Don't Stop | Michael Clifford

Chapter 75

"... and then I tripped in front of everyone, it was so embarrassing," I laugh slightly to myself, taking a spoonful of the frozen yoghurt I was holding. It was warm, compared to it was late September.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Tyler laughs. We were currently walking down Central Park. I was smiling at all the squirrels running around.

"Oh it was. And it was my first show, I sprained my angle and couldn't walk for about a week, and I was limping for the next week." Tyler laughs, slightly shaking his head as he looks down at his frozen yoghurt. "Alright, what was your most embarrassing moment?"

"Okay, let's see... I once accidentally turned in a nude picture of my then girlfriend for an assignment instead of a landscape," he admits. "Mostly embarrassing for her I guess."

"You got nudes the same place as your assignment?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"She asked me to photoshop it like I had done with some of my other pictures, and I accidentally turned in the wrong photo. Got an A+ though."

"That story is not approved, I will need another one, because something good actually came out of it, and with mine I got crutches," I say, pointing the spoon at him.

I had hung out with Tyler a few times this week, and we connected well. I don't know exactly if it was dates we were on, but I don't think neither of us really wanted to label it. We were hanging out, and if something more happened, something more would happen. One day at the time, I guess. Other than that, I had helped Maddie with a few stuff, like choosing a color for the baby's room (as in which white it should be)

"Okay, I once at a swimming contest lost my bathing trunks when I jumped in the water, but didn't realize it until I was back again and about to get out of the pool. I had to dive down and get them, like, 10 or 12 feet. It was really embarrassing, especially because this girl I really liked, her brother was there as well and she was recording it. Not my proudest moment."

"And when was this?" I ask.

"Two years ago, when I was a senior in high school." I study his face a bit, a thought popping into my head. "What?" he laughs.

"How old are you?" I ask, realizing I didn't have a clue. I knew things about his childhood from our conversations these last few days, but his age was something I did not know.

"Uhmm," he says, slightly biting his lip. "I'm actually turning twenty next week," he admits, studying my face a bit as he waits for a reaction.

"Oh," I say. I didn't know what to expect about his age, but I didn't expect him to still be a teen. "Okay," I say, taking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"It's not a problem, is it?" I shake my head, saying no a few times.

"I, I just wasn't expecting you to be, that's all. I don't know what I thought actually," I laugh a bit. "I mean, we're having fun together, so for it to be a problem would be a problem..." I say, my voice trailing out, realizing what I was saying sounded weird. Tyler laughs a bit, obviously finding my explanation as weird as I did, but he seemed to understand what I was saying.

"Yeah," he laughs, nodding.

"So, what are you planning to do for your birthday?" I ask, eating the rest of my frozen yoghurt, before throwing it out in the nearest trashcan, Tyler doing the same, even though he finished a few minutes ago.

"I don't know. My friends want to hold a big party for me, but I don't know. I mean, I love to party, but they are all old enough to drink, and they sometimes forget that I'm not. Something low key, maybe enjoying my first day as an adult the childish way and go to an amusement park or something." I smile, it sounded like something I did when I turned twenty. Only I used the day before with Maddie at a Jump America place for an hour or two, before we went to Six Flags and tried pretty much all the rides. We had planned on doing quote "something spontaneous" but we both ended up eating something bad and had food poisoning. I've always had the habit of being sick on my birthdays, or at least something happens.