All in my Head

Chapter 18

Week 5

Jonah's POV

"Dude, today's the fucking day!!!!" Even through my headphones I can hear Evan as he energetically plops himself down at his desk. I pull myself away from the debt profile of Denver I had been working on since around 7 this morning and turn to who in five weeks feels like more a real best friend to me than any of my past friends. And, after all, today was the day.

"You can still make it to the setup right?" Evan asks.

I shake my head, bummed I have to let him down again with my answer. "Nah man, I have to go look at apartments with my brother right after work. But if you guys still end up going to dinner or to O'Leary's let me know and I'll totally be there."

I really would love to go and help Ev set up the elaborate prank idea Kelly came up with last week at lunch. Not only would Ava be there (always a welcome plus), but Jul and Kelly would be there as well, and I genuinely liked them as people. Say what you will about summer internships and boring office life, but the people I've met here at WWF are genuinely great. Every single one of them. Even weird Nick has his moments of being not completely horrible.

But as badly as I wanted to hang out with my work friends, I also promised Austin that I would go apartment hunting with him today. He still hasn't let go of the idea of moving out, but I know it's just a matter of time before he forgets all about it. So in the meantime, instead of attempting to convince him otherwise and having it end in a huge fight, I've decided to just entertain the idea. Tickle his fancy if you will.

When all of us interns pack up our belongings at exactly 5:00 (literally never a minute later) and head out for the day, I'm starting to seriously regret not joining in on the pranking fun. I overhear the gaggle of them talking about supplies and strategy, and desperately want to join in. I know if I get caught in the same elevator with them and am suddenly forced to listen to them talk shop, I'll be insanely tempted to ditch Austin. Seeing as he's already waiting for me outside the office building, I decide to slip out ahead of them and catch an elevator that's already at full capacity.

"Is that Jonah?" I hear as I'm stepping onto the packed elevator. I turn around to see that I've been caught, red-handed. Evan, Jul, Kelly, and Ava, who had recognized me trying to sneak out, are waiting in the lobby, just feet from where the full elevator is idling. In my head, I was going to slip in just as the doors were closing, shielding me from being seen from the coworkers I so badly wanted to join. But unfortunately, I don't have that kind of luck today and the doors are waiting wide open, revealing me in my compromising position. Instead of a speedy I'm stuck now between a rock and WWF's very own hard place, our CFO's rotund beer belly.

"What are you doing, J-man?" Evan questions. I panic for a moment, weighing my options. Do I just step out of the elevator at this point, accepting my defeat and having to explain how much of a hold fomo has on my life? Or do I just ride it out, play it off with something cool like "catch ya guys later" or "happy pranking," timing it just right as the doors close? I decide to go for the latter, but maybe just a moment too late. Before I know it, the doors are halfway closed and my friends are still standing there, feet away, awaiting my response to Evan's question.

I panic, forcing words out of my mouth. "Catch ya guys pranking!!" I finally yell too loudly just as the doors close. I look down and, to my complete horror, realize my hands are in the most dreaded form: finger guns. Finger guns!! Catch ya guys pranking!! Could I be any more cringy? I question myself as the weird combination of both of my planned phrases replays in my head in the exact horribly awkward way I uttered it. By the time we get to the ground floor, I'm just about ready to die from embarrassment. The doors are barely open an inch before I'm trying to squeeze myself through them to get the hell out of my own personal box of shame that is elevator number 2.

I burst through the front doors of our building and finally feel relief when I see Austin leaning against one of the big columns that sits decoratively on the face of our building. I take a breath before approaching him, trying to swallow down my shame from moments before in an attempt to put my best foot forward with this whole apartment hunt.

"Hey, man," I say as I clap Austin on the back. "Good to see you, buddy," I say as I pull him into a half hug of sorts.

"Hi, Jonah," Austin says, hugging me back. He quickly whips out a sheet of paper from his pocket, suddenly all business. "I have a list of the top ten apartments I've seen online. I've listed them in order of proximity to our location now, so we should be able to get through them all in about two hours," he finishes, looking up at me for the first time since he's started talking to me.

I smile gently. If there's one thing Austin is, it's an expert planner. He loves to put everything in perfect order, calculating the approximate time it will take to complete the given task at hand. Although specialists have told us this compulsive need for control over his day is likely due to Austin's autism, my dad's always said our mom was the same way. She could never start her day without knowing every single detail of what lie ahead of her, ensuring that she could plan out every minute perfectly.

"Cool man, sounds good. Lead the way to the first one."