It's Always Been You

Hearts and Minds

That night, I slept surprisingly well on my old couch. Adam had tried to offer me his bed, but something about it didn't quite sit right with me. The comforting fullness in my stomach certainly kept the bad dreams away. Ever since I was a kid, I'd suffered from nightmares, especially when I was stressed. But I wasn't plagued tonight.

I awoke in the late morning to the beaming bright light from the windows. There was at least 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground outside and with the sun being out, reflecting very brightly into the room. What a winter wonderland.

"Morning," I hear Adam chime. I crane my neck to look over at him where he leans against the kitchen counter with a bowl of what must be cereal in his hands.

Stretching out, I open my mouth to yawn as I sit up straight. "Morning."

As I stare blankly at nothing in particular, still waking up, the only sounds that fill the room are the gentle clattering of Adam's spoon and cereal bowl. I can still smell the African food from last night hovering in the room, the pleasant heat from egusi stew lingering in the back of my throat.

"So, what time is our date?" Adam asks, taking a final bite of cereal.

I blink for a moment before looking back at him, "What time is... wait what?"

Putting his bowl in the sink, he chuckles at my reaction as I rub my eyes sleepily. "What time is our date?" he repeats.

I felt so put on the spot. I hadn't thought about this.

"Well, um, I wasn't sure if you'd want to wait a couple days or..." I really had no idea.

"You're going to be here till after New Years, right?" he asks.

I had to think for a moment before I answered, "Yeah, I fly back on the 2nd."

"OK, so when do you wanna do this?" he asks with a smile.

I was still stumped. I really hadn't thought this far in advance. I'd never asked someone else on a date, let alone with someone I considered as my best and oldest friends. I felt a little awkward, but not wanting to sulk in the misery of the circumstances from the day prior, I took a deep breath and began pondering.

"We don't have to be all fancied up or whatever. We've been friends forever, so why not just keep it casual?" I ask with a nonchalant shrug.

The smile on Adam's face droops slightly for a split second. It was so brief, I wondered if I'd really seen it happen, but it was enough to totally disarm me. Was he actually wanting a legitimate, formal date with me? There's no way.

But the moment passed and he brightened his smile, "Sure, yeah. Sounds great. Where are we going?"

"How about we go ice skating? The rink over at Rockefeller Center would be fun." I reply, reaching for my cell phone.

As I unlock my screen I notice the 36 missed calls from last night and early this morning, all from my mom's cell. Probably trying to nag me into coming back home. But on the chance that it's an emergency, I should probably see if any of my siblings have been messaging me, too. Suddenly, my phone starts to vibrate and my dad's picture pops up on screen. A cold shiver went up my spine as I quickly answered.

"Hi, dad."

"Hey, sugarplum. You doing OK?"

"I'm fine, but what about you? We were all so worried about you."

I silently mouth "it's my dad" at Adam as he gives me a look in question. He then gives me an affirmative nod and excuses himself to another room as I stand up and begin pacing the room.