I had the day off, so we got together at Barnes & Noble (the same store I once worked for) and spent the next hour and a half in the cafe. It was me, a guy named Trent and his wife, a guy named Paul and his brother Andrew, and some other nice guy whose name I can't remember.
Trent was nice enough to give me a ride (the rest of my family was out for the evening), and I figured the least I could do was reimburse him for gas money, so I gave him ten dollars. His missus said I didn't have to do this and I cleverly countered that they didn't have to do this for me. I won out.
I'd already had dinner but I still felt like grabbing a snack. We all decided to have a little nibble and so we went Dutch at the cash register. I got myself a yummy "Melted S'more Bundt Cake" and I had a hard time deciding between a strawberry and banana smoothie or a chocolate and banana smoothie. I ended up settling for chocolate and banana.
Trent's wife expressed her surprise that I had such a tiny plate; she needed a much bigger plate for her bundt cake because she was making such a mess. Somehow, I only spilled a few crumbs, and the smoothie was very refreshing.
Our meeting wasn't anything fancy. It's a writing group still in the very early stages, so we discussed how we could make this group a bit more refined and how we can better critique each other's work. I did show a few pictures and a few excerpts through my phone, and Paul and Trent said they remembered Terence's story. I came up with the idea clear back in 2005 (when I was 17) and everyone was amazed that such a project is still going strong.
I was told that I did great with dialogue, which is what I was also told in college. My professors and classmates alike complimented my use of dialogue more than anything else. I also remember being praised for my character development in a piece of writing I submitted to a contest, even though I didn't win. Under "Character Development," the judges gave me an 8 out of 10.
And since we were at Barnes & Noble, it was only natural that we did a bit of shopping before heading home. I meant to purchase only a writing journal but I couldn't help myself and ended up taking home three super-thick hardcover books along with two writing journals, including a "writing prompt" journal.
What were these big hardcovers?
Then Paul and Andrew offered us all a final treat in the parking lot, "courtesy of our mother."
My family beat me home and I managed to "smuggle" my new books into the house, meaning I got them safely to my room before my mom saw them. She doesn't disapprove of me hoarding books but she is starting to question where I'm gonna put them all.
I can't help it! I don't have too many books; I need a bigger bookshelf! I'll read them all, eventually, one day or another! And there are worse things to be obsessed with, right?
Trent even said there was nothing wrong with being a bookworm.
We also talked about which kinds of books we like best, and I mentioned that what appeals to me the most are fairy tales and mythology. My mates recommended Brandon Mull's Fablehaven and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, which I intend to check out anyway. I still have my order of the entire Fablehaven collection--still in its plastic wrap!
Paul and Andrew are more of the sci-fi type, and when they rambled for almost twenty minutes about an immortal character (at first, I thought Andrew said "amoral" and that sent everybody into quite a fit of laughter and wisecracks) in space and something about dwarf planets and the sun blowing up and what happens when something gets sucked into a black hole, I couldn't help saying, "Boy, all this science talk is making my brain hurt. This is why I prefer fantasy; you get to make up your own laws of physics!"
Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable night. I don't get to socialize that much and it's always good to hook up with people you used to share a classroom with.
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