Thomas and Niko in the City of Trees

Chapter 18 - Part 1

Just like that, a wave of the magic wand and there's only two weeks left. I fly out on August 4th, a Sunday morning that will look just like this one. No need for a meteorologist to predict the weather around here. Sunny, hot, dry, repeat. Yesterday was a rest day for Thomas, so I didn't bother him much. Toward the end of the day we did start texting each other quite a bit, which amounted to a barrage of old inside jokes and stupid emojis that doesn't bear repeating here. But it left me missing him like crazy, in kind of a preemptive way, and I fell asleep in a pretty emotional state.

Now that a new day has dawned, I jump back in and ask what he's up to.

"Not sure," he says.

"Can I get a ride to the airport?"

He sends about fifty questions marks.

"I mean on the 4th. My mom says she can't. She asked if you could."

"What the fuck, don't scare me like that dude," he says. "Sure."

"Thanks."

"Fucked up that your mom doesn't want to be there though."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing dude."

I go pour myself some cereal. I'm doing everything as quietly as I can so I don't disturb my mom. As I eat, I sit there and watch some dumb shit on my phone. When I'm done, I text him again. "So can you hang out today?"

An entire hour later, he says, "I don't know, man. My dad has me helping clean the house. It's boring as fuck."

"Let me know if you want help."

He doesn't say anything back, which honestly doesn't bother me all that much. An hour or two later, I go on a run. I shower and then start thinking about what I'm going to pack, when the time comes. Early in the afternoon, I get another surprise text. This one is from none other than the OG herself, Ms. Nolan. It's written a little bit like an email, which people her age just love to do for some reason.

"Hello, Niko," it says. "I hope you've been having a great summer. I figured I would try and catch you before you leave for the Great White North. Time got away from from me, and now I find myself heading down to Nevada to visit my mother tomorrow morning. I'll be staying there for a couple of weeks. Is there any chance you're free for dinner at my house tonight? If so, let me know and I'll text you my address. I hope to hear from you."

I spend a couple minutes thinking about what to say, partly because it seems like such a bizarre thing to do all of a sudden—visiting a teacher at their home, eating a meal with them, the whole thing. Obviously I'm going to say yes. I just don't want my response to sound like complete trash.

"Hi Ms. Nolan," I type. "Yes, I'm free for dinner at your house tonight. Please let me know what time and where to be. I'll look forward to it."

She sounds happy in her reply. And just like that, I've got some evening plans that I couldn't have predicted in a million years. You should see me, standing in front of the mirror deciding what to wear, thinking about what kind of smart or clever conversations we might end up having. Anyway, you can bet I shut that shit down fast. Going into a situation with particular expectations in mind always seems to get me into trouble.

She lives in this small, well-kept house in kind of a shabby neighborhood off Maple Grove. It takes me about half an hour to walk there. I ring the doorbell and when she opens the door, she smiles in a very genuine way, tells me she's missed me and gives me a long hug. I'm pretty taken aback by that. As always, she's super quick with her movements. I see her brown eyes scan the street over my shoulder.