Chapter 2-Brunch

 

 

I opened my eyes groggily, letting them adjust to the bright light of early afternoon. It was the day after graduation and already I had slept in until noon. There would be many more lovely days of this to come. The first day of the rest of my life, boy did that sound corny. This would probably be one of many. One day I’ll wake up a college graduate and think the same thing and one day I’ll wake up a bride and think it again. Every day really is the beginning of the rest of your life; in fact the day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life. I sure was in a "deep" mood.

"Melanie!" I heard my mom call from bellow. "I heard you stirring so I’m going to use that as a sign that you’re up. Come on down and we’ll go out to brunch." My mom has ears like a hawk.

I dragged myself from the bed and stumbled to my closet. I didn’t feel like dressing so I just put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a loose-knit sweater. The air in Washington is still a crispy 55º Fahrenheit. The weather here is usually pretty cold but tends to warm up more by now. This year we had been experiencing extremely strange weather that the forecasters said was a result of La Niña. I didn’t care how it got here, I just wished it would leave. I wasn’t about to spend my last summer at home in the cold. Hopefully, we would decide to take our vacation somewhere warm. Kyle and Mitch were both very big snowboarders and it was possible they’d want to take a trip somewhere for that. We’re going to meet later today and decide on where we’re going. I pulled a brush through my hair as I pondered the weather. For the final part of my outfit I donned a pair of warm slippers with hard soles, I really was feeling casual.

I skipped down the stairs and hopped over the last few, nearly colliding with Katreena at the bottom of the stairs. "Kat!" I cried out happily and gave her a hug.

She grinned and hugged me back. "Pajamas? Copycat!" she exclaimed. I noticed that she was wearing her pajamas too, not just the bottoms but the top as well. They were her favorite pair. The material was a soft, clingy rose silk and she wore a pair of pink bunny slippers with them. My mom stepped into the room and chuckled when she saw us. Even she was more casual than normal. She was a big time business executive so her standard clothes were good enough to rush to the office at any time. Today, however, she wore a pair of simple khakis and a collared white shirt. Her chestnut hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she wore a pair of simple glasses instead of contacts. She and I had been alone for 3 years. A drunk driver killed my father and younger sister in 1996. Their deaths still hurt both of us and I felt bad about leaving my mom for college but she assured me she was all right. One of my graduation presents from her was a cellular phone that she paid the bill for, so I could call her every day.

"You girls really want to go out like that?" she asked us dubiously, with her eyes and mouth still grinning.

"Of course Ms. Potter!" said Kat.

"Only if you feel up to the challenge Mom," I said, bringing attention to her lack of a suit.

"I made sure to tell the office I was not to be disturbed so I could take my daughter to breakfast. Well, we’ll just tell them it was a very long breakfast," my mom said with a rebellious smile, glancing at the clock.

"Well then, let’s go!" cried Kat. With that we all ran like mad to my Explorer and jumped in, heading for my favorite restaurant, Mildred’s. My mom didn’t want us taking her car because she kept it spotless for bus

Kat reached down and picked up my cell-phone from its place between the front seats. We had abandoned my mom to be lonely in the front seat while the two of us jabbered in the back.

"Is this your cell?" Kat asked, turning it around in her hands. I nodded proudly.
"Wow, how cool. I wish my parents wanted to keep in touch with me this bad," she replied, grinning. Suddenly, all the lights went green and it started ringing. Kat screeched and nearly dropped it. "I didn’t do anything! I swear!" she exclaimed, staring at it.

"Its no problem. Just hand it over," I said impatiently. She tossed the small phone into my waiting hands and I answered. "Hello?" Kat stuck her ear up beside mine near the top.

"Hi Mel!" said Kyle’s voice on the other end.

Before I could reply Kat said, "Hello sexy, me and Mel are just playing around in this car, want to join us and make it a three-some?"

Laughter exploded on the other end. "Maybe he wouldn’t sugar-lips," said Mitch’s voice. "But I sure would, see you in 20 minutes."

I laughed, shaking my head back and forth and pushed Kat away. She was still laughing and even my mom was giggling in the front. I stopped myself after a few moments and said into the end, "Hey Kyle, watcha calling my car for?"

"I tried calling your house but you weren’t there, so I called here instead," he said.

"Well then, why did you call my house?"

"I have a huge, huge favor to ask you guys."

"I’ll bring Kat back, as long as she promises to behave," I glanced over at Kat with mock-suspicion, she made her best puppy-dog face. "Alright," I said, gesturing her over to the phone. We both listened as Kyle made his request.

