Chapter 8

It's finally the weekend, I think to myself. Time for me to get this whole project done by myself. Why, of all people, did Mr. Rennet have to pair me with that lug nut. Did I piss him off that much in class? I don't think this is a fair punishment.

I crack open the books and get started. I make it a quarter of the way through the project before I decide a break is well deserved. I stand up, stretch my arms and back, and walk down to the kitchen. The café only opens in the afternoon on weekends, so my mom is busy figuring out what ingredients she needs to get and all the other things she needs to stock up on to make it through next week. I grab an apple and head out to the dining area to sit. It's still pretty early so there aren't many people out and about yet. I gnaw away at my apple and continue to stare out the window to entertain myself.

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L runs into the room, midway through, launching himself in the direction of my bed. Before I fully realize what is happening, he lands directly on my head. He decides this is the perfect bed to sleep on and gets comfy. I scooch him off of my face and onto the nearest pillow. This is followed by a few mews of protest, but he gives up and accepts it once he realizes how much more comfy a pillow is than a human head.

I spit the cat hair from my mouth and try to breathe heavily to push it out of my nose. After a few attempts, I clear my airways of the stuff and decide now is a good time to start the day. I sit in my desk chair and open up my laptop. While sitting, I start to remember the events of the previous night. Foster invited me over. We watched scary movies. I got to meet his lovely cat. We had dinner and Foster tried to show me how to 'appropriately' store the books that you are currently reading. Apparently, bookmarks are capitalist propaganda.

After that, he walked me home and I waved him off. It was a fun night. I wonder if he is busy today. I close my laptop, deciding that there is nothing for me to do on there. I get dressed and check the time. Ten a.m., not too early to go bother someone on a Saturday. I exit my room and see my mom in the kitchen making lunch. Man, we really need to go grocery shopping. The only 'food' we have in this place is the leftover pizza from the other night and some stale cereal. We don't even have milk.

I give my mom a quick hug before skipping out the door, a slice of cold pizza in hand, ready to take on whatever the day throws at me.

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I spot Claudia walking down the sidewalk towards the café. Do I have time to hang out with her today? If I ask her nicely, will she help me with this stupid project? Or at least keep me company while I suffer. I stand up to unlock the front doors to let her in.

"Hi! I hope it isn't too too early. I was wondering what your plans were today and if you wanted to hang out? I still don't know much about this city and was thinking we could possibly walk around together?"

"Hey C, I would love to spend the day showing you every stinky alleyway and pompous asshole that lives here, but unfortunately, I'm stuck working on this stupid project that Mr. Rennet assigned. I am only a little bit of the way through and my brain is already melting and falling out of my ears," I complain.

"Oh no! We are doing the same project, why is it taking you so long to work on?" C questions, a worried look spreads across her cute face. Cute? What am I thinking?

"Don't make faces like that, you will get worry wrinkles," I joke, "It is the same project, I just have a dunce for a partner and he refuses to participate because he doesn't understand what the project is or why it's important," I shrug in defeat.

"That stinks. Does this mean I should go home?" A small pout spreads across her kissable lips. I shake my growing attraction to her out of my head before responding.

"Not if you don't want to. You could come on up and entertain my cat, maybe suffer with me a bit?" I look up hopefully. "I definitely wouldn't mind the company and maybe you can offer some tips if I get stuck?"

"Sure, I guess. They always say two heads are better than one. Even though I'm pretty sure we share brain cells," She giggles. I love that sound. I could listen to it forever. It's weird to think these kinds of things about your new friend. I need to cut it out.

C follows me up to the loft. We greet my mom when we pass her on the way and head for my room. As soon as we enter, I do a quick sweep of the area to see if I left too much of a mess. I should probably do a thorough clean sometime next week. It's not like I am a disgusting rat or that the place is covered in whatever trash I hoard. I just need to fold my laundry, organize my shit, and just make this place look nicer. I don't usually have people in my room, so I've never had to worry about this kind of stuff before.

C takes a seat on my bed and Cocoa hops up to lay down next to her. C smiles and attempts to give Cocoa a belly rub to which Cocoa responds with violence. What a stinker. C eggs her on and continues to rile her up. I sit back at my desk and get back to work. With C here, time flies by, making this almost enjoyable. Almost.

