b

“Yes, I did want to talk. Wanna come inside?”

“Of course! You’re still so polite, just like I remember you. You haven’t changed... not even a bit.”

I open up the door and show her inside.

I sprint upstairs and open my bedroom door, freeing the dog from his prison, and he bolts down the stairs to greet our visitor.

She welcomes him with open arms. “Oh, I missed you too! Good boy! Want a treat? Here you go!”

“I’m astounded he remembers you after two years. Then again, you always did shower him in desserts,” I say, as she delivers my dog’s sixth treat.

“Well, that’s why I gave him the treats. So he’d always know it was me. But how are you doing? What did you want to talk about?”

“I didn’t think you’d make it tonight… I’m tired…”

“Well, we could just hang out and you could tell me whatever it is in the morning. That sound okay?”

“Yeah. Sounds great.”

I find the remote hiding under the couch cushions and turn on the tv.

“So, what do you want to watch? Or do you wanna play a game?”

“How’s about…” She pauses, thinking for a moment. “How about we play Mariokart, just like we used to?”

“Sounds great.”

I boot up my old Nintendo Switch, hook up a pair of wireless controllers, and load up good ol’ Mariokart.

She laughs as the starting screen pops up. “I remember playing this with you when we didn’t want to do our homework, back in high school… those were the good days, huh? Speaking of, are you still going to the local college next year?”

“Yeah. It’ll be my third year, as you very well know. How’s art school?”

“Really nice, I’ve made a lot of friends and learned a lot, but I’ve missed you. I’ve missed all my friends here. Have you met anyone new?”

“Not really. You know me, I make all my friends through you. You aren’t here, so I don’t make friends.”

“Yeah. You know, you’ll only have to wait for a couple more years. I’m gonna move back here when my school is finished. It’ll be just like old times.”

“I do miss the old times.”

We quiet down as we begin to play, and she complains as usual about the amount of blue shells being thrown around. She still ends up winning the first race, however; I get second. We decide to play around with the different modes, and by the time we finish, it’s 11:21 pm.

“Wanna turn on some show, or something? I’ll probably fall asleep out here anyway…”

“Yeah. What do you wanna watch?”

“Seinfeld, or something… I don’t know… now I’m as tired as you, I can’t think.”

I turn something random on and invite the dog up onto the couch.

You may be wondering why I’m saying no names. I promise confidentiality. The dog also asked for it. Anyway…

She quickly falls asleep. I grab a spare blanket from the closet, throw it over her, and head upstairs to my bedroom. I stay up reading for just a bit before falling asleep, the dog beside me, warming me up. Not that I need it in the summer heat. It’s still eighty-one outside at midnight. Which, by the way, is the worst thing in all of history.

If it wasn’t for no school, Summer would be my least favorite season.

Because of school, Winter is my least favorite.

It takes me a while to fall asleep with how sweltering the heat is…

When I wake the next morning, I debate whether or not I should actually head downstairs. I decide not yet, cuddle up to the dog, and grab my book. I read for about an hour before I turn a page and there is nothing on the next.

I sigh, open my bedroom door, and the scent of scrambled eggs hits me. It obviously hits the dog too, who goes sprinting down the stairs, nearly knocking me over. I stroll down much slower than him. “Um… good morning?” I mumble as I make it to the bottom of the stairs.

“Good morning. I thought you’d like some breakfast. Breakfast burritos sound good? If I can find the tortillas…”

“They’re in that… thing over there.” I point to where I keep all my bread.

“Thanks.” She grabs the tortillas out of the cupboard and places them on the counter. “Turn something on for me, will you?”

“No problem.”

I grab the remote and resume whatever it was we were watching last night.

Soon enough, she finishes cooking, and sets down a plate with two delicious looking breakfast burritos upon it.

“Eat up!”

“Thanks. I missed your cooking.”

“You missed me, you mean?”

“Yeah, yeah… mmm, this is delicious…”

She laughs softly. When we finish eating, she asks, “So, what did you want to tell me? You asked me to visit. Said you wanted to talk. So, what about?”

“It’s just… just… you know what? It doesn’t really matter, now that I think about it. It was something done. I guess I just wanted to see you and gave some excuse so you’d visit me.”

She smiles. “That’s alright. I wanted to see you too! But, you know, I’m amazing and making friends, and I make too many and then I can’t get out of anything because even in summer my whole day is just gone and- sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. I haven’t had an actual conversation in over a month, so it’s nice to hear someone talk.”

“It’ll all be better in a couple years. I’ll be able to move back and we can hang out every weekend. For now, though, I told my friends I was staying for at least a week and I intend to. What do you wanna do?”

“Hmmm… not sure. What about you? I’m good for anything as long as you’re coming with.”

“Huh. I don’t know… wanna just play some more Mariokart?”

“Yep.”