How Strange is it to be Anything at all

Chapter 2

(3rd Person)

Samuel had survived the next day and a half, his cycle of going to classes, working, eating, and homework unchanging as always. It was almost six o'clock, the time he and Kenna had agreed to meet. Somehow Samuel's apartment had become the meeting place for the two. The meeting time had also happened to be Samuel's dinner time, so he insisted that he would cook for Kenna when she came over to work. Samuel looked around his messy room. It was eating at him inside that he hadn't cleaned or even tidied up, with things out of line and pieces of clothes hanging around the room. He was already starting to blame himself for being a poor host for not cleaning when he should have, but in reality, this had been the first thirty minutes that Samuel had had to himself all day, and all he had wanted to do was to lay down. It was normal to most people, but it was gnawing at Samuel. He did a quick check of his bathroom, however, but as usual, it was spotless. One of the two places including the kitchen that he always kept clean. Before he could start to quickly put clothes away or even make his bed, there was a knock at the door, signifying that Kenna was there. Before he could even completely open the door, Kenna was already walking in, taking off her shoes, and looking around, all with a smile.

"Wow your place is great," she said excitedly. "I've always wanted to live on my own in an apartment, but I am stuck in the dorms on campus. It's not bad, but this is just so much better."

"I, uh, thank you," Samuel landed on. "Sorry that it's so messy, I didn't have a chance to clean." There it was. Samuel relied on that one word, sorry. It made him feel as if he was being less of a convenience to other people.

"Oh my god," Kenna said extending the "oh" sound. "Don't even worry about it, I mean, that's the goal isn't it, to keep your room cleaner anyways," she said with a wink. Samuel smiled.

"Thanks," Samuel said quickly. "For dinner, I'm not sure if you ate already, but I was thinking about making food." His hands started to get sweaty. He was an anxious person and having to make food for other people had always put him on edge. The what-ifs surrounding his food made him this way.

"You cook," Kenna exclaimed, her mouth slightly open.

"I mean, not much but yeah. I live by myself and I don't have enough money to eat out all the time so I usually cook all my meals." Samuel itched the back of his neck and continued. "I was just thinking of something simple that way we can work on the project. Do you like chicken alfredo?"

"Love," Kenna said in a sing-song voice again extending the letter "o" into an "uh" sound. Samuel nodded and started to prep the food, boiling the water, cutting the chicken and zucchini, and then seasoning everything. He felt awkward in the silence so he looked over his shoulder to see her watching him.

"A trick to make the water boil faster is to, uh, put a lot of salt in the water. It should be salty to taste. I don't know the science behind it, but it helps," Samuel said to ease out of the awkward silence.

"Wow, you know a lot about this stuff huh? I know nothing about cooking. My parents have tried to teach me for years but the only thing I can make is an omelet."

"I mean, an omelet isn't bad," Samuel said shrugging.

"Yeah, but it's no chicken alfredo," Kenna said smiling. They continued the conversation throughout the making and eating of dinner. After dinner, both of their computers were out, some tabs being worked, other tabs being videos of funny internet references. They sat and talked and laughed for a few hours, with little to no work on the project being done, until Kenna said she had to leave.

"How far away is your dorm from here," Samuel asked, not wanting her to go. He had enjoyed the time they spent together. He had thought about it the whole evening and realized that she was his first college friend and the first friend he had made in a while.