I have lived in the neighbourhood since I was five and now I guess it is safe to say this was my childhood neighbourhood since I am twenty now.
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I stood by the balcony, resting my hand on the railings when a group of girls passed by. They looked like they were in vogue and the three of them had different hair colours. One had a tint of pink in her brunette hair, another had ginger hair and the last one had green-tinted hair.
This wasn’t their first time passing by my place but this was the first time I noticed them this much.
“Hi,” one of them said, looking up at me.
“Me?” I asked, confused and they nodded, smiling.
Compared to their appearances, they sounded so nice and cool.
“I’m… I’m good,” I stuttered.
“Can you come down and let’s hang out? We’ve been passing through here a few times and we see that you’re mostly alone,”
I was caught off guard as I have never had anyone tell me they wanted me to hang out with them ever since I was little. I was speechless and I did the most embarrassing thing by running back inside without giving a response to them.
Throughout the day, my mind went back and forth, thinking about the girls and for what reason it could be for them to want to hangout with me.
Two days have passed and I haven’t seen the girls pass by like they usually do. A part of me was kind of anticipating seeing them. So, I was on the balcony that evening when I saw them from afar.
I ran down the stairs and waited for them before they got to me. As they saw me, I could see a beaming smile across their faces. They hurried up to me as though we had been friends for the longest.
“Hey,” one of them said and I smiled shyly.
“Hey,” I replied.
“The last time,” the ginger-headed girl started. “We didn't get to see you anymore,”
“I’m… I’m sorry. I just didn't know what to say to you guys,”
“But do you have a friend or friends?” the one with a green tint asked.
“Come on, Pamela. You don't just go about asking people that!” the pink-hair cautioned.
“No!” I blurted out of nowhere.
“What?” Pamela retorted.
“No, I do not have a friend or friends. I have never had one,”
“Uhmm…” they made the sound, shaking their heads.
“I’m Paulina,” the pink-hair introduced. “This is Pamela and she is Paige. We are the big Ps,” they introduced and I smiled.
“I’m Kourtney,” I quickly introduced and they smiled broadly as well.
“Nice meeting you, Kourtney,” Paige said with a broad smile and I smiled back at them.
“Nice, meeting you guys too,”
I cannot begin to explain the sort of feeling I had kicking inside me. I felt so elated beyond words and in some type of way, it felt strange to be this cordial with not just a girl but a group of girls. I have grown up to feel like I wasn’t the type to be appreciated or liked by anyone as I was bullied my whole life. I have never had anyone act genuinely with me or even want to be friends with me and slowly, I got used to that. But seeing these young girls who are around my age, and being friendly with me made me have mixed feelings.
“So, Kourtney. Would you like to hang out with us? You don’t mind being friends with us? We are cool people and you won’t ever regret it,” Pauline explained and I looked a little scared so Paige quickly chipped in.
“I mean, we might not look it but we are proud to say we are one of the coolest girl friend groups you’d ever see. We kinda need a full brunette,” she shrugged her shoulders with a smile and I chuckled, looking at the three of them.
“Yes!” I answered and they jumped joyously, interlocking their hands in mine as we walked down the road.
“Welcome to the group, Kourtney!” they said in unison and I laughed sheepishly.
“Hold on, to match our P names, we have a change of name for you. Is that okay?” Pamela asked as we continued to walk down the road.
“Uhmm…a change of name?” I asked, confused.
“Yeah. It’s nothing too serious nor is it compulsory. It’s just necessary for uniformity. Like me, my name used to be Nevaeh, Paige’s name used to be Brielle and Pamela was, well…Pamela. Actually, she never had a change of name because she’s the oldest,” Pauline explained and I nodded in accordance.
“You guys sound so cool and fun, to be honest,”
“So, you have any name in mind?” Pamela asked.
“I have always wanted to be called Penelope,”
“Then, Penelope it is!!” Pamela pronounced and we all yelled in excitement.
That became and remained the genesis of my social life. Just like a blessing, joining the friend group made things fall into place for me. Starting from my academic life and my physical life. We would study all day and take a long walk in the evening. We attend Bible studies together and go for picnics together.
The big Ps came into my life and made me a different and happy person.
This is my submission to the Inleo prompt suggestion for the month of April. The topic is "Peer Pressure: Positive, negative or necessary". You can join here. This is the calendar
