Standing Up to Life

Chapter 5:

"I'm doing well, how are you Mrs. Hancock?" I replied politely.

"Tired. It was a long day. Say, I'm going to order pizza for dinner, do you want to stay and eat with us?" She asked me.

I looked at Amy, she was nodding at me vigorously, so I answered, "Sure, just let me call my mom and let her know that I'm staying for a while longer."

After I called her I sat down and talked with Amy some more. Her mom joined us a few minutes later and told Amy her dad was on the way home. "Brandon, I like your hair, it looks really nice."

"Thanks." I replied to her. We continued talking for a while and then she told Amy to take me upstairs to wash up. She showed me where her bathroom was, connected to her room (I was so jealous), and we both washed our hands before returning downstairs. Her dad and the pizza arrived at almost the same time.

Dinner with Amy's family was fun. Period. End of story. She had such a neat set of parents, and I had a great time at dinner that night. Her parents definitely seemed to like me. Something that became apparent a few minutes later.

Amy's father asked me, "Brandon do you like to ski?"

"Yeah, the few times I've been able to go I loved it. I just haven't been able to go that many times." I said. I was kind of curious as to why he was asking.

"Well how would you like to go with us this weekend? It'll be our treat."

"Really? Are you sure?"

Her dad nodded, and Amy said, "You have to come! It'll be so much fun!"

"I'd love to, but I'll have to ask my parents first. I don't think they'll say no, but I do have to ask." I said.

"Fantastic." We all talked for a while longer before I decided I should probably go home. Amy went with her mom to drop me off at home. Mrs. Hancock talked to my parents for a few minutes and they said yes to me going with them. My parents offered to pay for my lift ticket and food, but she flatly refused saying, 'it was their treat.' We all thanked her and I said goodnight to Amy as she got in the car.

"Amy thanks for inviting me over, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Thanks!"

"No problem Brandon, I feel the same way. I'm looking forward to seeing you Friday. Goodnight!"

With that ended one of the best days I had ever had with a friend to that point. I couldn't have had more fun than I did that day!

My mom took me to a used sporting goods store Tuesday to see if we could find some ski pants. We found a pair of black pants that fit pretty well for a good deal so Mom bought them. To say I was excited and looking forward to the trip was to understate the matter a great deal. I had been able to go skiing a total of three times before this – all on school trips.

That actually had me a little worried. I knew that Amy and her family went skiing a lot during the year. Would she be upset with slowing down to hang out with me? Or would she just leave me in her dust and all alone on the slopes? To say the least I was suffering with some insecurity issues. I managed to forget about that most of the time and just be excited.

I think my mom was really happy to see me smiling and looking forward to something. Things had improved a lot at school – but only to the point that I was only crying about twice a week when I came home. At least that was down from every day...

AMY AND I talked quite a bit over the phone each day leading up to Friday. I found out that I was going to be sharing her room at the condo since she had a set of bunk beds in there. "Prepare yourself for a talk by Dad though," she warned me. She had told him we were just good friends, but she knew that he would still end up saying something to us.