I was greeted by the usual lazy house I see. As I passed through the corridor leading to the living area, my Mom greeted me with a smile. She was in the kitchen slicing something on the cutting board. To her side were a few herbs and spices that smelled like a five-star restaurant.
“You’re home early,” Mom sarcastically said.
“I had a detour,” I said, trying to hide the nervousness in my voice. “The bus got a flat tire midway towards the stop, so I had to take shelter from the rain for a bit.” She shot me an eye and examined, but ultimately just smirked and went back to cutting.
“At least you’re all right,” She sighed with relief. “Are those eggs?”
“Yep,” I answered and placed the bag on the counter.
“Great. Dinner should be ready in about a few minutes.”
I nodded. Turning around, I went back towards the corridor and walked up the stairs towards my room. The second floor was just a small corridor with doors leading towards the beds. My parents—now my Mom’s after Dad went abroad—was at the farthest from the stairs. There were two separate rooms on the left, one being mine and the other being my sister’s. After going to CalArts for her Animation degree, she only gets to visit holidays and vacations. That mostly leaves me with my Mom every day. I went over to the nearest door and turned the knob.
I felt a huge weight release from my chest. An overwhelming amount of relief surged through me. My usual place of comfort was this room and after the long day I had—at least, it felt long to me—I needed a good rest.
Looking around, I always enjoyed how I decorated this place. Dark brown walls made the room give off a lodge house vibe. Over to the opposite corner from my bed was my workspace. Managing to save a lot of money (and maybe a little bit of help from Dad,) I bought myself a small setup with a laptop and some office essentials such as journals, pens, and whatnot.
To the left were my bookshelf and closet. I kept my books organized, from fiction novels to self-help books. I also kept my camera bag on the topmost shelf. The closet itself wasn’t that noteworthy, but I do have a small assortment of clothes that people could say “stylish.”
I never decorated walls to not get distracted, but I hung my tenor saxophone next to my bed for display. I decided to pick the instrument up when I was 15. I had a slight liking towards jazz and knew that this was the instrument to go for. I have been playing this ever since and it is one of my favorite things to play.
After chilling in my room for a while, Mom called me up for dinner below. I walked downstairs and ate some delicious pork loin. We had a short chat about Dad and Switzerland, the country where Dad was working. Nothing much happened after that. I cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes while Mom enjoyed some late-night TV.
As I finished up, I went up to my room once more. I slammed into my bed, tired as ever, and slept soundly. Tomorrow would be the first day of semester break, I thought. I wonder what could await me in the coming week.
The next morning wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be.
“Get up! We got a long day ahead of us!” I woke up to a female voice yelling in my ear that almost startled me out of bed. If I weren’t fast on my reflexes, I could have face planted on to the floor. I looked over and saw Chris and Claire staring at me from above, bursting with laughter.
“Why would you do that?” I said, groggy as ever.
“You wouldn’t wake up when we knocked on the door. Plus, your Mom let us in.” Chris grinned and laughed.
“You couldn’t have at least tapped me on the shoulder or something?” I asked. I sat upright on my bed, the noise still ringing in my ear.
“Yeah, but that wouldn’t be as fun now, is it?” Claire smirked at me like a maniac. “Now, take a shower and get dressed. We’ve got a lot to discuss today.”
I reached over my phone on the bedside table. It was 8:23 AM. Well, this is a great start to winter break, I sarcastically thought. I walked over to the bathroom with a few clothes and took a cold shower.
After getting dressed, I went back to my room and saw Claire sitting cross-legged on my office chair on her phone and Chris sitting by the bed. Claire was wearing a turquoise long-sleeve turtle neck, khaki pants, designer boots, a pearl white knitted beanie, and a matching scarf. If there was anyone I knew who had great taste in fashion, it was Claire. Anything she wore, she looked good in. She was like a beauty queen without even trying.
Chris, on the other hand, wore clothes that were simple and looked good. He wore a white knitted sweater under a dark brown overcoat, black jeans, and a maroon scarf that wrapped around his neck. Simple enough to wear, but still stylish enough to look good.
“So, what do we do?” I asked as I sat next to Chris.
“Well, first thing’s first: You need a change of clothes.” Claire moved over to the closet. “Chris wasn’t exaggerating when he said you look like a hobo.”
“Hey!” I said to Chris, who was shrugging it off.
