Space and Time

Simultaneously High and Low Amplitude

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

Dad's just looking at me innocently. No, that's not gonna fly.

I think he's realized that he can't trick me. "You are so tight sometimes, Aika. How are you my daughter?" he sighs.

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 and smile. "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 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 twenty 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 face is all red 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 must 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.

"Ok, 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 CD exchange."

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

"Okay," 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.

"You got me... shoelaces?"

"LED shoelaces."

"These things glow?!"

"Yep." Takumi's mouth is literally hanging open. "I also got you matching nerd glasses –"

"I got you the nerd glasses," Dad interrupts proudly.

"Ok fine, Dad got you these glasses with built-in reading lights for your nerd studies, and we also splurged on this t-shirt." Dad pulls the t-shirt out of the bag, as if on cue. "It displays the current time in shining LED lights, right in the center of your chest. Everyone at parties will stick near you for that."

"You're assuming no one sticks around me normally."

"Well, she's not wrong," Alex says with a mischievous grin. Yes, gang up on my brother with me! "With this whole get-up I think you can replace our actual dance floor spotlight."

Takumi ignores Alex. Aw, that's no fun. At least Jay and Lily are chuckling. He knows I'm hilarious, he's just being proud.

"I went for the whole electrician theme," I explain. Man, do they have the coolest tech online nowadays. "They do stuff with lights sometimes, right?"

"You... definitely went all out on the theme," Takumi laughs. "Thanks, these are actually awesome." I give him my biggest grin in return.

"Yo, what colour do the shoelaces glow?" Jay asks as he shuffles closer to Takumi.

"Green for go," I answer for him.

"Because we believe in your ability to really go places in the future," Dad adds seriously.

"Pfft, sure." Despite his sarcasm, Takumi gives me and Dad quick hugs.

"All right, now it's time for your family to stop embarrassing you and leave you to your shenanigans," Dad says after he checks his watch. Speak for yourself, Dad, Takumi's friends love me. "Call me when the movie is over and we can finish off the day with some cake at the house."

"So don't fill yourself with too much popcorn," I add. Lily nods solemnly and gives me a thumbs up. Takumi gives a quick "Will do" before we begin to quickly clean up. I assume we'll take these gifts in to the car instead of leaving them with Takumi.

I also assume he likes store-bought cheesecake. I hope he likes store-bought cheesecake. I thought it was some vanilla-white chocolate thing until we got to checkout. It's fine, right?

"Hey." Oh, speak of the devil. I thought he went in already. "You look like a deer in headlights." I give my brother a glare. "Uh, what I meant to say was thanks for this really chill birthday day," he says. "And for the gifts. I really appreciate it. See you later." He waves and leaves before I get the chance to respond, but I'm feeling a little brighter now.

You're welcome, little bro. And thanks, Evren and friends.