For your entertainment, some more fun with the college boys:
Nick: Wow. I can't believe you couldn't beat that boss by yourself. And you call yourself a Legacy of Lords master.
Louis: Hehehe...thanks man. I'm glad you're back.
Nick: Back to help you beat your games? Just joking, man. It's good to be back.
Casayo: Hey, my car's back! Hi Nick! Thanks for filling up the tank.
Nick: No prob. Hey, where's Jason?
Louis: Out with Gwen.
Casayo: He asked her to see a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo with him.
Nick: Serious? He asked her out?
Louis: He has to see the film anyways for class.
Nick:*sigh* Which means, they'll spend the whole time discussing the concepts of consciousness exemplified in the film.
Louis: He left us a movie though! Said it was really awesome! Looks like an anime of sorts.
Nick: Really? I would like to sit back and watch a movie for awhile. Casayo, got anything to eat?
Louis: Hopefully it's nothing like that Inception movie we watched last time. Nothing to do with dreams and reality and dreams that can be accessed and changed to change reality and all that complicated stuff. I'm not looking forward to another headache.
Nick: Like evil director wants to take over the world and a group of unlikely people have to stop him?
Louis: Yea!
Nick: So...an old guy and a magical girl...hrm.. A fat guy with an eating disorder. Obesity's a big thing this year. And why not throw in a policeman with issues from his past?
Casayo: Are we going to watch the movie or sit here and hypothesize about it?
Nick: Let's watch. Oi, where's the food at, Cas?
Casayo: I've got a box of red velvet cake bites that we brought back from the Sunny Cafe on Tuesday. How's that?
Nick: Excellent. What's this movie called anyhow, Lou?
Louis: Paprika, by Satoshi Kon.
. . .
In the morning I woke up full of energy and surprisingly cheerful.
I had just finished brushing my teeth when the phone rang. Who would be calling this early in the morning? Samantha was the only girl that I knew was up and calling people at this hour. Knowing that none of the boys would reach it in time, I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Um..hi!” the voice said. “This is Curtis.”
My heart raced, but whether in apprehension or trepidation I couldn’t tell. “Hi Curtis, it’s Eileen speaking. How are you doing?”
“Eileen!” I could almost hear the anxiety in his voice calm a little. “I just wanted to say thanks for coming to the party last night. I had a great time.”
“No problem!”
“Speaking of last night, I um, really liked your friend Samantha and was wondering if um…if I could talk to her?”
I grinned so wide that I’m sure Curtis could have seen it through the phone. “Sure.”
I passed the phone to Samantha, who had just joined me downstairs.
Even though I still hadn’t gotten an invitation to the dance, I wouldn’t let that bring me down. Soon after, Samantha, Jason, Casayo, Louis and I met up with Wendy and Gwen at the mall. While the older people left to do their own purchases, Samantha, Wendy and I browsed for dresses.
I had been secretly working on my own dress even before I moved here and now only needed a few beads and flowers to complete the look I was aiming for.
Samantha kept gushing about Curtis, which didn’t help to keep my mind off of the upcoming ball and my utter lack of a date. As I bought a few small, pink vermillion clips for my hair I thought about how sad it would be to have this entire outfit planned out and never be able to wear it. Norbert or Alan—one of them would ask me, right? I sighed despondently.
“Does this make me look fat?” Wendy’s question snapped me out of my thoughts. It was a striking blue halter-top with orange beads and embroidery along the empire waistband that complimented her hair. I shook my head.
“It looks great on you!”
“Really?” She flashed a smile at me. “It’s a little long for my tastes though…would you mind trimming it for me when we get back to the apartment?”
I agreed to, and once we got back, I did.
“Eileen, don’t worry about your date. I’m sure you have one,” Wendy told me with a generous smile before she left for her house to get ready. “You did a great act introducing Samantha to Curtis.”
“Thanks.”
“See you at the dance in a few hours then! Onstage, no less!”
“See you!”
I turned on the computer in the kitchen just in case Norbert was online early and started to make an early dinner—they could heat it up later—for the boys as I pondered on ways to set my hair.
Casayo came up with a letter for me and shortly after I had to call Wendy: “Hello! It’s Eileen speaking. May I speak to Wendy?”
Gwen picked up the phone. “Hold on a moment!”
“Hello Eileen! How’s the news?” Wendy sounded excited and happy, as though expecting good news.
“Hi Wendy! You won’t believe this! I was playing that online game with Norbert just now. Suddenly his character fell to his knees and invited me to the ball!”
She seemed stunned for a moment. “Wow, that’s so romantic!” she gushed after a moment.
“That’s not all though! I received a hand-written letter from Alan! He wrote a poem for me and invited my to the ball!”
“That’s wonderful, honey!”
