Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1) (28 page)

He smiled, “And as your best friend, I would never leave you. You’re too…”

“Screwed up?” I interjected.

“That’s part of your charm.” He laughed. “No, silly, special to me.”

I didn’t know exactly what to say. It was weird to be at a loss for words for something good. “Thanks.” It felt good.
I
felt good. I smiled and finished up my egg roll.

The waitress came back, refilled our drinks and took away the empty plates. “How is everything? Do you need anything?”

“Good. Good.” Patrick told her. He looked at me and beamed a mischievous grin, “Another order of Cashew Chicken?” I shook my head. He turned back to the waitress, “I think we could go for some dessert wontons. You have got to try these!”

The waitress smiled, “They are really good. Sharing?” Patrick nodded. She turned and left. I finished up the last few bites of my chicken.

“So, how was your Cashew Chicken?” Patrick asked as he looked down at my empty plate.

“Real good. You were right, this place is good.”

“Ahh… one of my favorite phrases, ‘You were right.’” He laughed. “So, we have a few hours before our flight. What do you want to do?”

“Do?”

“Do. Go? We can’t exactly spend the next five hours sitting here. I don’t mind, but I think the restaurant might.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen much of
San Francisco
. My itinerary got interrupted last time I was here.” I shrugged with a little smile. “But I have seen one of the fine hospitals in the area. So, I think I can do without checking them out again.” The waitress returned with our dessert.

“Guess I’ll have to cross that off my list. How about the Exploratorium, Zoo, or art museum?” He offered me the first cream-cheese filled, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar wonton.

“Sure. Those all sound good.” I took a bite of the wonton. “Wow! This is
good!
” I grabbed another one.

Patrick laughed. “I’m right again, huh?” He laughed louder. “Preferences?”

“No. Like I said, they all sound fun. I leave the choice in your hands, let’s see if you are three for three.” I laughed. “Have you been to any of them before?”

“Yeah. They are all great.”

“And your favorite? You have to have a favorite…”

He slyly grinned, “Yeah, I do. But you’ll have to figure out which one.” He looked at his watch. “We have time to go to at least two of them, maybe even all three, if we tried. You up for it? A whirlwind tour of the sights?”

“Sure. Sounds fun.”

18. NEW MEMORIES

We finished up dessert, in no time. Like I said, it was
really
good. Patrick asked the waitress to call us a cab and paid the bill. He wouldn’t accept my money to chip in for the bill. He kept telling me not to worry about it, it was his treat. Our cab arrived and we headed to our first destination: the art museum.

We got to the museum. Patrick was an awesome docent. I figured that since he was taking Art History, he’d know a lot about the artwork. He did. What I didn’t realize was that he and his family visited the museums in the area every time they came up to visit Lindsey. He showed me all his favorite pieces in the museum. It was like having my own personal tour guide of the museum. Patrick would animatedly describe each painting, including the artist and style. Admittedly, we were a little louder than your typical art patron in a museum. We kept getting hushed as we rushed from one painting to another which only made us laugh harder.

Nearby was the Exploratorium, so we headed there next. There were so many hands-on exhibits, I didn’t know where to start. Luckily, Patrick did. He had a plan of attack to check out as many of the exhibits in optimal time. A science center is a place to see the world of science through the eyes of a kid. It was like
Disneyland
. So, it didn’t have the rides, characters, or fireworks, but it was fun in its own way. You could act like a kid, even if you weren’t, and no one looked at you funny. Besides,
Disneyland
’s rides and stuff wouldn’t exist without science, so, they were similar. Okay, that’s just another example of my unique logic.

Patrick called his sister to let her know where we were and what our plan was for the rest of the day. She was going to pick us up and hang out with us at the zoo. They both had zoo memberships. We still had over three hours before we had to be at the airport. So, even if we couldn’t see the entire zoo, we could check out a large part. And at the rate we were blazing through our tourist spots, it should be plenty of time. We were in the gift shop when Lindsey called to let us know she was outside the science center. The three of us headed to the zoo.

Lindsey, who was taking a photography class this semester, took
lots
of pictures. She took pictures of plants, animals, and people. She seemed to like taking candid pictures of people. She must have spent half the time at the zoo behind the lens. She had taken pictures of Patrick and me in those cutouts where you stick your face in the holes where the faces of characters should be. We each took turns behind the camera to take pictures of the other two behind the goofy poses of characters.

We visited many of the areas at the zoo. The African Savanna and
Penguin
Island
were two of my favorites. One of the cool things I had a chance to do was feed a giraffe. Patrick laughed when the giraffe drooled all over my hand and I made a face. It was very cool and very gross at the same time.

We took a little break at one of the zoo’s cafes. Patrick got in line to order for us, while Lindsey and I sat down at a nearby table. “So, how are the guys doing?”

“Guys?” I didn’t follow.

