Party Day
Tom Petty was right, waiting is hard. It isn't a school day, but I've been up since eight, Paw Days. The anxiety that's milling around in my stomach woke me up earlier than I wanted...well, needed to be. My parents call it excitement. I don't have anything to be tense about but try convincing my head that.
The clock could lend me a rope once in a red moon. Time is going by so slowly, it's hard to focus on anything but the party. I've got my outfit laying out on my bed, plum tee, shorts, sneaks. When Mom asked me what I was planning to wear last night, I showed her, and she told me to wear something fancier like a school polo.
"Max!"
Yes, oh spirit of Abbi possessing me, I will get to hang out with Max. Appreciate the gentle reminder, but the hundreds of fluttering Post-Its inside of my chest have beaten you to it. I wonder if Max feels the same about today. If he does, he masks it well.
Thinking about what we might get into makes me smile. I'd love it if it were like test week. We could find a quiet place in the house to chat, draw, talk to the pets. Then again, a number-one fan like me wouldn't ignore their favorite person, now would I?
"Chase?"
Heard you coming!
"Are you taking a shower or what?" Mom asks.
...Lovely.
When I step one foot out of my room, Mom reminds me that it's noon again. I know what time it is, Mrs. Fox. I head to the bathroom, take my rinse, put on my shirt, spike the hair, judge myself, judge the judge. It's just a birthday party, not a bad rich teen dance.
"You look like you're ready for a date," Mom jokes.
Excuse me while I go throw up in the bathroom.
"There's no date," I say.
Shut up, thought about Max in my head. This doesn't concern you.
"You take everything too literally," Mom says.
"No."
I look like I'm ready for a friend's...
Boyfriend's?
What?
I hope not!
Yes?
Breathe!
...The only date that I have is for a birthday party at two, and that's if Kieran's mom arrives when she said she would. It's not right of me, but I can't help but think about the visit that never was. I should've asked Max for his address and let Dad take me.
The closer it gets to my pick-up time...well, you know how I might be feeling. I woke up early on a Saturday, dressed up, was told that someone would be here at one. When I glance out my window, I should be seeing Kieran's mom walking up to our building.
I don't see her.
"Do you?"
Gumball's silence is eerily familiar.
"Not this again..."
It isn't quantum physics to be organized, peoples!
***
It's now a quarter after one according to the microwave. I haven't seen her or heard the buzz from the security bell.
"Why are you so fidgety?"
Why is Mom so nosy?
"She'll be here."
Is she a psychic?
YOU ARE READING
Castling: A Novel (NaNoWriMo21)
Teen FictionIt's a slice-of-life centered around "Chase the Ace," who finds himself changing schools against his will mid-year to help make the most of that brain of his. It'll be good for him, they say. He won't be so bored. He'll get to be with an old friend...