“But now I have to choose, don’t I?” I wailed quietly in the phone. “Casayo’s distracted Alan in the living room and I told Norbert I’d be right back with an answer, but I still don’t have a response!”
Wendy laughed. “That’s simple! Who do you want to go with more? Then just tell the other one that you had already accepted someone else’s invitation.”
She made it seem so easy. But my emotions were so conflicted. I hadn’t been expecting both of their invitations, much less at almost exactly the same time, and I didn’t want to hurt either of them.
The doorbell interrupted me again.
“Eilee! It’s for you!” My brother called. “Gee, you’re popular today,” he murmured to me. Another ball suitor?”
I flushed at his teasing and met Kenneth at the door, his guitar swung on his back as though he had just been practicing.
“Hey singer girl,” he said. He had a few flowers in his hand and I steeled my resolve and thought about sweet Melodie. Besides, I already had two invitations to decide between.
“Hey guitar boy,” I replied. “I was going to ask you…When’s call time tonight?”
He seemed a little taken back by the question before laughing. “Actually I just came to tell ya that. Be at the band room by 5:30.” He held out the pink roses shyly. “I—well, um, they’re from Melodie and the band, as thanks.” He hesitated. “Are ya going with Alan?”
I couldn’t conceal my surprise. “How did you know he asked me?”
“He lives down the street from me,” Kenneth laughed. “We’ve been friends since elementary school.” He laughed again, a little more awkwardly. “I helped him edit the poem,” he half-bragged.
“Oh.”
He waited patiently. “Well?”
I flushed. “Two guys actually asked me and I can’t decide which one to accept.”
“Who’s the other guy?”
I decided to confide in him. “Norbert Ames?”
“Oh N-bert! He’s cool too. He’s so quiet, he didn’t tell me he’d ask ya.”
That didn’t help my dilemma any.
“Sorry, but I can’t help ya here, Eilee. We’re all good friends. Tell you what though. Neither of them would feel bad if ya turned them down to go with the other one. Just pick who ya want to.” He smiled that gorgeous, rock-star smile for me. “Don’t forget to save me a dance as well!”
He left with a wave and I retreated to think of a response quickly. I was sure Norbert was worried I hadn’t said anything for a while now besides my rushed “goodness! Give me a moment please” nearly 5 minutes ago.
Ultimately, it was Nick that made the decision for me. He had returned to the apartment while we were at the mall. I joined him in the kitchen and he flashed a grin at me.
“Hi, Nick.”
“Hey, Eileen. So…I heard my lil’ brother finally asked you out.”
“Ah, yes…about that.”
“I also heard Alan Rivers asked you.”
“That too…” He smiled knowingly. Casayo must’ve told him while I was talking to Kenneth.
“Looks like you’re a bit conflicted. Aside from not wanting to seem rude, you don’t even really know which boy you were hoping to go with. Despite Wendy’s intention for you to just have a date, you wanted to have them as friends as well. Even though your main hobby lies in designing clothes and sewing, you also genuinely enjoy reading, video games, and like singing and watching sports.”
I nodded. Despite his rough ways, Nick was very startlingly perceptive. “I don’t sound very honest, do I?”
He shrugged. “It’s not impossible to be interested in a bunch of things.”
I blinked. Nick laughed and shook his head. “That’s not the point. Think about it this way: Alan is one of Nrbert’s best friends—hell, he’s one of Norbert’s only friends. Both of them are quiet, but Alan’s gains popularity with the ladies because of his book. Norbert’s happy for him.”
“Yes, Kenneth just told me this.”
“Well then now. Of the two of them, who have you out with more?”
I thought it over a little. “Norbert, I think. I’m not quite sure. Every time I talked to Alan we were cut off by one of us needing to do something.” I paused. “Actually the last time I talked to Alan I was going to meet Norbert and he went to write me the poem asking him to the ball.”
“I see. Honestly now, Eileen. Regardless of the ball, who would you be more curious to get to know better?”
“I-“ I couldn’t decide.
“Here’s another way to think of it. Legacy of Lords or Tale of the Darkest Star—which world would you rather help develop and learn in depth about?”
I had been playing Legacy of Lords sporadically for a few months and I had only finished the Tale of the Darkest Star less than a week ago. Yet I could remember my initial responses to both of them and knew exactly the answer.
“You don’t need to tell me,” Nick said gently, standing. “You don’t even need to answer it out loud.”
He set his empty cup in the sink and rinsed it. I watched as the water gathered around the rim and a single drop of overflow run down the side. “Whatever you decide,” he said, shutting off the water,”be true to yourself and go with the boy you like better. Trust your emotions. The other can always be your friend.”
Nick was at the door when he turned to me and asked, “Do you know what to do now?”
I looked up at him but didn’t answer. We both knew the answer to the question. He smiled, and his eyes betrayed amusement before he left, leaving me in the kitchen with my computer.
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