The Bucket List

e i g h t e e n

"Don't you have anything appealing in your closet?" Daniel asked as he goes through my wardrobe. I leaned on my bed as I watched him push through each shirt aggressively. I wasn't fussed with him going through my clothes considering that all my underwear was in a drawer under my bed. All Daniel was looking at was my dresses, shirts, and pants.

"They're all the clothes Mia bought me," I stated.

"Mia has terrible taste in clothes," he mumbled. And you didn't? He pulled out a dress and showed it to me. I shook my head casually and he groaned, putting it back on the hanger. That was the third dress he picked that I didn't like.

Today was the day I was going to meet his parents and I was dreading it. I was browsing through the internet on 'how to act when meeting your friend's parents for the first time'. The advice was basic and obvious. There was nothing I could go by and the fact I didn't know much about parents other than where they lived and what they looked like, didn't help. Daniel hinted they were hard to impress. Actually, he didn't hint. He made it blatantly clear that they were difficult to impress. That only made me more nervous.

"If your dad likes me from the award ceremony, shouldn't I just dress up the way I usually dress? They like me, not the taste of your friends," I pointed out.

I thought I made a good point, but Daniel glared at me. I smiled innocently and he groaned. "Fine, pick out your own clothes but don't pick out anything lame," he said and leaves the room.

I sighed as I stood up and approached my wardrobe. I pulled out a few basic clothes like a white blouse and blue jeans. Once changed, I tied my hair up in a loose bun and wore black studs. I left the room and walked into the lounge room where Daniel was waiting.

"How's this?"

Daniel turned to me. He observed me from head to toe expressionlessly. He sucked in the inside of his cheek and tilted his head to the side. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

"Simple," he commented.

"And lovely," I added.

"And bland."

My expression dropped. "Well, Google told me that this is an appropriate outfit to wear when meeting your friend's parents," I said, emphasising the Google. "Have you ever introduced a friend to your parents liked before?"

"No," he replied as though I was accusing him of murder.

"Then don't question Google," I crossed my arms.

Daniel wanted to protest but stopped himself. "Whatever. Let's go," he suggested. It was almost twelve. I was nervous about meeting his parents. I looked at him and my heart was taking its time to reach one beat.

"Alright, let's go."

I followed Daniel out of my apartment and headed across the hallway to his. He opened the door and walked in. But I stopped, looking at the frame as though it would close on me at any moment. I took a deep breath and walked inside...walked inside my first friend's home. Well, he wasn't my first friend, but official friend after five years if I didn't count Kyle.

"Dad, mum, I'm home!" Daniel called out.

I watched as Daniel took off his jacket and threw it on the couch. The structure of the apartment was almost identical to mine. The foyer of the apartment led into the lounge room, with the kitchen on the right corner and beside it was the dining able. On the left, there was another corridor that led to the bathroom and three bedrooms, or two bedrooms and study.

The apartment was spacious, like ours. But the colour scheme was different. Ours was mostly dark brown, with off-white and dark marble whereas the colours here was much brighter with light brown, blue and white. Bright and kind. The complete opposite of Daniel.