Youth!

Gal Pal

By the time May rolled around, it seemed as if my life was about to get WAY more interesting. The trees were fully green again, our friends were starting to starting to come outside again to play ball, and it was getting hot, real hot. There was a three day span consisting of 80+ degree weather, and I knew summer was on the horizon. I could just feel that things were going to change, that I head some big stuff headed my way. I have always been a people-oriented person, there's nothing wrong with being by yourself from time to time but meeting new people really spices up your life and can show you some things about yourself.

I was on Instagram one day, in a comment section about anime. I had roasted some kid, and some girl found it funny, replying as such. She gave me a follow. I checked out her profile, and saw she was into anime (obviously) and some of the shows I had seen as a kid. I followed her back, and after debating for a few minutes on whether I should hit her up.

    "I see ya got good taste. Cowboy Bebop, huh? ;)"

    "Omg ofccc! The story makes no sense but it's so entertaining, ya know?"

    "Yup Yup. Have you seen Samurai Champloo?"

    "Your wish is my command. ;)" (famous quote from the show)

    "That's a relief to hear, lol. You know your shit."

    This kickstarted a conversation between us, from which I was able to gather some key things about her. I texted her telling her about how I'd want to Facetime her the next day, to which she replied: "Cool. Talk to ya tomorrow then." I shut off my phone, took a shower, and had a meal before heading to the park to work out. What a small world we live in, huh? As I did those calf raises and pull ups, I had a wide smile on my face, I was somewhat excited. She was a potential friend who lived in a new area which probably meant new activities and new adventure, and during these times I was willing to do anything just to get out of the house. Later, I showed her to Jake in a funny conversation. "What she look like? Show me show me!" He exclaimed. "Alright," I said. When he saw her, he asked how old she was. "She's 20 Jake," I replied. "Why?" I asked, confused. "Well, I don't know, she looks really young for some reason. Maybe just the filter. Anyway, You should Facetime her and get to know her man. See what it do." He said. I agreed, and we got off the phone. The next day when I did talk to her, the conversation went okay, I guess. It was really late, like damn near two in the morning, so I talked to her right before going to sleep. We just got to know each other, talked about where we lived, stuff we were into, basic stuff. We chatted for a couple hours and her chatter helped me drift into sleep. Boy could she talk up a storm, to the point where she seemed kinda self-centered. When you talk, it shouldn't just be for yourself, you should make it so then the other person can give input too instead of just rambling. That could've been a red flag but I didn't really acknowledge it too much and just decided to give her a chance, maybe she was nervous.

Claire was also a student at a university about half an hour east in Long Island, though she mentioned transferring to a school in Washington State in the opposite corner of the damn country. Like that's really far. She was into psychology and liked to spend time with her family, and was a homebody for the most part. The way she talked was somewhat masculine, with a deeper voice and saying the word "dude" and "bro" and things of that nature, playing sports, you could tell she was raised in a house full of boys. There was definitely a completely different side of her that she was keeping from me, a side that probably would have turned me off had I known about it from the start. I couldn't really put my finger on it, and I didn't have much experience with girls, but I could tell she was more than what the eyes could see. I guess I would have to see it first hand by hanging out with her.

    For the next week we talked pretty much every day at around the same time of night, it became something of a routine for us to do. I would do whatever had to be done during the day, and text her as I was doing it, and around midnight or so I'd call her and we'd have a daily chat. On Tuesday I told her I was interested in hanging out, because she wasn't too far away, and she agreed. The problem was, she was 20 minutes away by car. Something that I didn't have at this point, I only had my little skateboard and not even the one with big wheels for cruising, a little trick board that was slow as fuck on any street that wasn't completely paved. The train had a route to the town but it wasn't a direct one, meaning I'd have to switch at a different station and that required more money which again, my broke ass just didn't have at the time. I spoke to a friend from school, who said he could lend me his old motorbike for as long as I wanted in exchange for a fee or a "favor." The fee end of the deal wasn't really an option for me at this time, so I inquired on what the favor was. "Hey Marcus, help a brother out for the one time, alright?" He said, still not saying exactly what he needed from me. "Well, what's your favor man?" I asked him. He grinned, before explaining himself. "Well, times got me a little slow on the ladies. If you can put me on to a lil shorty, I got you with the bike for as long as you need. Just throw in $100." He added. This seemed like a good deal to me. I knew girls, the question in my mind was only if he was looking for a wifey type or just someone to have a little fun with. Didn't care, I just wanted the bike. I did some scrolling on my phone, and pulled up a page of a girl we went to school with that was a year younger. "How about Sydney?" I said with a grin. "She's not bad, huh?" I asked. "I will most definitely put in a good word for my man William." I said convincingly. He took a look through her account, smiling and nodding his head. "Well okay, will she answer me though?" He asked. Will was a good looking dude with money, he was funny too, just lacking in the confidence department, which was obvious by this question. "Of course man," I assured him. "You're THE William Bernard!" I exclaimed. He was beaming, and I could immediately see how what I said affected his mindset in a positive way. He lent me the bike, which was a pretty jet black, as well as a black helmet to match. He told me to take good care of "her" before I rode off. It was a moped, and I was used to riding these since I was younger. Sydney did in fact find Will cute and not to my surprise, he did score a date with her the following week. He had himself something in the works, I had my bike for my hangout with Claire.