A Shot in the Dark

The next week was mostly uneventful. I didn’t see much of Pat or Jon because of their busy schedules. The most exciting thing happening in my life right now is Matt packing for his move to Sweden which isn’t very exciting at all. He leaves in two days and then I’m going to be all on my own for the first time. When I first thought about this it sounded exciting. Now I’m just terrified. I don’t know how to pay bills, and what if something goes wrong? Who do I call if the refrigerator breaks or something? I just started making my own doctors appointments last year.
“You looked stressed.” Matt said walking up behind me.
“Stressed? Why would I be stressed?”
“Because you’ve never lived in your own before and you don’t know how you’re going to handle yourself.” he said.
He was right and he knew he was right but that wasn’t going to stop me from denying it.
“I’m going to be perfectly fine on my own. If anything I can’t wait for you to get out of here.” I said trying to play it cool.
I knew that if I told Matthew that I was scared of living alone he would do one of two things. A. Not go to Sweden to do his research project, which is something I would not allow. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I wasn’t going to let him give it up because his sister is a little baby. He could also go with option B which would be to have my mother come and stay with me. Now this may not sound bad to most, but you’ve never met my mother. She’s more than involved parent. She wants to know your every move at every second of the day. Now as a teenager I understand why she would want to know these things, but I’m not 17 anymore and she does not understand that.
“You know I’ll stay if you want me to.” he said
“And you know I’m not going to let you do that so just stop talking about it so we can finish packing.” I said as I grabbed more of his shirts to put in his suitcase.
“We should go out for dinner tonight. Just me and you.”
“Yeah that would be fun.” I said, “I should probably start getting ready now. It’s already 5. We can just eat at the steakhouse if you want.”
“Yeah that sounds great. Be ready in an hour Tay. No later.”
“Yeah yeah yeah. I’ll be ready.” I said as I walked down the hall to my room.
An hour and a half later I walked into the living room to find Matthew sitting at the kitchen counter. He seemed slightly annoyed, but he still managed to smile when he saw me.
“You look very pretty Tay.”
“You don’t look too bad yourself.” I said
“We should probably get going since it took you thirty extra minutes to get ready.”
“Fine let’s go.”
It took us about thirty minutes to get to our aunt’s restaurant due to late afternoon traffic, but by 7 we were seated.
“So Taylor we really need to talk.” Matthew said.
“Wow way to get straight to the point Matt. What’s up?” I asked
“Well as you know you’ll be living on your own for the first time in less than forty eight hours, and I we both know I’m not completely comfortable with that.”
“Matt stop sugar coating it. What’s your point?”
“Well I have some terms.” he said
“Terms? You’re giving me terms?”
“Nothing crazy Tay. Just some things that I think will make both of us more comfortable.”
“What are they?” I asked slightly annoyed. Who is he to give me ‘terms’ on how to live my life?
“Well first off I want you to get a roommate in the next few months.” he stated
“A roommate? Matthew the only people I know in this city are hockey players and I know you don’t want me being alone with them for more than five minutes.”
“Oh you definitely will not be living with anybody who is even a little bit like Patrick. Just try to find one okay? It would make me more comfortable knowing that you’re not completely alone in the apartment.”
“Fine. What’s next?”
“Well since we’re speaking of Patrick-”
I cut him off before he could finish, “I’m not going to stop hanging out with him Matt so do even ask.”
“That’s not what I was going to say. Actually I was going to say the opposite. I want you to make sure you keep him close. Although I don’t agree with a lot of the things he does, I do know he truly does care about you and he’s going to be there for you when I can’t be. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch out for him and his friends. You can’t trust boys Tay. We suck.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Any more terms?”
He smiled and just said, “Be safe.”
I could tell that even though he was so excited to go, it was hard for him to leave his baby sister behind.
“Matthew don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m gonna miss you like crazy, but I promise I will be super safe and I will get a roommate as soon as I can. You are gonna do great in Sweden, being a fancy researcher and all that.”
He laughed, and we continued our dinner, laughing at old memories. Since he was leaving tomorrow morning, we both went straight to bed when we got back.
The next morning I drove Matthew and his many bags to O’Hare airport. This was by far the hardest thing I had ever done. After we got him checked in, we went right outside of security to give one last goodbye.
“Taylor, I’m going to miss you so much. Remember, if you ever need me, do not be afraid to call. I do not care what time of day it is, I will always take your call. You are coming to visit in a couple months, I’ll buy your plane ticket. Remember to be safe.” He said sadly.
We both started crying and gave each other a huge hug. I never wanted to let my best friend go. What was I going to do without him? Sure, I had Pat, but having my brother here in the city living with me was something so special.
“Have a great trip, and go find the cure to cancer!” I said, and we both laughed.
I waited until he got through security, then I slowly walked back to the car, tears streaming down my face. I had to head to the restaurant for work, but all I really wanted to do was hang out with Pat.
When I arrived at the restaurant, Aunt T told me that today there would be a new waitress coming in, and I had to show her the ropes. I was super excited, and was hoping I could make a new friend.
An hour later, Grace, the new waitress, arrived. She was the same age as me and was honestly the nicest person I had ever met. We got along instantly. She was a natural at waiting, I had almost nothing to teach her that she didn’t already know.
Everything went smoothly all night, and Grace even made even more tips than I did.
“Hey Grace, I’m going to leave out soon, I’m hanging out with some friends. Are you going to be okay alone?” I asked as I packed up my things from today.
“Yeah I should be good. Where are you and your friends going?”
“I actually don’t know.” I just realized that Pat never actually told me where we were going. He just said he would pick me up when I got off of work.
She laughed, “Well that sounds fun.”
“You can come with us.” I offered
“No that’s okay. I have to work anyway.” she said
“Grace I basically own the restaurant don’t worry about it. And plus my aunt, the actual owner, is all for me making new friends since I just moved here.”
“I really would but I have to study for a huge test after work.” she said.
“Alright. Maybe some other time?” I asked.
“Yeah definitely.”
“Okay I’ll see you later.” I said as I walked out the door.
When I stepped outside I began to look for Patrick’s car. What I was surprised to find was Teuvo instead.

Notes