Joy placed her hands down on the box and examined it closely. Her eyebrows knotted together. It was medium-sized, perhaps about as big as the average pillow. Though it was made of cardboard like most shipping boxes out there, there was an unnecessary amount of tape wrapped around. There was no return address nor any clue to give away who had sent it. Not to mention it was quite heavy as well. With a frustrated huff, she left it on the bed to grab the scissors. Once she returned, she sat on the bed next to the mysterious box instead of opening it. She had a thing for guessing whatever was inside a gift, or cardboard box in this particular situation. Her mind started filling up with ideas, all with a theoretical result. What if it contained a small puppy and it’s slowly dying right now due to the lack of oxygen? No, that can’t be right. Everyone knows that you have to poke holes if you’re going to ship an animal. Maybe it’s an exotic snapping turtle! That’s probably illegal. Strange and random thoughts kept circling her mind until she decided suddenly stab the top of the overly-taped box. Before she could continue cutting, a loud ding! filled the room. Slightly irritated that she was interrupted from finally crushing her curiosity, she got up and walked towards her desk. She picked up the strawberry-decorated phone cover and opened her messaging inbox. It was one of her close friends, Wendy.

-Hey, let’s hang out today at that new restaurant I told you about!

Joy looked over the message and decided to reply with a phone call instead, since she still really wanted to open the box. She wriggled her hand close enough to the phone icon button and pressed it with her thumb, then placed it on speaker. Wendy’s distorted face appeared on the screen and the phone started ringing. While she was waiting, Joy tried to cut through as little tape as possible since cutting every single opening out would take too much time. She was about a quarter through the box when Wendy finally picked up.

“Hellooo!” Wendy said cheerfully. Joy laughed at how funny she sounded. Quickly though, she addressed the text message Wendy had sent her a few minutes earlier.

“What time are you free? I'm kind of busy right now.” Joy said.

“Well, I just finished all my errands so I guess for the rest of the day?” Wendy replied, hoping Joy would accept her invitation.

“Let’s meet in an hour, then. Someone sent me a box with no return address and I’m still trying to figure out who it’s from. Did you send me a box or do you know of a person who has?” Joy spoke while carefully cutting the box. “Someone had lots of money left to spend on tape. Wow.” She placed the scissors down and sighed.

“Really? I don’t know. I didn’t realize a box could tire you out so quick.” Wendy’s laugh could be heard from the other side of the line. “I'll text you the address before we meet. Anyway, I have something important to talk to you about, so come on time!”

“Okay, see you later.” Joy placed her phone facedown on her bed and continued opening the box. After about five minutes, she was able to flip the covers open. Lying inside the cardboard walls held some type of planner. Pastel colors from the rainbow of every color out there seem to have covered every part of it, even the spirals that were holding the entire book together was pastel purple. It laid there, appearing as if it was unused. However, when she looked closer, a slight bit of the corners were bent and the colors were fading away, though unnoticeable at first glance. The front read, “Planner.” Joy continued inspecting it and finally picked it up after several minutes. She wondered why someone would send a planner to her. She flipped to the back, but there was only a blank space. Joy placed the planner on her desk and walked towards her bathroom. Now that she knows it’s just some random planner, Joy decided to get ready for her meetup with Wendy.

She showered for about fifteen minutes, though the five minutes was used up by playing around and singing with a microphone “created” from her showerhead. When she had finished, she stood in front of her long mirror in her towel blowing kisses and posing in different concepts. Around thirty minutes had passed, so Joy decided to get to changing. She slid her closet door open and started shuffling through her clothes. Joy preferred to categorize her clothes by season, and even hung them by length. She decided to grab a pair of leggings and a black sweater with words that read, “NO.” in white. She then proceeded to grab a small (also black) purse with one long strap and placed it over one of her shoulders. Since it was a casual outing, she didn’t bother too much with makeup and just used a moisturizer for her face. Another ding! filled the room once again. Sure enough, as she had checked, Wendy had sent restaurant address.

It was 2:13 p.m. when Joy arrived. For a barbeque restaurant, it looked quite fancy. The building itself was maroon, the windows tinted with red undertones. Not to mention they were quite big as well, it almost seemed like an elegant coffee shop. She was immediately met with the sweet smell of meat and almost fainted in pleasure from the aroma when she walked closer. There were also outdoor tables with the usual umbrellas stemming from wooden tables. As she continued walking towards the area,  she could see Wendy sitting inside in one of the tables, sipping some type of beverage. Joy went up to the window in Wendy’s range and waved. From the other side, Wendy’s face lit up and waved back enthusiastically, then gestured Joy to come in. Once she sat down, Wendy immediately started complaining.

“Ahh, I came too early! It’s been ten minutes since I been here, so I sat here alone drinking this water,” She held up the cup as the straw spun around the rim. “I drank so much that I had to use the restroom, and one of the employees had to come and refill. They thought my date stood me up.” She made a dramatic face, which had cause Joy to crack up.

“That’s not my fault, I did say an hour,” Joy shrugged. “Anyway, I finally got the box to open, but it was just some old planner.” She huffed in disappointment. “I was kind of hoping for something more.” Both girls picked up the menus and read through it.

“What was inside?” Wendy asked curiously.

“I don’t know, I didn’t check yet. It’s probably empty.”

“Well, you should have. Maybe there was a clue on from who sent it. Woah! They have a lot of food here.”

“I can check later. Besides, what was it that you needed to tell me?” Joy asked while staring intently at one dish on the menu, but was met with no reply. “Wendy?” she looked up.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just surprised that they had so much variety for a new restaurant. Wouldn’t that be a lot of work since they have to prepare so much?” she replied. “Well, yeah, there is something that’s pretty important and I definitely need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Joy pressed further. Before Wendy could answer though, it was time to order.