Smiling Is An Everyday Thing.

Three more days until school starts. I somehow got myself stuck between hanging out with Drake or Rei. I might as well go with both of them. I put on a black and red checkered shirt along with dark blue jeans and went outside. Drake told me he would drive by around 2pm which gives me three hours to pick up Rei considering that it is currently 12 in the afternoon. Drake is usually an hour late for everything he schedules so I added the extra hour. It was hot today, which wasn’t actually different than any other day these past two months. The air was dry and the wind carried the hot weather around. The sun’s light was blinding and anyone would start to sweat after a few moments out here. I really do hate summer. Other than the fact that there is no school during this time of the year, I hate everything else. I get that “lazy” feeling from the heat, and my house feels like a microwave without air-conditioning. My parent’s having been making enough money either which makes it pretty difficult.
It took about twenty minutes of walking to get to Rei’s house. I was just thinking the whole walk there which made it all go so quickly. I knocked on her door(which was a first) and of course she opened. She was all ready to go wearing a black blouse with white stripes going down across and dark blue jeans. Her hair was long and beautiful like usual and it moved the direction the wind blew. She invited me in and I sat in her living room for awhile. I’m thinking if Sarah was still here or not. She probably isn’t anymore judging by the silence and peaceful feeling this house has at the current moment. Although, I can’t help to feel unusual with all this silence. I actually got along with her before I went home two days ago.
Rei came back wearing a necklace around her neck. It was a small gold chain that had a clock hanging in the middle of it all. It look strange to me, yet it feels like I’ve seen it before. My grandma had one of these, and that’s all I practically remember. She got closer and showed it to me. She sat next to me and lifted the tiny clock. It was nearly 2pm, so Drake might call soon to say he will be here in an hour. Other than that thought, I also had the question as to why she is showing that necklace to me.
“Someone special gave me this.” She said. I was panicking in a way, having the thought of her having a boyfriend isn’t something I should be worried about since I barley know her, but still… I guess I sort of am jealous if there is a guy who she is in love with.
“Well I really don’t remember much about him.” She held it tightly for a moment and stopped talking. Her voice had a tone of sadness, “I just remember I love him so much… He saved my life like you did, and he was a childhood friend of mine. I don’t remember how he gave me this, and I don’t remember his name. I just know that I’m thankful for having him in my life... I hate myself for forgetting him though.”
I was speechless, no… we were both speechless. For a moment everything in the room stood still and Rei’s words echoed over and over again. My thoughts concentrated on one thing and everything in my body seemed to have been inactive for a split second. I really didn’t understand why she was telling me this, but I felt some sort of bond forming in a way at this moment.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this, I know it’s out of nowhere, but when I just saw you right now I felt like my memories about him came back. I remembered his voice, the color of his hair, and how he was the one who gave this to me.” She smiled. “I’m sorry.”
“Rei we’re going to be great friends.” I smiled back at her, “I’ll listen to you about all these things and help as much as I can. Just don’t cry too much okay? Anyways… that’s what friends are for.”
“We sound corny.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Rei wiped the tears out of her face and smiled. “Thank you Sean.” She said graciously. My phone rung right before she was going to say anything else, and it was Drake calling. To summarize all he the things he said. He is in trouble with his parents. He can’t go since his car was towed away. His car was towed away so he is in trouble with his parents. Since I haven’t gotten my driver’s license or a car yet, I didn’t know what to do. Maybe there was a place I could take her. She asked who it was and I was just honest and told her I don’t know where I was going to take her.
“There’s a restaurant nearby, we can just go there.” She suggested.
“Alright then, I guess it’s a plan.” I nodded.
It was a Chinese restaurant, and it was small and simple. It had golden colored statues on the counters and two TV sets around the room. The waiters were walking around and a delicious smell was in the air. We sat down and looked at the menu for a bit.
“I want orange chicken.” We both said simultaneously. We both laughed for a moment.
“You’re going to pay for this all.” Rei laughed.
“It’s only orange chicken.” I nodded.
“Well… I want fried squid, fried rice, sweet and sour pork…” She continued.
“Hold up, let me choose too…” I looked at the menu for a moment, and spoke once again. “I want the same thing, but I keep the extras.”
“Alright then.” She smiled.
“Are you sure you can eat that much?”
“I’m pretty sure I can.”
While we waited I thought it would be nice if we got to know each other. I didn’t know how to start the conversation like usual. Maybe about food, we seem to like the same kind of taste. Rei was looking around, as was I. She was starting to look quite disappointed in my opinion so I started speaking.
“So Rei what did you do this summer?”
“I went to a bunch of places with my friends. Sarah came over a lot. I spent a bit of time in the hospital, and now I’m hanging out with you.” She giggled.
“Oh, the hospital… Never mind that, I just moved here so I only made a new friend and just walked around a lot, trying to get to know this place.”
“Oh well maybe I can show you around this area after we’re done eating.”
“Sounds great.”