Like Gold // Nate Maloley

[ twelve ]

Jaxon only came up once & that was when my father assumed something deeper was running between Nate and I. He thought we were on the verge of dating and I told him that I was with Jaxon. Even worse: this was my parents first time even learning of Jaxon's existence. I forgot to tell them. In my defense, our main form of communication had been texting. Maybe once a month, they'd Facetime me. I felt terrible but of course, Nate didn't seem to mind.

After brunch, my dad ventured off into the family room so he could watch football while Nate and I helped my mother bring all the dishes back inside.

"Don't worry about these," she said. "Show him around the house. I cleaned up good, don't let it go to waste."

"Uh," I looked around the floor. "Okay. Come on, Nate."

First I showed him the family room which really didn't have much to it. Dad had already tuned the world out, caught in his football hypnosis. Then I showed him the dining room which was never to be touched unless it was a holiday. Mom always kept plastic on the dining room chairs until then.

We went upstairs and I showed him everyone's room, saving mine for last. My door was just how I left it; my name spelled out in glittery lettered stickers & underneath was my Star Wars poster...the original film.

"Star Wars? Really?" He tried not to laugh.

"Excuse you, Star Wars is an excellent franchise. Well, minus the 3 movies with Queen Amidala, we don't talk about those. Still crucial to the storyline."

"I know, I just never pegged you for a sci-fi nerd."

"You have no idea." I opened the door with reluctance but was happy to see that my mother actually did clean my room.

I thought it would be full of storage like I last checked but I supposed she put all the excess junk in the garage. It was pure nostalgia. My telescope was still by my window, my lava lamp was dusted, my novels & old notebooks were still on the shelves above my desk. In the corner was my sheet music stand. My mom didn't even pack away my old clothes & I was considering taking some old t-shirts with me.

"Does this still work?" Nate moved around my telescope.

I laughed. "It's a telescope, it's not battery operated. Of course it does."

"So...this is your room. It's dope."

"Spent a lot of time in here. Never had much of a social life in high school, didn't get invited anywhere. My friends were hermits just like me & they'd come over to watch movies."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that."

He slowly moved around my room some more. I could tell he intentionally bumped into the door so it could close a little more.

"What's all the notebooks for?" He nodded upward as he sat down on my bed. I immediately sat down in my desk chair.

"I used to sketch," I exhaled. "Been a long time since I did any of that though."

"Lemme see."

"...Okay. Well not these on the shelf, my better ones are in the drawer. Let me just.." I opened the second drawer on my desk and rummaged through all the junk I used to throw in there. Finally finding my main purple notebook, I took it out and turned on the desk lamp.

He got up and stood next to me as I turned through the pages; viewing sketch after sketch of Marvin the Martian, Powerpuff Girls (mainly Buttercup), and even some failed attempts at self portraits.

"These are pretty good," he grinned. "You should draw my next tattoo."

"Probably won't," I bashfully said. "I don't put myself on that high of a pedestal."