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Jinx was surrounded by many people, and yet no one at all. The only noise that echoed in her mind was the occasional knocking of her room’s door every thirty minutes, an implied request to let them in. She simply squeezed her knees closer to her chest in response, pressing her back further into the headboard until it felt as if her spine was going to pop. She rubbed her arms softly at first, but slowly dug her nails into them until white scratch marks grew prominent on her skin. She wanted to tear her skin off and throw it to the wild animals outside her bedroom window, knowing they would treat it better than her dad did. Her eyes then shot up to the window, watching the trees dance along with the crisp night wind. She wiped the wetness away from her eye, quietly slipping off her bedsheets and pressing her toes onto the flooring. Her attentive tread led her to the glass pane; she then jammed her fingers under the opening in order to lift it up and let in some fresh air. Jinx took a deep breath in as the icy breeze pressed carefully against her tearstained face, causing the human girl to wince. She rubbed at the crust in her eyes and she thought for a second: she missed Elvina.
Rubbing the bottom of the opening of the window, she bit down on her lip. She then lifted her leg over the ledge and huffed as she landed on the dampened grass outside. The cold blew over her and she shivered, turning in the direction of Elvina’s house just a few buildings down. She heard a distant thumping of her door once more, signaling to her that she needed to hurry. She trudged through the resistant wind, keeping her gaze down on the dirt patches decorating the ground. It was eventual. She would reach Elvina’s bedroom window that prodded from the same side of the property as hers. Jinx blinked, staring at the frost covered glass that held a certain elf on the other side of it. Raising her hand to knock, she paused. What reason did she have to be here, standing outside of Elvina’s window at two in the morning? She slowly lowered her fist, eyes stuck on the divots of the exterior wall. As she took a step back, a gust of warm air smacked her face as the window before her shot up; Elvina providing the other with a confused look. “Jinx? What are you doing out here? You must be freezing— come on, now.” The elf reached their hand out, offering it to the human. Jinx started to reach for the warmth, but shot her arm back to her side.
“Elvina, ah— I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d check on you and all, but I guess that was a mistake. My bad. I’ll be heading back home now—”
“No no, it’s fine, I’m serious! I wasn’t asleep quite yet. I was kind of frightened when I saw a silhouette at my window, however,” Elvina giggled, resting their outstretched arm on the windowsill. Their pointy ears twitched and they stared Jinx in the eye. “But, uh— you are quite spontaneous, but not usually this late at night. Are you sure nothing’s wrong? And, really, please come inside, it’s too chilly out for you to be standing out there.”
“I’m— I’m fine, El. Again, I’m sorry, I really should’ve let you be.” Jinx fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve, putting the gesture to a halt as she watched Elvina’s eyes drop to her wrists. She hastily pulled her sweater back over her hand. “I’m fine, I promise.”
“That—” Elvina started, but pushed their lips together tightly. They stepped back from the window. “Jinx, please.”
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Elvina put on a nervous smile. “Uh, yeah, for sure! I’ll see you then.”
Jinx took a step back, avoiding any possible chances of eye contact, then lifted up her hand in a wave. The elf unsurely waved back and watched as Jinx went back toward the direction of her home. Elvina’s stomach churned as she climbed back through the window, closed her window, and locked it shut.
They, in fact, did not see each other tomorrow. Or the day after that, and further on. Elvina would run into Jinx when walking through town, or maybe they’d knock at the Maryam’s front door and ask about Jinx, which would result in similar blank responses of “Sorry, I’m just too busy right now.” It was unusual. Never did Jinx exclude El from her plans, or at least not inform the latter of them. And maybe Jinx was slowly acting stranger coming up to the day she showed up at Elvina’s window and then started avoiding the elf completely, but trying to prod Jinx further about it led to unsatisfactory results. Elvina pressed the back of her head against the cold surface of the wall behind them.
… Maybe it was strange for them to be sitting outside of Jinx’s house, too. They didn’t usually do that, but maybe if they caught Jinx walking out of the house they could get the other to hang out with them. Just talk to them for a little bit, even, about anything. Elvina rolled their shoulders, their gaze stuck on the doorknob and their ears perked up.
The creaking of the floorboards inside caused Elvina to jump to their feet as they turned completely towards the entrance. The knob turned, and they stumbled backwards as a man stepped out from the home. It was Jinx’s dad. Elvina had little interactions with the guy, mainly hearing poor things from Jinx about him. They pulled at their collar, eyes down. “Ah, Mr. Maryam, it’s a pleasure to see you, um, is Jinx home? I was expecting her—”
Jinx’s dad huffed, shouldering Elvina as he stepped through the doorway. As he walked further, a shorter blond appeared behind him. Jinx’s eyes were empty, her undereyes dressed with bags. Her cheeks were shiny, clear that she was just crying. Plenty of pimples scattered across her face as well. She was not looking too hot at all, and Elvina’s throat stung.
“Jinx, uh— hello? Where are you heading with your…” they side-eyed her dad, pausing. “Him.”
The human stared off into space, and it was like Elvina wasn’t even there at all. They took a step closer, waving a hand in front of the other’s face, and Jinx blinked in acknowledgement. She shook her head slightly, crossing her arms. “El, hey. I’m just— we’re just going… Out. We’re going out.”
