It's Christmas time and the school idol group µ's have reunited for one epic tour across the United States!
Meanwhile, introverted record store owner Oliver Shelby travels to New York City with his friends to celebrate the holidays, when he suddenly...
Meanwhile, living within the crowded streets of New York City lived a 16-year-old boy named Alex Harlow. Sporting rough and curly-like hair, colored a bit of black by his forehead, and the rest of it blonde, usually found in casual T-shirts, and sporting headphones during his subway commutes to school.
Like Oliver, Alex has his own major challenges to face during the Christmas season. In this case; applying for every college nearby his hometown, and simultaneously applying for part-time jobs to fund his tuition fees (and partly his own ever-growing vinyl collection.) Over the past few weeks, Alex has anxiously waited for answers from the biggest universities in America; from Harvard to Oxford, hoping and praying that one of them will accept him as a brand new freshman.
And one night, Alex and his family gathered by a local outdoor restaurant to celebrate an after-wedding reception; around this time, his father Richard's co-worker recently tied the knot with his newlywed. Amidst a series of karaoke songs, toasts and funny stories, Richard couldn't help but feel a sense of nervousness hiding behind his own son's calm and relaxed demeanor.
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During a slow dance session with all the reception's guests, Richard went on to call for his son.
"Can I have a minute with you for a bit?" Richard asked Alex, who got up from his seat to follow Richard away from the reception.
The two had a slow, casual walk away from the gleefully dancing guests to have a conversation to themselves.
"So any news from the applications lately?" Richard curiously asked his son.
"Not much, sadly..." Alex replied. "It's kinda sad because I've spent all this time looking for a university; and I've still yet to get a word from Harvard. I haven't even gotten anything for my job applications."
"I mean, at least you regularly check your e-mails, right?" Richard asked. "You should probably try e-mailing them for follow-ups every now and then."
"I did..."Alex answered. "And again, I still got nothing from them."
"Ah..." Richard scoffed as the two continued to walk around the place. "Well, you can always call them up too. We have a telephone at home---now would be a good time to use that thing, no?"
Alex sighed as the two suddenly stopped walking around to face each other. "Listen, dad..." He sadly tells him, as he scratches the back of his long, curly hair.
"I've been waiting for answers for an eternity...and even with all that's said and done, I still don't even know if I'm ready for all of this..." He continues in a doubtful tone. "I'm halfway through finishing senior high school, and honestly, I just don't know what's gonna happen to me once that's dealt with. Am I gonna move away from Harlem once I get accepted in Harvard or something? Because if that's the case, I doubt I'll even have time for any of you guys anymore---let alone myself!"
Richard, emitting his big dad energy, smiled and rested his palm on Alex's left shoulder.
"Alex..." Richard calmly responds, before taking a quick breath. "You probably should know this by now, but we're still here for you no matter what. For what it's worth, you're not the only Harlow facing serious problems in the family; your brother's been trying to make friends with his fourth grade students for months now!"
"Yeah, but he quotes and references movies all the time..."Alex looks away from his dad. "I don't even know if he'll get that many friends with that kind of behavior."
"I'm sure he'll find a way to work with that, though." Richard responds. "But my point here is---even if it sounds cliché and it's been told to children over a million times; we're still your family, no matter what, even if your mom hasn't been around for a very long time. Look at me: I've been the one taking care of the two of you for more than six years! And here I am, still standing strong. No matter where you're going for college, I'm sure your Mom would be hugely proud of you."
"I just really wish Mom were here right now, actually." Alex grew sadder as she got brought up. "It's been six years, and I can still only talk to her through the DM's. I just hope she's doing alright...I just miss her so much, Dad." He slightly shook his head.
"Yeah, me too..." Richard whispered, patting his son's shoulders some more and nodding his head. "Anyway, I gotta get back to my table. Hope you find a way to deal with all this." He then tells his son before walking back to the reception.
"Thanks, Dad..." Alex silently whispers as he looks onto the trees and mountains from afar.
His dad briefly looks back on his so with a smile before returning to his seat with Alex's brother, as muffled dance music and the guests' laughs contrastingly surrounds Alex, as he struggles with his highly uncertain future.