I print off my work and hand it to C to look over. She scans the pages and gives a thumbs up. I sigh in relief. Thank God this hell is over. It wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't ya know, a walk in the park. Just as I start celebrating my homework victory, C asks me what I have planned for my professional outfit. Shit. I don't think I own anything like that. We look through my closet. Argh, I really should put this stuff away. The back of my neck flushes red as she starts sorting through one of the piles of laundry on the floor of my closet. I don't own much in the way of clothes so we get through it all pretty quick, only to discover that I don't actually own anything that could pass for a professional outfit. I run my hands through my hair trying to figure out what to do. I don't really want to go shopping. Actually, I would rather scrub a dumpster clean than go clothes shopping.

"I take it you don't want to go out to find something suitable?" she asks. I shake my head no. "Hmm, I might have an idea. You'll have to follow me to my place. Hopefully, it's a good idea." I shoot her a confused look, but she just smiles and pulls me out of the door of our loft and down the stairs. We wave at my mom as we exit the building and head towards C's place. Her hands are so small and super soft. Have I ever held a girl's hand like this before? I mean I used to hold my mom's when I was little but that doesn't really count. I've hooked up with chicks, but never really done any of the cutesy stuff. That's probably fucked up.

We reach our destination. "Okay, so what's the plan?" I ask.

"Be patient. You will see." She drags me up the stairs and towards her mom. I gulp. I was hoping to avoid meeting her mom for just a little bit longer. I'm not ready for her to disapprove of me and force her daughter to break all forms of contact with me. I know I look sort of sketchy. I definitely don't give off 'nice boy next-door' vibes.

"Who is this C?" Her mom pipes up after looking up from whatever she was reading on her computer.

"This is my friend Foster. We are in speech together and so he is working on the same project as me, just with a different partner. We went through his closet to see if he had anything to wear for when he presents but all this poor child owns are t-shirts and jeans. Not a button-up or polo in sight," She explains, "Mom, do you think we have anything that he might be able to borrow?" She asks. What does she mean? What are two women going to have that I could possibly borrow?

"Nice to meet you, Foster," Her mom says with a warm smile. I sigh in relief, maybe I can still be friends with Claudia. "Can I get your measurements?" She follows up. This question takes me back a bit, but I reluctantly agree. She pulls out the measuring tape to collect the info she needs. I stand uncomfortably as C's mother reaches all around my body. "I think we might have something you could borrow. Wait here," her mom scurries out of the living room and into one of the rooms towards the end of the narrow hallway past the kitchen.

After some shuffling around and some loud thumps, her mom rushes back over to us with arms full of different garments. She starts holding different pieces up towards me and she and C talk back and forth about what they think will work together. I stand there awkwardly listening to the conversation but not really contributing. After a while, they both agree on an outfit. C shoves it into my arms and pushes me towards a room. I guess they want me to try it on. Why do they have all of this stuff anyway?

I pull on the clothes they picked out and adjust them so that they aren't wrinkled or anything like that. I look in the mirror that hangs on the wall by the door. A pair of black dress pants and a black and white striped button-down. They also gave me a navy leather belt and a pair of navy dress shoes. It looks nice and it fits me well enough. I walk back out into the main room.

"Give us a spin," C teases. I do as she says. "That looks so nice! How do you feel? Do you like it? Are you comfortable?"

"It's nice. I don't think I've worn anything like this in a long time, so I honestly don't really have anything to reference."

"Well, I for one, think you look very handsome Foster," C's mom says. After saying this, a shocked and embarrassed expression lights up her features. "I forgot to introduce myself! How embarrassing! I'm Claudia's mom, which you could have probably guessed. My name is Sylvia."

Sylvia. What a pretty name. She seems nice. She reminds me of my mom. I should introduce them. I'm sure Sylvia hasn't had much time to make friends with the unpacking and all that. "Nice to meet you, Sylvia. And, thank you guys, for helping me with this. I don't know what I would have been able to come up with on my own and I don't want to bother my mom with this. She is a busy woman with a lot on her plate." I smile and head back to the previous room to get dressed back into my original clothes. These women are a godsend. What did I do to deserve such nice people in my life?