Some Things Never Change [SHAWN MENDES]

April 23, 2017

We'd just finished Sunday dinner with the Burroughs, which was doubling as a goodbye meal since I was flying to Europe the following day to kick off my Illuminate tour.

"Before we have dessert," I said as I stood up, "I have something for you guys."

I went to the hall closet to retrieve a large shopping bag full of my new tour merch.

"I thought you'd like this," I told Eric as I handed him a black hoodie with an outline of the Toronto skyline.

"Awesome!" Eric said as he immediately pulled it over his button down shirt.

"I thought this was more you," I explained as I gave Lisa the putty gray t-shirt representing two of my songs.

"This is perfect since I love both 'Roses' and 'Ruin' so much!" she gushed.

Then I pulled a selection of shirts, hoodies, and shorts and placed them on the table in front of Ceci. "I couldn't decide, so I got you pretty much everything."

"Oh my god, you overly generous dork!" she said as she started looking at each item. "This totally made it worth ditching my physics study group tonight!"

"You didn't tell us about that!" Lisa said.

Ceci waved her hand dismissively. "I've got a 97 in the class. No need to worry. And of course I'd be here to send my bestie off since I'm not flying to Europe in June to see him perform like all of you are."

"Someone is bitter," Eric joked.

"Not at all. I'm sure studying for finals will be way more fun that whatever you guys do in London," she retorted before sticking out her tongue.

"Name a concert that you can attend and I'll fly you to it," I told her.

"I'm taking summer courses, but I'll be at your Toronto concert, probably screaming my head off."

If our parents and my sister weren't sitting right there, I would have suggested another thing that sometimes made her scream. We'd gotten together quite a few times while I was home, often at a hotel right off campus. It was less stressful than having to sneak into her dorm room and we could be as loud as we wanted. And sometimes we were pretty vocal.

My mum got up and took the chocolate cream pie I'd requested out of the fridge while Ceci put her gifts back in the bag.

"Are you still house hunting?" Lisa asked once we were all served dessert.

"I haven't had any luck finding something I love, but thankfully I know a realtor who can keep looking while I'm gone," I replied.

"It's a good thing I like having an excuse to go into the city," my mother said.

The topic shifted to how Aaliyah's hockey team had finished out their season. When we were done eating, Ceci and I cleared the table and loaded up the dishwasher, since my dad said he'd take care of all the pots and pans.

"Wanna go for a drive?" I whispered to her while we worked side by side.

"A drive, eh?"

I smiled at her. "I have a plan. Just follow my lead."

We finished up and went into the living room where our parents were having a glass of wine.

"Ceci and I are going to go drive around Pickering taking pics of me at some of my favorite places. I thought it would be cool to share them with my fans," I told them.

"What a cute idea!" Lisa said.

"Try not to make the places too identifiable," my dad suggested. "Your crazier fans might start camping out at them when you're back home, with hopes of meeting you."