Note from the author: Total Words: 24,267. Words to go: 5,733.
When I wake up, I sneak into Matty’s room to make sure that yesterday really happened. I see him curled up in the blankets. He looks so cute when he’s sleeping. Friends can say that their friends look cute, right?
I perch on the side of his bed and shake him until he wakes up. “Good Morning Matty! Are you ready for some of Gus’ breakfast?”
“Mmmmm. Hi Charles. Let’s go eat,” he yawns. He gets out of bed and sweeps me up over his shoulder. I start laughing as he heads towards the staircase. At the bottom, he puts me down. “Where’s the kitchen?”
“Right this way,” I say leading him towards the smell of food. “Morning Gus. What’s for breakfast this morning?” I ask when we enter the kitchen.
“Hey guys. Breakfast is in the dining room today. We’re having a little brunch to celebrate Matt’s arrival,” Gus replies.
“Okay, refresh my memory, where’s the dining room?” I ask sheepishly. We usually eat in the kitchenette area so I forgot where the actual dining room is. Gus points at a door. I push it open and find myself looking at a huge feast.
“Oh wow. Gus! You’ve really outdone yourself this time,” I exclaim. On the table are pastries of every kind, omelets, waffles, pancakes, granola, fruit, bacon, sausage, basically every breakfast food, you name it.
We all sit down at the table and dig in. Everything is absolutely delicious.
“So, Charlie, what are your plans for today?” Amy asks.
“Gus, could you pass the cinnamon rolls? Um, I was thinking that we could go to the zoo,” I propose.
“Unfortunately, I have to work today, but I’m sure that Davis could take you guys,” Amy responds.
“Great. Does that sound good to you Matt?” I ask.
“I’m down,” he replies.
“So, it’s a plan then. Excellent,” I declare. After we finish breakfast, we head out to the garage.
“Davis? Yoo hooo. Davis?” we call out. He arrives silently. “Hi, we were wondering if you could take us to the zoo?” I ask. He doesn’t respond, he just walks to the smaller hovercar and gets in the front seat. Then he looks over at us as if to say “Are you coming or what?” We jump in the car and away we go.
Matt and I chat away about what animals we want to see. Before we know it, we’re at the zoo. Davis stops in front of the entrance to let us out. “Come back in three hours please,” I tell Davis while exiting the car.
For the next couple of hours Matt and I soak up all aspects of the zoo. We see the elephants and the giraffes. We see the penguins and the polar bears. We see the monkeys with the weird butts and the loud birds. But our favorite, by far, was this baby orangutan. It had to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Absolutely precious. We nickname him Baby Steve. I’d say we spent a good forty minutes watching him.
Eventually we have to go- Davis is waiting for us. I sigh, say good-bye to the monkey, and head towards the exit. “Hello Davis. Thank you for picking us up,” I say. Davis just nods once to acknowledge me. Like I said earlier, Davis is a man of few words.
When we get home, we hop from this hovercar into my hovercar. Matt’s going to take me out for a little lesson. He’s really patient and encouraging. However I still suck at driving. I manage to stay on my side of the road; that’s always good. Baby steps.
After my driving lesson, we head inside for dinner. The fullness induced from brunch has finally lessened. We eat dinner, which turns out to be brunch leftovers, and waddle back into the garage- Matt says that he’s taking me somewhere.
We get back into my hovercar but with Matt in the drivers seat this time. I watch as he expertly maneuvers the vehicle. “Show off,” I mutter under my breath. He laughs and reaches over to grab my hand. We drive for another 15 minutes before arriving at our destination.
“A FLY-IN MOVIE!” I cry. This is so cool! There used to be drive-in movies, but they all were remodeled when hover cars came along.
“Yep, I did some research. I thought you’d like it,” he replies parking in midair.
“Pssh, like it? I love it! Thanks Matty. You’re the best. What movie is playing?”
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” he teases. He pulls a bag of cheddar popcorn out of the back seat and hands in to me. We snack on the popcorn and talk until the opening credits start.
I recognize it almost immediately, “Oh, Matty! How did you know I loved the Sound of Music?!”
“You just seem like a classic musical kind of girl,” he replies. We settle in, leaning the seats back completely and laying on our stomachs.
“Thanks for a great day,” I say once the movie ends and we’re on our way back home.
“I had a great day too Charles,” he replies.
When we get home, we go straight to bed. It’s been a long, but fun-filled day and we are both ready for bed. We brush our teeth together in the bathroom and then go our separate ways.
I’ve just laid down in bed when Matt calls over, “Nighty-Night Miss Char! See you in the morning.”
“Good Night Matt,” I call back.
The next couple of weeks pass by in a blur of adventures. We go ice skating and swimming. He teaches me how to play tennis (which I suck at) and I teach him how to make Crème Brule (which he sucks at). My driving lessons continue. We go back to the fly-in theater a couple of times. Neither of us mentions his parents. One night we both feel a little itchy, but chock it up to that day’s task: berry picking.
The next morning it becomes very clear that we’ll have to put our mini-adventures on hold on account of chicken pox.
