That Summer

Chapter 19

When we opened the door to Hiro's apartment, the living room was filled with different shopping bags and shoe boxes. There were small jewelry boxes with earrings and necklaces. The majority of the bags were brand name and others seemed to have just gotten off the runway. Having this many women's clothes at Hiro's place made him look like a pervert. I couldn't help but laugh.

    "What's so funny?" Hiro asked as he moved boxes and bags to make a path to the dining room.

    "You have books and papers spread throughout your apartment and your mom perfected it by bringing in women's clothes." I knelt down and opened one bag that had a pink dress with so much lace I looked like a doily.

    "My mom may have the impression that we live together," Hiro said softly.

    "What? How?" I almost didn't catch what he said.

    "It was probably my brother who misunderstood and told my mom." Hiro started organizing the boxes by size.

    "And you didn't correct him?" I pretended to sound mad as I looked through more bags.

    "It wasn't intentional." Hiro sat in front of me and reached for my hands.

    "Oh, really?" I looked at him and he pouted like a child.

    "I'm sorry." He sounded like a child who broke a vase.

    "It's okay. I'm not mad. You're so serious." I let go of his hands and walked over to the stack of boxes Hiro organized.

    "You're not mad?" He walked behind me and gave me a hug.

    "Since when are you so clingy? You weren't like this a couple of weeks ago." My face felt warm when I thought about the accidental kiss we shared earlier today.

    "It just feels surreal to have you as my friend. I don't want to lose you." He snuggled his head into my neck.

    "I think your definition of a friend might be different from the general public." I freed myself from his bear hug.

    "What do you mean?" He seemed genuinely confused.

    "I'm going to try on some of the clothes your mom bought. There are enough clothes that I could wear a different outfit every hour for the next two years." I picked up some bags and walked to the bathroom.

    "Actually, if you do the calculations, you'll only have enough clothes to do that for six months." He sat down and crossed his legs next to all the shoeboxes.

    "We get it. You like math." I yelled from the bathroom.

    Hiro's mom either had a unique fashion sense or put everything she saw on the rack on her credit card. I looked at a satin green dress with so many ruffles, it screamed Christmas tree. I pulled out a yellow and orange gradient dress and it looked like a candy corn costume for a traffic cone. All the silhouettes and designs were very unique for lack of a better word. I thought it was cute that Hiro's mom wanted to spoil me but this went a little overboard. But it was the thought that counted. My mom wouldn't go out of her way to buy clothes for me when she could be focusing on my sister. It had been a long time since I felt some motherly love.

    I pulled out a cute cream dress with long sleeves and a pleated skirt. It was light and perfect for the afternoon heat and cool nights. Hiro's mom picked some really cute clothes. If she had a real daughter, I feel like she would be so spoiled that she would never have to lift a finger. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and I noticed that I couldn't stop smiling. I was having so much fun playing around this summer. I thought about my memories with Hiro and instantly hid my face out of embarrassment from the mirror as if it were judging me. I felt butterflies in my stomach when I thought about how Hiro's been acting lately. My intuition was telling me something weird was going to happen. Then, I heard a bang coming from the living room.