The Philadelphia Girl: Part One

Last summer, I was relaxing at home and watching some episodes of Daredevil. While I was watching Daredevil, I get a text message from my friend Brian. I take a look at it, and he asks me if I’m doing anything tomorrow. I have an answer, but I don’t respond yet because I’m in the middle of watching Daredevil. After I’m done watching Daredevil, I respond that I’m working, writing, doing homework, photographing, designing, drawing and editing some things tomorrow. So, I’m pretty much going to be busy tomorrow. Then, he texts me that it’s his birthday tomorrow, and he was trying to see if I could hang out with him. I kind of remember him telling me about his birthday, but I guess I technically forgot about it.

Before you prejudge me for not remembering my friend’s birthday, it’s important to note that he never told me when his birthday was and this was my first time hearing about it. He may have told me once or twice at a random time, but you honestly have to tell people more than once when your birthday is. Also, we were still in the early stages of our friendship and still rocking a solid six months together. How well do you really know someone in six months? It’s not like you can marry someone in six months, right? That’s just crazy, no offense to my mom and stepdad for getting married in six to nine months. I love them both will all my heart, but that’s just craziness to me. I don’t know how they could do that. I need at least a good year or so before marrying someone. I need to go through all the seasons with that person. I need to go through fall, spring, summer and especially the winter with them. I need to know that they can stand the rain and the snow with me. I need to know these things, and I need more than six months to find these things out.

Anyways, I tell my friend that I can definitely hang out with him on his birthday. I ask him where he’s trying to go, and he tells me that he was thinking about going to Burgatory at Waterfront at 6:00. We had our plans set, and I had hoped to meet some of my goals before hanging out with Brian.

It’s Friday, and I had to work from 6:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. I went home and tried to reach my goals, but it was to no avail. When it was around 6:30 p.m., Brian was wondering where I was at because I had promised to pick him up. I ended up losing track of time, and I texted him that I was on my way. I was finishing up on a poster design that I was working on for a summer graphic design class. When I finished it, I headed out and went to pick up Brian. I picked Brian up, and I wished him a happy birthday. He was happy to hear this. He gets in the car and lets me know that we’re meeting one of his friends, Mike, at Burgatory. I tell him it’s cool, and I start driving us to Burgatory.

As we were driving to Burgatory, I noticed a certain smell coming from him. I looked over at Brian and noticed that he was chill and smiling a lot. So, I ask him, “Bro, are you high?”

He was like, “Yeah man, I had to hit this blunt before you picked me up. Man, I was smoking a lot today. I don’t know how much, for real, for real.”

He started laughing, and I couldn’t help but join him in laughter.

Then, he started talking about this girl that he’s been liking for months. I know her, and I’m good friends with her. He was telling me that she’s been working a lot and didn’t seem to want to talk to him. They still had a streak on Snapchat, but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted more from her, but I could tell that she wasn’t trying to give him what he needed. So, I tell him that maybe he should consider just being friends with her or letting her go because it didn’t sound like she was interested. However, he’s hopeful that they can work things out and be together. He still talks about how they’re connected, and how he’s never met a girl like her before. I thought to myself that it was kind of sweet that he wanted to be somewhat patient for her. At the same time though, he’s been trying to talk to this girl for months, even before she was extremely busy with her life. Sadly, it was time for him to wake up and smell the roses because they just weren’t meant to be. Nevertheless, I don’t say this to him because it’s his birthday, and I don’t want to hit him with tough love. He would have to find out for himself the hard way.

When we make it to the Waterfront, I miraculously find an open parking spot near Burgatory. Brian and I head over to Burgatory, and I get to meet Mike.

Brian introduced me to Mike, and Mike tells us that it’s just going to be a 15-minute wait. As we’re waiting to be called, Mike immediately laughs because he notices that Brian is high. Brian tells Mike that he’s been smoking a lot today, and we all just burst out laughing. Then, w start talking about DC and Marvel comics. Also, we get into Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, Titans coming on the DC streaming service, Avengers: Infinity War and so much more. It was refreshing to talk to someone about superheroes and debating about what’s going to happen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and DC Universe.

Twenty minutes later, we end up getting a table at Burgatory. As we’re all sitting down, Mike and I are still debating Marvel topics. Brian is just high and in his own little world. Mike had his back turned at me because he had to talk Brian about something, when this girl came from behind me and placed a folded piece of paper next to me. I turned around, and she had disappeared like she was the Flash or something. I was so perplexed and confused.

I turned back around to my table, and Mike was still trying to talk to Brian. I say trying because it didn’t look like he was all there. I looked at the folded piece of paper and opened it. It read, “My friend thinks you’re cute.”

The statement was followed by a phone number and x’s and o’s.

This is the end of “The Philadelphia Girl: Part One.”

Thank you for reading “The Philadelphia Girl: Part One.” Be sure to like, share and comment your thoughts on this story.

This will be a four-part story, and I will be sharing part two of “The Philadelphia Girl” on Thursday.