Day 9

"You're eight and getting hipper as time passes along," said Kyle weakly. He still managed to smile as he also added, "Yeah, I was freaking hip back then. Of course, back then I thought I was a total dork."

My eyes widened as I noticed something crucial. "You must be feeling absolutely dreadful today. You never agree with the birthday card I make for you."

Kyle shrugged as he said, "Well, I can say the stickers with a bunch of little soccer balls inside is inaccurate. I wasn't an athlete but a drama geek."

"YOU were in plays?!"

"Why is that so hard to believe, Renata?" asked Kyle with a sneer.

I look at his feeble frame and even then, remember when I spun into him when we danced. "You just are sort of muscular. I do picture you as an athlete more than a drama geek."

"It's not just the muscles is it?" asked Kyle rhetorically. "You really thought only the cool kids are into sports. Is that how it is at your school?"

"Well yeah, that's how it is at my school."

"Aaaand you're not a considered a cool kid are you?" I frown at his question. "No need to answer; it's written all over your face, Renata."

I look away from Kyle and notice there's now a tiny radio on his table. "Who gave you that?"

"A friend of mine; one of the drama geeks came to say hi. It's my late birthday present and it beats flipping the channels hoping to find something stimulating to watch." He looks me up and down at my sparkly dark red sweater and light blue jeans. "Not that I NEED anything stimulating to watch right now."

I punch Kyle hard in the shoulder with my fist and immediately feel bad for it. I was about to apologize when he put both of his hands up. "I'll never forgive you if you apologize for what you just did, Renata. It feels good that I can still get punched in the shoulder without it breaking me."

"May I?" I asked him as I gestured to the radio.

"You may," he answered as I fiddled with the dial till I found the station with today's hits. Kyle and I spent the remainder of the hour guessing who sung it and also if we knew the words to it. I knew the artists better than the words, but Kyle knew the words as if he'd already heard them millions of times before.