Elvina’s eyes shot between the two humans, and she drew into herself. “Cool, cool. Did you want to hang out soon, maybe? Not now, of course, you seem occupied, but soon? You’ve kind of been,” avoiding me. “Really. Busy.”
Jinx’s dad began walking into the town, and Jinx slowly followed after, body still facing toward Elvina. “Yeah, um. Maybe? I’ll try to let you know. But, could you—” She swallowed hard. “Could you stop showing up at my house unannounced? It’s bothering my parents.”
The elf stared for a moment, then dropped their gaze. “Uh, yeah. Yeah! Sorry about that.” They watched the feet of the two as they traveled by the different buildings, and as much as Elvina wanted to pull away and go back home, they were still full of worry. They started making their way back to their house, but kept watch of where Jinx and her dad were going. After a few more gentle steps of Elvina’s, they saw the humans enter the clinic of the area. She grabbed a fistful of her pants and squeezed.
It was an odd sight, but not odd enough for Elvina to say anything. They sat at a picnic table by the nearby park, eating by themself. When the younger kids of the town weren’t playing on the playset, the local teens were loitering around it. As much as they and Jinx enjoyed hanging about at the park, the other teenagers were usually hogging it in some way; and here Elvina was, watching those same teenagers bantering with Jinx by the slide. The elf picked at their fruit salad, popping a blueberry in their mouth as they eyed the group from a few yards away. Jinx seemed to be content for the first time in a while, and it wasn’t with Elvina, instead it was with the kids who bullied them both for years, and the elf tried not to understand. Of course, the others didn’t always bully Jinx (Elvina couldn’t say the same for themself), they only added her to the pile of kids to bully after she became close with El. So Jinx hanging out with the bullies again implied something they didn’t want to process.
Elvina realised they were glaring too much when the group started gravitating towards them. El dropped their eyes, but they saw the feet of a few individuals circling around them in their peripheral vision.
“It’s funny, we were just talking about you,” Haruka, the implicit leader of the group, states matter-of-factly, checking her nails. “Well, before you started staring us down, Arawn.” The group giggled in unison, including an awkward one from Jinx, and Elvina didn’t give them a reaction.
Jinx fidgeted with her hands, picking at her nails. “Guys, there’s really no reason to bother Elvina. They aren’t doing anything.”
“Elvina?” another elf from the group piped up. “As if he wasn’t girly enough, ha, going by a last name like that!”
“Right.” Haruka pressed her wrist into her hip, looking Elvina up and down. The seated elf started to shake, and tears formed at the corner of their eyes. Jinx scratched at her palm. Haruka then grabbed at the back of Elvina’s short hair and pulled their head back, pressing her lips against the other’s pointy ear. “Acting like a girl all the time, do you get off on it?”
Elvina slammed their hands onto the table, standing up and pulling their head forward until a chunk of their hair stayed stuck in Haruka’s hand. She let out a screech and flicked the strands off as much as she could, cringing. Elvina then turned and faced Jinx, tears now streaming down their face.
“Jinx, what happened to you?” they asked with a nasally tone. Elvina then walked away, and Jinx's stomach dropped. The group of teenagers all eyed each other, but eventually just laughed it off, walking back to the park besides Jinx, who stayed still.
Elvina tried not to care as much as they did, but they knew that was out of the question. Their hand hovered over the doorknob of their front door, eyes on the view outside their window. The elf tried to match Jinx’s energy in hiding from the other, but Elvina would still take notice of the fact that she hasn’t been out in a few days, and Elvina was a chronic worrier– someone who cared when they shouldn’t. They clenched the knob and turned it, making quick work of the walk over to the Maryam’s home. They kept their focus on the ground, not wanting anyone to take notice of their nervous posture and unsure gait. All they could think of was the time Jinx told them to stop showing up unplanned, but how could they not do so when they were both steering clear of each other like this? This needed to end; Elvina needed to find out what happened the night Jinx showed up at her window.
They paused before the entrance, raising their fist in preparation to knock, but it sluggishly dropped. Instead they reached for the doorknob, turning it and pushing it open. It was unlocked, and Elvina’s heart skipped a beat. They were cautious, stepping forward and surveying the living room. There was no one as far as they could see, but their ear twitched as they listened in on a shuffling noise coming from Jinx’s bedroom. They itched at the back of their earlobe, pushing toward the human’s room. They noticed it was ajar and cold air was flowing through the gap. Elvina took a deep breath, exhaling as they pressed the tips of their fingers into the tall door. It creaked open as a disheveled Jinx came into view, facing toward her open window. Elvina pressed their lips together one last time before stepping into the room. “Jinx, I think we really need to talk. Is— is now a good time? Ah, no, I shouldn’t be asking that,” they pressed their pointer to their chin. “We’re going to talk, whether we like it or not, okay?
“... Jinx?”
The human steadily turned her head. She wore a grin that gave Elvina’s stomach a deep uneasy feeling. Her makeup was muddy on her face, a clear sign she was crying just moments before. And as the elf’s eyes met with the other’s, they took immediate attention to her right pupil, which was shaped like a cross. Elvina backed away.
“Uh, Jinx?”
Jinx hummed. “Now, who do we have here?”