Space and Time

Simultaneously High and Low Amplitude

Dad's absent-minded swinging of our gift bags for Takumi is making me dizzy. Dizzy enough to swat at him. "Don't break it all before he gets it!"

He just looks at me with 'innocent' wide eyes that I know are fake.

It only lasts a moment before he sighs. "You are so uptight sometimes, Aika. How are you my daughter?"

I shake my head at him. "Sometimes it feels like I'm the parent."

"Hey!" Dad lightly kicks my shin and pouts at me. I can't help but roll my eyes. "Oh, Takumi, is that Lily just out there?" he suddenly asks my brother.

Takumi stops talking to Alex and Jay. "Yeah, that does look like her."

"Is that the last of us?" I ask when Lily joins the guys inside the movie theatre's entryway.

"Yeah, let's go sit at one of those tables," Takumi replies.

We all grab a tiny round table near the arcade and place our gift bags on top of it. Takumi said his movie starts at 7, so we have 20 minutes or so until he and his friends go in.

"All right, well happy birthday, Takumi!" Dad exclaims. He starts singing Happy Birthday, which draws the attention of a few people nearby. I feel like burying my head in my sweater. Takumi looks about 100% done, too, but his friends are joining in on the singing.

God, they're finally done. That was worse than a funeral march.

Lily's giggling uncontrollably and both Alex and Jay are slapping Takumi's shoulders and teasing him. Man, am I glad I'm not the birthday boy.

"Okay, okay, thank you, can we move on, please?" Takumi's teeth are gritted from embarrassment. It makes me laugh; he doesn't usually let people walk all over him. This is a rare sight.

"Aw, but we didn't even sing How Old Are You Now!" Lily pipes up.

"Lily, I swear to God, I will stuff these movie tickets back down your throat if you do that."

"Language, Takumi!" Dad looks thoroughly affronted. "Those tickets are Lily's thoughtful gift; you should treasure them!"

Takumi looks about ready to hide under his chair. He might fall over if he leans back any further with this eye roll he's doing.

"Oh, but speaking of gifts, we really don't have that much time, so let's get to it," Jay says with a laugh as he grabs one of the gift bags from the middle of the table. I'm curious about what Takumi's friends got him. They probably know my brother better than I do. They could give me some ideas.

Takumi starts opening Jay's gift. There's a card inside which he tosses aside dramatically before Jay shoves it back at him with a mock-offended look.

"Oh, thanks Jay! This is great!" Takumi says when he finishes reading it. "I love gift cards." Damn, I should have listened to Faith. And I can't even see where the gift card is for.

"Ok, next, I made you this mixtape of your favourite tracks from our setlist," Alex says. Oh wow, that's super cool. And thoughtful.

"You're not supposed to tell me what it is before I open it," Takumi comments as he accepts what I assume to be a wrapped CD case.

"Listen, I can do what I want," Alex replies. "Also, I don't want your Dad to be suspicious of a disc exchange."

"Why would he be suspicious?" Takumi asks. Alex doesn't answer. No one says anything. I think we all know.

"Ok," I pipe up awkwardly, trying to change the subject. "Uh, here's the gift bag Dad and I came up with for you." Takumi raises his brows in anticipation. Dad and I don't usually give a joint gift.