CHAPTER 6. KATHERI DEFTERA.

17:00

"Ah, it's you Barry" She said answering the call on her cell phone.

"Are you sick, Di?" Barry asked. "It's just, you didn't go to school today and you sound bad" He explained a little nervous.

"No, Barry. I'm okay. I just didn't feel like going" She replied.

"Are you coming to the celebration?" He asked. "Iris was wondering the same thing, and I think your aunt would kill you if you don't go" He told her something cheerful, trying to restore some of the good humor she usually had.

"Ah yes, the Katheri Deftera" She said, making a slight smile. "Well..." She was hesitating whether to go or not.

"And don't forget that the comet will be visible" He added. He was convinced that this would be enough to make her go.

"Ah yes the comet. Today will be brighter than ever, right?" She sighed. "OK. See you at the table I made at night" She agreed.

"See you there" Barry said with his typical energy and finished the call.

She put the phone down on her bureau and let out another big sigh that went up, because she was lying on her bed, her legs and arms outstretched. She kept feeling sad. She had changed her routine the day before to do something she never thought she would do, and she ended up receiving one of the most devastating responses in her short life. She felt so sad because of this, that she hadn't wanted to go to school, because she wouldn't be paying attention to anything, and both Barry and Iris would worry about her lack of enthusiasm, and it would probably alert Aunt Antiope and Donna.

With this in mind, she told Antiope that she would not go to school because she felt ill, she had entered her room and saw that she was in perfect physical condition. Speaking of the state of mind, Antiope saw that her niece was depressed. Donna had told her, the previous day, that she had gone to do a certain place, so she had gotten a little nervous, because it was the first time her older sister had done that, and she didn't know how to move in a place like that, or that was what Donna thought. Luckily, her older sister had returned in the night as she had said she would, but she had returned with her hair loose, without her classic braid and with her mood in tatters. Aunt Antiope had done her a favor that she'd asked her to do, but despite her constant questions about what had happened to make her like this, she hadn't said anything to her, just dined half-heartedly and left to take a shower and then to sleep. The best that Antiope could tell her that morning was that she hoped to see her at Katheri Deftera, because it was something she had to do.

She remembered what she had gone to do the day before and the horrible response she had received, which had urged her to ask Aunt Antiope for that favor. For the first time in a long time, she felt hurt, and depressed. She had gone with a doubtful but hopeful attitude and today she felt lonely and sad. It looked like she would stay there all day, if Antiope didn't get her out of her room to celebrate the Katheri Deftera and see the comet, which the whole town was also celebrating at that very moment.

However, just like the first time she had gone through a difficult situation, she wouldn't feel sorry for herself for long, she had to pull herself together. She was not going to cry because of the answer received the day before, in the end, that had been the answer, and now, she wanted to see the Petropoulos comet shining in the sky, without any remorse.

So, she got up and headed towards her clothes closet.

XXX

21:30

While she was at home, with her spirit on the ground, the rest of the townspeople had celebrated the Katheri Deftera, that Greek festivity that was always held forty days before Easter, and which consisted of flying the paper kites that were made on the spot, and the parade that would take place on the 25th was getting closer. Everyone would have gone home, but everyone was expecting the passage of Comet Petropoulos, so, they stayed in the more public area of the town, although they had all left for a bite to eat after a rather lively day, but they had returned shortly after. Among those people were Barry and Iris, who were waiting for their friend to arrive as she had told Barry she would, sitting at the table made of tree trunks that she had made when her hair was in a ponytail.

"You only want to see Diana because you think she replaced you" Iris said with a smile to Barry.

"Of course not. That hasn't crossed my mind. Besides, I'm irreplaceable, Iris" Barry replied. What he said, in a certain part, was a lie, because of how he had wanted a romantic relationship with her, but she had rejected him, but, currently, that was not his priority. Despite this, he didn't stop worrying about his friend, especially since they hadn't seen her all day, especially because of how she sounded when he talked to her. "You know, when I spoke to her on the cell phone, she sounded depressed" He added, wanting to share his friend's problem with Iris.

"Obviously she didn't want you to call her" Iris said, smiling and showing a slight glance at her teeth.

