won’t reply to his text.” 

On another day, when night comes, Zooey prepared her outfit to go to the reunion. In a maroon midi dress, she looks at the mirror while fixing her necklace up. 

“Done. The new Zooey is already with her new look to brace this harsh world. Let’s make it up!” says Zooey excitingly. 

Tin Tin

Zooey’s ears hear the horn of a car; when she looks at the outside of her house, apparently it’s Darren, Zooey’s good friend (boy-friend), and he wears a tuxedo suit with undercut hair and without any accessories. Quickly Zooey comes down and takes leave with her parents in the living room.

 

She enters Darren’s car, which has a similar color to her dress. She laughs when seeing him and shrinks her forehead while both of her hands are unintentionally lifted as she looks at see asking him ‘why’ without any words. 

“No need to, thanks. I know you need me for this kind of situation,” replies Darren with a smirk. 

“Okay, Mr. Darren, thank you for your initiative. Let’s go!” Zooey commands his boy- zone-friend. 

They need only twenty minutes until they arrive at the place of the reunion. A big white building is waiting for them to enter. Darren comes first, and quickly he moves to another side, opens the car’s door for Zooey. 

“Let’s go on the journey, my friend,” tempts Darren, which, following by Zooey’s rejection of his mischievous’s act. 

Zooey’s heart beats fast as she is entering the gate, her cold sweet damped her neck, and her fingers are a little bit tremor. She strides on her three centimeters high heels, and her wallet helps her to reduce her nervousness. Darren does not see Zooey now condition. He is too busy with his excitement of a new place. 

Her face looks down, and she is not sure that she can look at her old friends' faces. When her insecurity and anxiety kill her slowly on the spot, one of her old friends approaches her and says 

“Hi. Are you Zooey? It’s me, Anna! You look so fabulous now. I almost do not recognize you.”

Zooey does not believe in Anna’s words. She thinks Anna lies with her and just saying without mean it. ‘Anna is stunning in that violet mini dress as she usually. I’m just a potato compare with her,’ Zooey believes in silence. With full doubts, she replies 

“Thank you, Anna. You still look gorgeous as before. It’s nice to see you again. How are you?” 

“Your words are lovely. I’m flattered. I’m right, Uhm, by the way, I need to go there, would you come with me? Let’s see our other friends,” replies Anna. 

“No, thanks, Anna. Later, now I’m searching for my friend, my companion. I think he lost, hehe,” softly rejects her. Zooey lies. 

Zooey saunters to the seam of the room. She hates being in a center room. Even though it’s not true, she feels like other eyes are looking at her and judges her appearance. She hates it. Now, her brain is full of so many questions. 

‘What should I do here? Why I chose to join this gathering. How the best way to deal and face it. And where is Darren? Why He leaves me alone in here.’

Suddenly, a strange hand claps Zooey’s shoulder slowly. Then she repels it in reflex. 

“Ouch. You became a master in Karate. Let my hand go, Zooey. I’m sorry,” says the man in a tuxedo with a side part haircut.

In complex, Zooey realizes that the man is her crush in high school. Her cheeks are immediately blushing, and she lets the man’s hand go.  

“You must be learning Karate even after we graduate, ya? It makes me regret to reject your feeling when we were in high school. Wow, you look so beautiful now,” replies his seductively. 

Zooey does not have any words to say. Her brain thinks she must slap him in the face, but her hand does not agree with it. Her body also does not along well with her mind. She should go far away from the bastard, but her feet are stuck in the moment. 

From a distance, Darren sees the interaction between Zooey and the man. He looks with a resent face. His eyes become sharper, and Darren held his hand tightly. He walks towards them and suddenly grabs the man’s collar. 

This scene becomes the main center of the reunion. All eyes are watching them. 

“Don’t be a coward. You only threats woman, but you weak if you fight with me. Don’t do dare close to her again,” Darren threatens the man. 

The man leaves Darren and Zooey alone. Zooey still could not say any words. She still does not believe that right now. She becomes the attention center, the thing that she hates. She froze for a while. 

Finally, she braves to face other eyes, and then she looks at Darren. Both of them staring each other without saying any words. Darren makes a move. He approaches Zooey and holds her hand. With a guilty face, his mouth slowly opens, and softly says, “I’m sorry for making you become an attention center.”

Zooey does not say anything. She back grabs Darren’s hand and pulls his to go out from the place. On the way home, the atmosphere between Zooey and Darren becomes more awkward.

 

A minute later. In silence, ‘thank you for helping me’ out from Zooey’s mouth.  Darren smiles after hearing that; he relieves. He knows that she is not displeased with him.  

When Zooey arrives at her house, she strolls to her room and says. “I’m still a potato. No matter what, I’m a loser.”

Genre: Young adult, drama, and friendship

Conflict: Internal conflict (Zooey and herself) and external conflict (Zooey and society)