I check my phone to see Mario is running a few minutes late because he got caught up packing for his flight. I was thinking about spending the night at his place, but he’s taking off really early, and I know how important rest is to him. Thankfully we got to scratch some itches while my parents were working yesterday afternoon.
“I’m starving,” Samantha says.
“Hot dog?” Dylan asks, pointing at the vendor on the corner.
“Maybe a pretzel,” she says.
Dylan approaches the cart. “My good man, what’s your pretzel rate?”
“Why are you talking like that?” the vendor asks.
“So you don’t mistake me as a tourist.”
“You sound like a tourist.”
“From where?”
“The past.”
Dylan glares. “How much for the pretzel? My woman is starving and I need to put food on the table.”
“Five dollars.”
“I see. And after I hand over my main man Lincoln, will you be immediately arrested for your crimes?”
The two lock into a staring contest. Samantha and I roll our eyes.
“Four dollars,” Dylan haggles.
“Five.”
“Four dollars plus a dollar for a soda.”
“Seven.”
Dylan leans in. “You’re embarrassing me in front of my woman. Come on, one family man to another. Help me out.”
“You’re a child.”
“How dare you? I have a beard.”
Samantha steps in with a five-dollar bill. “One pretzel, please.”
The vendor takes her cash and hands her a pretzel. “Have a great evening.”
Samantha takes a huge bite, mumbles her thanks, and walks off.
Dylan glares. “Enjoy prison, man.”
We catch up with Samantha, who is devouring her pretzel. She goes on about how they’re so much better than the ones on campus, and Dylan jumps in about his favorites （chicken tenders, pepperoni pizzas, beef patties） and the banes of the cafeteria （hot dogs, fries, tacos）。 I have nothing to add to this conversation, which is great since I’m focusing on tonight.
Still waiting on Arthur and Mario.
No, correction: Mario and Arthur. Mario comes first these days. I think about him when I wake up. I hope he’s behind every text. I would cancel on everyone else to hang out with him. I get that I should make more time for Arthur while he’s in town, but his trip isn’t based around hanging out with me. It wasn’t the case back then and it won’t be this time either.
Then Arthur is the first person I see making his way through the crowds. I’m surprised he’s not holding Mikey’s hand, though it’s possible they got split up from all the foot traffic. Not seeing them all over each other is a good way to inch into this experience. But when Arthur turns to talk to someone, it’s not Mikey. It’s Jessie. I didn’t realize he was inviting Jessie, but that’s cool with me.
This is the same area where we met for our first first date.
“Hi!” Arthur says, beaming. “Wow. Dylan! Samantha!” He hugs them. “It’s so great to see you.”
“It’s even better to be seen by you,” Dylan says.
“Hey again,” I tell Jessie.
“Hey, hey.” Jessie kisses Samantha on the cheek. “I listened to the podcast you sent me. Hilarious.”
I like that Samantha and Jessie didn’t lose touch after our breakup. Things shouldn’t have to be complicated for them, too.
“Hey, Arthur.”
“Hey, Ben.”
We hug, but it doesn’t last long. That’s fine. Cool even. We already got the wow-great-to-see-you-for-the-first-time-in-two-years hug out of the way.
“Where’s Mario?” he asks.
“He should be here soon. He got caught up packing for his trip to LA tomorrow.”
“How long is he going to be gone?”
“A week.”
Here I am talking about Mario’s schedule to my ex-boyfriend.
I’ve got to stop only thinking about Arthur as my ex-boyfriend. He’s more than that. We’re friends. It doesn’t matter that he was the last person I loved. That was years ago.
“Hola hola hola hola,” Mario calls from behind me. He pinches my sides and hugs everyone he knows before introducing himself to Jessie. “I’m sorry I’m late, I was packing and—I’m here now.” Mario smiles at me and flicks the Puerto Rican flag on my shirt’s pocket and winks. “Nice shirt, Alejo.”
“Gracias.”