"You're not funny!" Barry yelled at her. The discussion that seemed to reach new heights was interrupted by the voice of the person they had been waiting for.

"Sorry for the delay" She said.

"She's here" Iris said.

"Finally" Barry said.

The two friends turned around and were stunned to see that their friend was dressed in blue pants and a blue long-sleeved blouse. Well, that wasn't what had left them like this, it was how she looked from the neck up.

"You, you…" Barry was trying to say, but he couldn't say it yet.

"Diana, what happened to your…?" Iris asked very slowly, but unable to complete the question.

"Your hair!" Barry was finally able to say it.

She no longer had long hair like she always used to, which reached to the middle of her back. Now, she had it short, reaching to the back of her neck. If she had it shorter, even more, she would look like a boy with a very feminine face. Seeing the extreme reaction of her friends, she just put a hand through her short hair and tangled it in one of her fingers.

"I guess...that looks weird, doesn't it?" She asked her friends with a slight smile.

"No, you look good, Diana" Barry said immediately. He would never tell her something like that.

"No, it's just…it's weird seeing you like this" Iris said, still hesitating.

"Well, are we going to talk about my hair or are we going to see the comet?" She asked.

" Let's go see the comet" They both said in unison.

They walked for a while towards the outskirts of the civil zone of the town. They always celebrated a special occasion or one of the Greek holidays away from the others after a certain time. She even hung out with Aunt Antiope and Donna for about three hours before leaving with her friends. It was their routine at each of these festivities, although from time to time the time in which they were in the public eye varied.

As they walked behind their friend, Barry and Iris kept thinking about how strange she looked with short hair. They had already been both alarmed and surprised at the sudden changes in mood and behavior she had experienced in recent weeks. First, she was her normal self, the charismatic, well-controlled one who sat in the back and was a fairly normal student, braiding strings with her aunt and little sister, having frustrations with Mayor Princeton, and always wearing a braid with it's red ribbon; on other days, when she wore a simple ponytail as her hairstyle, she could be a little more cold and serious with whatever she did, plus she was better at drawing in art classes, she was late for the thread-braiding session (plus she couldn't even do it when he had that personality change) and she had made the tree trunk table, but those attitude changes were weird. It seemed to them that she was going through an emotional process as an adolescent, which they decided not to ask, because in the end it was not a danger, neither for her, nor for them, nor for her relatives, but cutting her hair in this way was too extreme. It seemed that it wasn't her, neither her normal version, nor the other version they met.

Barry was the one who asked first what had led her to do that, being as simple and logical as possible.

"Do you think she cut it off because a boy broke her heart into a thousand pieces?" Was what he said whispering to Iris.

"Oh, Barry, people don't cut their hair just out of pity, and Diana said she wanted to" Iris replied angrily. Their friend could hear the conversation, and although she wanted to tell them what had happened to her, she decided not to, they wouldn't believe anything she told them.

"You believe it?" Barry asked, getting annoyed at Iris's response. "Did she just cut it off because she wanted to?" He added. It was clear that they were not going to agree at any time.

"Guys, I see it!" Said their friend pointing her finger towards the sky, interrupting what could have been another fight.

Upon finally reaching the area, she turned off the paved driveway and onto the grassy area with her athletic shoes treading on the area.

Barry and Iris followed her and walked a few more meters until they were in the correct position. In this way, the three of them could see how the Petropoulos comet was in all its splendor, with its blue glow that formed a great blue spiral that illuminated the sky of the town. It was an incredible sight, something of only once in a lifetime, nothing could ruin that moment.

"Wow," Iris whispered.

She didn't respond to Iris, she just stared at the comet that was following its course, until something from it fell off. She just stared as that small fragment of the comet moved away from it, the sight still exciting.

XXX

21:30

The call he wanted to do to the girl he wanted to talk to never came. The only response he received was to be sent to the mailbox that said "The number you dialed is out of the service area or is turned off". This was already the third attempt, so he decided to give up on the calls and sighed.

"I'll have to tell her how bad the date ended when we swap again" He said aloud to himself before starting to walk back to his apartment, letting the darkness combined with the moonlight wash over him.