Mind Or Matter

Chapter Twenty Seven

The weather was much nicer in New York. In my opinion, it was perfect.

Candi was having the time of her life. We went shopping together, later watching a production of Phantom of the Opera. Candi cried at the end, saying that it was one of her favorite musicals of all time.

For me, it was my first time seeing it. I thought the music was nice, story dragged on a little slow, but I agreed with her about the ending – the part where the Phantom lets Christine go and she leaves with Raoul. It was quite sad, but I still didn't really understand it.

Candi felt better. And, in a way, I did, too. My mind didn't feel fuzzy or tingly, I laughed more often, and I slept better. I hadn't had a nightmare since... I couldn't even remember...

Today was Thursday. It was 12:07 pm, and Candi and I were having lunch at a nice outdoor café. We had plane tickets for Miami at 7:00, so we were trying to enjoy our last hours in New York.

Candi was giggling as she tried to swallow her iced tea. I laughed with her as the four year old continued to dance on the sidewalk below the patio café. He was wearing green and black basketball shorts, which were really tight. He danced in silence, his mother walking beside him. He danced as he walked down the street, shaking his head and butt.

Candi placed a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes. Her pink hair shook as she laughed, but her head stayed pretty still. She had this adorable laugh that everyone seemed to love.

"Oh my God! He's still going! Oh my God!" she repeated, her laugh growing as the poor kid started twerking as he waited to cross the street with his mother, who had no acknowledgment that her son was causing a scene.

I took a bite of my salad – the same one Candi had ordered. Knowing Candi probably didn't have a lot of money, I offered to pay for the both of us. After all, we were friends, and this was something

(couples)

friends did.

But sometimes I imagined us being more than friends, living in a quaint little apartment in NYC, but still far away from Jake. I imagined myself as a psychiatrist and Candi a teacher or something like that. Both of us taking walks at night, going on small dates to Central Park, watching Broadway shows, the things Candi and I liked.

Candi dug her fork into the lettuce, setting down her iced tea after the kid and his mom crossed the street, which was full of cars and yellow cabs. "It's so weird. This generation of kids are doing these freaky dances and everyone thinks they're cool..."

I interrupted, without realizing it, and added, "well, adults from our generation thought the same thing. And those kids will look at their children with disgust and the exact thought will come to their mind."

Candi smiled, saying, "touché." She let out a small giggle, then continued eating her salad and drinking the light brown iced tea.

I grinned, eating some more of my salad. Normally, I wouldn't eat salad, but I wanted to make Candi feel as comfortable as possible.

Candi mentioned something about Donald Trump, starting up a big conversation.

"He's racist, sexist, homophobic, ignorant, stupid... I swear, if this man wins the next election, I'm going to die!" Candi started laughing, sipping more tea.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. You voted for Hillary?"

She smiled, her head moving up and down as she set her tea down, swallowing. "I mean, I know she's not the greatest, but she's better than Trump."