Log: It's Monday.
Who: Mike and Tina
When: Monday, October 17, 2011
Where: Student Activities Center
What: How to interpret Twin Day
Mike idly tapped his fingers on the table. He was waiting for Tina to arrive. Midterms just ended last week and there wasn’t any work assigned so there wasn’t any point in having a study session. Not that their Monday meetings solely revolved around homework. Usually, it was half work and half play. (He was being generous. In his opinion, it was more like 70% play and 30% work).
With no homework to worry about, he figured Tina would use today to interrogate him about Saturday. He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation much so he was trying to think of ways to distract her. So far, he hadn’t come up with anything.
Tina walked into the Student Activities Center and headed towards the table that they usually sat at, she liked to think of it as their table but on occasion they had to pick a different table because other students were using it. As she got closer, she spotted Mike, who had managed to secure their table, and she slowed her pace a bit. Truthfully, she was a bit worried about seeing Mike today. She still felt badly about how things had turned out on Saturday. She felt like she should have done something more to keep him, and Brittany, from getting hurt. As a friend, she’d done a pretty terrible job and she wondered if he was upset with her.
When she finally made it to the table she pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, “Hey Rink,” she said, smiling softly at him.
He had been staring at the table, drawing invisible patterns, when he heard a scraping sound. He looked up and saw that Tina had finally arrived. He must’ve been deep in thought to have missed that. He returned her smile, “hey, Chiki.”
“So...” Tina started, not really sure what to say. “How was the rest of your weekend?”
“It was...it was okay.” Mike shrugged, looking away from her. That was totally a lie. His weekend was not okay. It was horrible.
Tina sighed softly, “that good, huh?” She wished she really knew how to make this better for him. “How about you let me buy you ice cream? I think a weekend like that one deserves ice cream.”
He shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but no. I mean, yes on the ice cream but no on the buying.” His mom had taught him to never let the girl pay and he followed that rule as much as he could.
“I’m supposed to be cheering you up, so I’m pretty sure that means I’m supposed to pay.” Tina narrowed her eyes somewhat teasingly at him. “Besides, I was going to use ice cream to apologize for not being a better friend,” she added quietly.
“I’m fine, Chiki, I swear,” he gave her a huge grin as if to prove his point. He didn’t think she was convinced though. That smile was too big, too fake. His shoulders slumped and he sighed, that attempt sucked. Maybe he could do better. He squinted his eyes at her. He hoped he didn’t hear what he thought he heard. “You got nothing to apologize for, Chiki!”
“I feel like I should have figured how to...how to keep that from happening,” Tina shrugged.
“You couldn’t have.” Only he was the one who could have done that. It was his fault.
“Okay...if you say so,” Tina wasn’t convinced but she didn’t think dwelling on it was what Mike needed from her. “So...we’re getting ice cream, right?” She smiled at him. Ice cream would make things better, she really believed that.
“Yeah, of course we are,” Mike pushed back from the table and stood up. “Come on.”
Tina got up too. “I think I want a banana split.”
Mike walked with her to the ice cream kiosk, all the while, thinking about what flavor to get. Taking a quick look at the menu, he declared, “I’m in a vanilla kind of mood today.” He gave both their orders and paid. He nudged Tina to the side to make way for others as they waited.
Tina could tell that Mike was still feeling down, he wasn’t his usual jovial self. She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “What can I do, Rink?”
He squeezed back against her fingers and shrugged. “It’ll pass, Chiki.” He really hoped it would.
Tina nodded, smiling in what she hoped was reassurance. “Of course it will.” Talking about it clearly wasn’t helping so she thought she’d try a new tactic, changing the subject. “So on a scale of one to a zillion, how happy are you about not having to wear a uniform this week?”
“A zillion. Definitely a zillion. Maybe even more,” Mike cracked a grin at that. He had been looking forward to this. One whole week of no uniforms. One whole week without ties. It would be glorious.
“So we’ll call it a zillion and two, then?” Tina grinned back, as she moved to grab her banana split.
“Sounds just about right,” he took his ice cream cone from the man and thanked him. He led the way back to their table, completely focused on eating the frozen treat.
Tina sat back down at their table and took a couple of bites of her ice cream before she said anything else. Looking up she grinned at Mike. “Thanks for the ice cream, Rink. Have I ever mentioned that I love ice cream?”
Mike looked up from his cone and smiled. “No problem, Chiki. I think you might have mentioned it once, or twice. Or, you know, a lot.”
Tina laughed, “probably like a zillion and three times.” She ate a couple more bites of her ice cream, making sure to get banana on her spoon. “So do you have your outfits for the week picked out already?”
“Not the entire week, no.” He got a few ideas in his head. But Twin Day stumped him. “I don’t know what to do about Twin Day.”
“Twin day is a bit of a challenge,” Tina nodded in agreement. “I mean, 90% of the time everyone is in uniform anyway, so it’s not like most of the student body can recognize each others style. I should just go as a ninja, then I’d clearly be you,” she laughed.
“Then I’ll dress up...as what? A...panda?”
Tina laughed again, loudly. It took her a minute to control her laughter but when she did she grinned at Mike. “Yes, a panda because then you would clearly be me.”
Tina’s laughter was contagious and Mike found himself laughing alongside her. Once the giggles had died down, he wiped the tears from his eyes. “That might take some work, Chiki, but I think I’ll be able to figure it out.”
Tina grinned wider. The idea of her dressing as a ninja and him dressing as a panda was slightly ridiculous but she absolutely loved it. “I’m definitely going to find the most awesome ninja outfit ever to wear. I’m kind of really excited for twin day now.”
“You know what? So am I.”
“Awesome,” Tina smiled, ducking her head to eat some more of her banana split.