"Well, I know we wanted this trip to just be with the four of us but I’d like to bring a fifth member," he said.

"Some girl Kyle? We have enough competition with each other as it is Kyle!" said Kat.

"No, no, he’s a guy," said Kyle quickly.

"Oh, well now that’s a different story," Kat said, smiling at me. "Is he cute?"

"Well, I don’t know, I guess he’s a pretty attractive guy. Anyway, he moved here in the end of the year and didn’t have a very long time to meet new people. He had been saving up for his own senior trip but his family had to move so he couldn’t go on it. He and I had conditioning together and we got to be friends, he’s a pretty cool guy. Quite quiet but nice when you get him out of his shell. Anyway, he and I were talking about the senior trip this morning. He said that he didn’t feel comfortable going on the classes with people he didn’t know and so it looked like he wasn’t going to have one at all. I sort of mentioned our trip and he sounded really interested. Anyway-"

I knew Kyle would go on forever if we didn’t do anything about it. "Listen Kyle," I said, interrupting him. I glanced at Kat, who nodded her head eagerly at me with mischievous eyes. "I think that both Kat and I don’t mind if he comes along, is it ok with Mitch?"

"Yeah!" said Kyle enthusiastically. "He’s met Joseph, that’s his name by the way, and I’m sure he would agree with me if he hadn’t headed to your house for the three-some."

I laughed and asked; "He really went?"

"Well," admitted Kyle. "He left but I don’t know that that’s where he went. So should I ask Joseph to come to The Bowl later?"

"Yep, see you two then," I said.

"Bye hot pants," added Kat.

"See you two foxy ladies later," said Kyle and he hung up the phone.

"So what do you know about this Joseph guy?" asked Kat, returning to her spot.

"I wish Kyle had told us his last name but I think he means Joseph Winbey," I answered, remembering the handsome, brooding guy from my AP English class.

"You know him then?" asked Kat, her eyes lighting up.

I nodded to her. "Yeah," I replied. "He came to our school about a month before graduation, poor guy. He was in my AP English class. We never really talked but I remember that he was really intelligent, at least he was in English. Kyle didn’t lie, Joseph was very attractive. He’s very dark and always wears this brooding expression. I saw him staring at me a few times but neither of us had the guts to talk to one another, I guess."

"Do you like this guy?" Kat inquired, a little disappointed.

I shrugged and said, "Don’t worry, I don’t mind if you flirt with him. I guess if I liked him I would mind." I thought that it was probably more the fact that he wasn’t the flirting type that made me not mind, but I wouldn’t tell Kat that, she could have her fun.

Kat grinned happily and said, "This is going to be a better trip than I thought."

I noticed then that my mother hadn’t said anything, she was staring at the road with a sad expression. "Is something wrong Mom?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"No-Well-Yes dear," she said with a sigh. "I’ve just been thinking of how we won’t be taking these little drives anymore soon. I guess its really hitting me that you guys are going soon."

I reached over the seat and gave her a hug. "Don’t worry mom," I assured her. "We’ll be back to visit you a lot."

Kat nodded and said, "Yeah Ms. P, whenever I visit my parents I’ll come see you whether Mel’s here or not."

My mother smiled gently and said, "You girls are great, thank you." She reached back and gave my hand a squeeze then pulled into the parking lot of Mildred’s. Waiting in front was Mitch, stretched out on the hood of his car. As soon as we stopped, Kat and I jumped out to say "Hi" to him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with a grin.

"Waiting for my two lovely three-some partners," replied Mitch, then he spotted my mother coming our way. Anyone else would have blabbered an excuse about a slip of a tongue but not Mitch. "Hello Ms. Potter!" he said merrily. "Of course," he said to us. "If your mother wishes to join, we could always make it a four-some. All the more fun."

My mother blushed furiously and fixed her sternest gaze at him. "Mr. Flagstaff," she said. "I should punish you by accepting that offer but I won’t. I’m all tuckered out from last night, you were great kid."

Mitch’s jaw dropped, I think its one of the first times he’s actually had nothing to say. Kat and I laughed so hard that we nearly fell over as we followed my mother, who had begun walking briskly toward the restaurant after she finished talking. I don’t think Mitch moved from the hood of that car until he drove Kat and I to The Bowl after breakfast. As my mom pulled out in her car, she winked at Mitch before driving in the direction of our house to get ready for work.