“Relax. Luckily, you have a friend like me. I’m sure you have something in here that can look good.” She said, shuffling through several outfits. After about a few minutes or so, she grabbed about an armful of jackets, shirts, sweaters, jeans; Basically, anything she could have found in there. I wasn’t even sure if most of it was mine. “Try some of these on and we’ll see what can work.”
It took awhile to find the perfect attire. Some just didn’t match my style. Others didn’t match at all. Eventually, we settled on an outfit that looked really nifty: a plaid shirt with a dark gray V-neck vest, a light gray fleece shirt jacket, black jeans with black winter boots, and a gray knitted beanie. Checking myself in the mirror, I never would’ve thought I could look this good.
“Look at you! Looking spiffy and all.” Chris complimented, while Claire brushes her shoulders.
“I have to say, I’m thoroughly impressed, Claire.” I said to her.
“All in a day’s work. Now that we’re done with clothes, we’re going to need to train you. How does brunch sound?” She asked.
The moment she said brunch, I immediately realized I haven’t eaten yet. My starving self was craving for some food. Nevertheless, I kept my composure and played it cool.
“Sure, I’m in the need for some food. Where should we go?”
“There should be a good diner just a few blocks away from here. How about that?” Chris suggested. Both Claire and I nodded in agreement. And not after getting everything ready, we were off.
On the way, Chris and Claire taught some simple lessons while walking. Stuff like “How to treat a woman” and “What not to do when you’re in a movie theatre alone.” There may be a few that slipped away from my mind, but I understood most of it. I was surprised there was a lot of stuff I didn’t know about dating.
Reaching our destination, we stopped at a local place called “Miss Portland Diner.” Chris ordered Eggs Benedict with Cinnamon Rolls while Claire had French Toast and Belgian Waffles. As for me, I ordered up a Stuffed Omelet and some Pancakes topped with blueberries and maple syrup. While we ate, Claire taught some table manners for me to use, which was helpful.
“Always remember to set your phone to silent before eating.” She told me while cutting a piece of waffle with her knife. “And chew with your mouth close.”
I was surprised by how much she knew about table manners. I guess you pick up a lot of things when you travel to Europe for the summer. It must be nice to travel to places like France and Italy, I thought.
“By the way, how come you never told me Alivia was in the theatre department?” I asked curiously.
“I didn’t think it mattered to you. I just never bothered to say, I guess.” She reasoned.
It makes sense that nobody would really think that it mattered. She was a high school crush, something that ultimately just fades over time. I never thought about her much until recently. Could it just be an impulse? My head just trying to fill that void of emptiness?
I need to keep my head together, or else I’d start to do stupid actions without thinking. Thinking back to my high school years when I did that a lot, I could be seeing myself doing it all over. I tried to focus my attention on my food, but even that was not helping. I was starting to lose my appetite.
It was practically a week of constant training. Lessons upon lessons on “How to be a Proper Gentleman.” Chris taught me ways on how to keep up a good conversation, while Claire did the fancy stuff. It wasn’t fun since I still haven’t had time for myself and always woke up at 7 AM. The week did eventually come to a close. With the date officially happening in less than 24 hours.
“So, it’s tomorrow, huh? You guys think I’m ready?” I asked them.
“Well, we taught you all that we could. I’m sure you’re as ready as you’ll ever be.” Chris pointed out, eating a bag of Lays while sitting by the desk chair.
“There is something we haven’t taught you,” Claire said, leaning slightly on my office desk. “Just be you, Dan. You have a great personality, and from what I’ve heard, she probably likes that part of you. Trust us on this one.”
Chris nodded in agreement. I still had doubts about it, but they did have a point. I shouldn’t be so anxious about it. I guessed things are going too well already that there’s bound to be something terrible that’ll happen. Nevertheless, I agreed with them, too.
“You’re right.” I nodded, but there was still some slight doubt in my tone. “It should go alright. Hopefully.”
The day came to an end, the sun slowly setting in the horizon by the corridor window. We all ate some Chicken Casserole my mom made for dinner before Chris and Claire set off.
“Make sure you tell us how it went after! And good luck!” Chris yelled from across the street.
Good luck. If anything, I need a good spirit to lighten myself up. I waved goodbye and went back to my room. After the whole week, am I really ready? I wasn’t so sure.
Eventually, the sheer exhaustion caught up with me and my eyes were heavy. I settled myself in and slept, trying not to think too much about tomorrow.
Let’s see how much you can screw up this time.
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