When: Monday, October 17, 2011
Where: Student Activities Center
What: How to interpret Twin Day
Mike idly tapped his fingers on the table. He was waiting for Tina to arrive. Midterms just ended last week and there wasn’t any work assigned so there wasn’t any point in having a study session. Not that their Monday meetings solely revolved around homework. Usually, it was half work and half play. (He was being generous. In his opinion, it was more like 70% play and 30% work).
With no homework to worry about, he figured Tina would use today to interrogate him about Saturday. He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation much so he was trying to think of ways to distract her. So far, he hadn’t come up with anything.
Tina walked into the Student Activities Center and headed towards the table that they usually sat at, she liked to think of it as their table but on occasion they had to pick a different table because other students were using it. As she got closer, she spotted Mike, who had managed to secure their table, and she slowed her pace a bit. Truthfully, she was a bit worried about seeing Mike today. She still felt badly about how things had turned out on Saturday. She felt like she should have done something more to keep him, and Brittany, from getting hurt. As a friend, she’d done a pretty terrible job and she wondered if he was upset with her.
When she finally made it to the table she pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, “Hey Rink,” she said, smiling softly at him.
He had been staring at the table, drawing invisible patterns, when he heard a scraping sound. He looked up and saw that Tina had finally arrived. He must’ve been deep in thought to have missed that. He returned her smile, “hey, Chiki.”
“So...” Tina started, not really sure what to say. “How was the rest of your weekend?”
“It was...it was okay.” Mike shrugged, looking away from her. That was totally a lie. His weekend was not okay. It was horrible.
Tina sighed softly, “that good, huh?” She wished she really knew how to make this better for him. “How about you let me buy you ice cream? I think a weekend like that one deserves ice cream.”
He shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but no. I mean, yes on the ice cream but no on the buying.” His mom had taught him to never let the girl pay and he followed that rule as much as he could.
“I’m supposed to be cheering you up, so I’m pretty sure that means I’m supposed to pay.” Tina narrowed her eyes somewhat teasingly at him. “Besides, I was going to use ice cream to apologize for not being a better friend,” she added quietly.
“I’m fine, Chiki, I swear,” he gave her a huge grin as if to prove his point. He didn’t think she was convinced though. That smile was too big, too fake. His shoulders slumped and he sighed, that attempt sucked. Maybe he could do better. He squinted his eyes at her. He hoped he didn’t hear what he thought he heard. “You got nothing to apologize for, Chiki!”
“I feel like I should have figured how to...how to keep that from happening,” Tina shrugged.
“You couldn’t have.” Only he was the one who could have done that. It was his fault.
“Okay...if you say so,” Tina wasn’t convinced but she didn’t think dwelling on it was what Mike needed from her. “So...we’re getting ice cream, right?” She smiled at him. Ice cream would make things better, she really believed that.
“Yeah, of course we are,” Mike pushed back from the table and stood up. “Come on.”
Tina got up too. “I think I want a banana split.”
Mike walked with her to the ice cream kiosk, all the while, thinking about what flavor to get. Taking a quick look at the menu, he declared, “I’m in a vanilla kind of mood today.” He gave both their orders and paid. He nudged Tina to the side to make way for others as they waited.
Tina could tell that Mike was still feeling down, he wasn’t his usual jovial self. She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “What can I do, Rink?”
He squeezed back against her fingers and shrugged. “It’ll pass, Chiki.” He really hoped it would.
Tina nodded, smiling in what she hoped was reassurance. “Of course it will.” Talking about it clearly wasn’t helping so she thought she’d try a new tactic, changing the subject. “So on a scale of one to a zillion, how happy are you about not having to wear a uniform this week?”
“A zillion. Definitely a zillion. Maybe even more,” Mike cracked a grin at that. He had been looking forward to this. One whole week of no uniforms. One whole week without ties. It would be glorious.
“So we’ll call it a zillion and two, then?” Tina grinned back, as she moved to grab her banana split.
“Sounds just about right,” he took his ice cream cone from the man and thanked him. He led the way back to their table, completely focused on eating the frozen treat.
Tina sat back down at their table and took a couple of bites of her ice cream before she said anything else. Looking up she grinned at Mike. “Thanks for the ice cream, Rink. Have I ever mentioned that I love ice cream?”
Mike looked up from his cone and smiled. “No problem, Chiki. I think you might have mentioned it once, or twice. Or, you know, a lot.”
Tina laughed, “probably like a zillion and three times.” She ate a couple more bites of her ice cream, making sure to get banana on her spoon. “So do you have your outfits for the week picked out already?”
“Not the entire week, no.” He got a few ideas in his head. But Twin Day stumped him. “I don’t know what to do about Twin Day.”
“Twin day is a bit of a challenge,” Tina nodded in agreement. “I mean, 90% of the time everyone is in uniform anyway, so it’s not like most of the student body can recognize each others style. I should just go as a ninja, then I’d clearly be you,” she laughed.
“Then I’ll dress up...as what? A...panda?”
Tina laughed again, loudly. It took her a minute to control her laughter but when she did she grinned at Mike. “Yes, a panda because then you would clearly be me.”
Tina’s laughter was contagious and Mike found himself laughing alongside her. Once the giggles had died down, he wiped the tears from his eyes. “That might take some work, Chiki, but I think I’ll be able to figure it out.”
Tina grinned wider. The idea of her dressing as a ninja and him dressing as a panda was slightly ridiculous but she absolutely loved it. “I’m definitely going to find the most awesome ninja outfit ever to wear. I’m kind of really excited for twin day now.”
“You know what? So am I.”
“Awesome,” Tina smiled, ducking her head to eat some more of her banana split.