“Yeah, you know, the crew… Bobby, Jason, Tony and Kraig. How are they doing?”

“Good.”

“They’re good guys.”

“Yeah, they are.”

“Did you know them before?”

“Knew them a little. I had Bobby in history and math with Kraig last year.”

“What about Emily, Cassie and… Becca?”

“Doing ok.”

“Are you close with them? Sit with them during the games?”

“Not really. Well, with most of them – Tony, Kraig, Emily and Cassie. Becca usually sits with her friends, if she comes.”

Lindsey looked at me curiously, “Really? She doesn’t hang out with you guys at the games? Well, I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” She glanced back at Patrick, who was still in line. “I love my brother. I think he’s smart, funny, and kind. He always sees the best in people. But I really don’t get what he sees in her. I just don’t get it, but she seems to have him snowed or something. Or, he’s blind to it. I don’t know which.” She looked back at her brother. “We went to the San Diego Zoo last summer. Becca came with us. I don’t know which she did more – paw all over Patrick or try to kiss up to my parents. My parents were not impressed, they saw through her, always trying to be the center of attention. Like when we took pictures at the cutouts there, she didn’t want to do it. She got Patrick to focus on her by trying to convince her to get in the picture. She didn’t want to do it just because I suggested it. I don’t know why she came. She didn’t have any interest in seeing the animals, or even letting Patrick or the rest of us watch them. Anytime I talked to Patrick, she got all clingy, interrupted us, or tried to distract him… stuff like that.”

A look of disgust crossed her face. “Please! I’m his sister. Yeah, he didn’t see her games. You know guys, clueless. So, if she’ll play these games with me… you need to watch your back with her. I’m surprised they’re still together. We keep hoping he’ll come to his senses and see her for what she is.” She shook her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to unload on you.”

“That’s okay. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who noticed… how she is. I thought I was imagining it.”

“So, hey, what about you?” I looked blankly at her. I had no idea what she was talking about. “Any guys you’re interested in?”

“Nah. I’m not exactly looking at the moment.” The thought of it freaked me out. I couldn’t imagine dating a guy…

“What about Kraig?” Lindsey asked.

“He’s okay.” What did she want me to say?

“Are you going to the Winter Formal?”

“No.”

“Isn’t the rest of the crew going?”

“Most of them, I think. Tony is asking some girl from his history class.”

“And Kraig?” I got the feeling she was trying to play matchmaker.

Patrick arrived with our food. “Kraig? What about him?”

“Is Kraig planning on going to the dance?” Lindsey innocently asked him.

“Yeah, I think he is.” Patrick passed out the food that was on the tray.

“With anyone? Or stag?”

“Stag.” Patrick seemed to pick up on what Lindsey was going after.

“Maybe he could take Liz, so the whole crew is there.”

“That’s good idea.”

“I’m not looking for a date.” I finally got a chance to interrupt.

“No. Not a date.” Patrick reassured me as I shot him a pleading look. “I know you don’t want that.”

Did he? I would have thought that after today he would.

“No, just so that you have someone to hang out with at the dance.” Lindsey seemed to pick up my wish to not have a date right now.

“I think it would be great if you went. It’ll be fun.”

“Fun? I don’t think that tripping and falling while I attempt to dance constitutes fun.” I could just imagine making a fool of myself as I fell attempting to dance.

“You don’t have to dance, if you don’t want to. Just hang out.” Patrick smiled, “Do me a favor, come and save me the trouble of telling you what happened.”

I looked at him and smirked. He knew what words would make me comply,
do me a favor
. Patrick always did so much for me and never really asked much of me. Besides, there was something about how he asked… “Fine. Only if Kraig wants to. If he already had plans, then you can’t ask him to change them.”

“Oh yeah, of course.” He agreed.

“Seriously, Patrick. I don’t want to be fixed up, this is not a date and he needs to be clear on that. I don’t think of him that way.” I don’t think of
anyone
that way.

“I know. I know.” He put his hand on my arm. “Relax. Can I call him?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “Sure.” I looked at the fries on the table. “We need ketchup.” I got up to find the condiment area. Just because Patrick was going to call Kraig now, didn’t mean I had to sit and watch him do it.

From a short distance, I watched Patrick on the phone talking to Kraig. It was fine with me if Kraig didn’t want to go with me. I could just stay home, something I planned to do to begin with. But, I guess, part of me did want to go to the dance. I just didn’t want to go alone. Going stag with a friend would be okay. I could deal with that. I slowly counted out ketchup packets and walked back over to our table. Patrick just finished up his quick conversation with Kraig. Quick. Too quick? That could mean anything.

I sat down and dropped the ketchup on the table. “Well, that was fast. I didn’t really want to go anyway.”

“No, he said it was a great idea and he’d be happy to take you.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“As friends… right?” I wanted to be sure of that.