Energizer

three

I met Elana at her place for dinner later that evening. Neighbor man was nowhere in sight. I think the moving truck just dropped a few things off and then left.
"Elana, I need advice. I really do. How do I talk to this hot guy without.." I stuck out my pointer finger.
"One, sounding super gay.." My middle finger soon joined.
"Two, being a complete arrogant asshole like I am."

I could tell Elana was mentally and emotionally drained, and the last thing she wanted to do was listen to me whine and complain about my problems with a man moving in down the street. 
"Well, If I were in your shoes, I would go up and ask if he needs help unpacking," She shrugged, and I immediately shot that one down.
"Gay. Gay as fuck," I said while shaking my head, my lips pushing together in disapproval.
Elana rolled her eyes, "You're just picky. That's not gay as fuck. Gay as fuck would be dropping your pants in the middle of the driveway and making him suck you off," She looked serious despite the fact I knew she was joking. Her thought made me laugh, and I nodded, agreeing.
"Besides that, what else do you think I should do? I just want the first impression to be a good one, so he doesn't shy away from me like everyone else on the street does. It would be nice to have a neighborhood friend, a friend who is super hot," I said. Briefly after that, I remembered his first impression of me was getting "friendly" with Dominic. I decided to push that one to the back of my mind. My first impression with this new neighbor will be when I go and introduce myself to him.
Then, Elana gripped my shirt, tugging it, "Ari, you idiot! His first impression was of you sucking lips with Dominic!"
My shoulders dropped, and my hands reached up to rub my forehead. It's like she could read my mind.
"He probably thinks I'm some sorta whore. He probably wants nothing to do with me already," I sighed.
"No, silly, he doesn't even know you yet. He probably thinks you're in a relationship. This is all just stuff that he observed while walking. Maybe he likes that kind of, oh you know, lip sucking stuff. OH, and you don't even know HIM yet either! What if he's straight! Maybe he meant for it to be a joke or something. Ari, come on, you're a great guy," Elana pleaded while expression became somewhat concerned and upset.
She patted my back, swiftly entering the kitchen to take the casserole she was having for dinner out of the oven.

"I- I don't know, Elana. I'm not that great. It's almost been a week and I still haven't talked to my parents," I regrettably said. My fingers gently massaged my forehead, and I hoped the headache I felt brewing would just pass over like a bad storm.
"Oh, and I also let Dominic do all that stuff just to back away when that stupid neighbor walked past my house."
Elana entered the dining room with two plates, one sliding in front of me. The smell was enough to make my stomach sound like a new world war was forming. I haven't touched food all day.

"Eat your food and be quiet. If you really want to hit things off with neighbor guy, I'll send some more fruit salad home with you. Just give it to him and apologize for the other day. See what happens from there. You can even say you made it, I mean if you want to say that." Elana's smile was warm, but I was still focusing on the bags under her eyes and the knots in her hair.
"You look pretty beat," I blurted out.
"Way to change the subject. I've been trying to do a lot at once lately. Help you, help cousin Maria, edit journalism entries, make sure everything with my parents is okay, feed poor Lily Cat her medicine twice a day," Elana took a quick break for air, pointing to her poor obese cat, continuing, "And finally, I've been trying to keep up with myself."
I studied her expression like the un-certified doctor I was, "Maybe you should get some rest. I'll finish up, grab some salad, and leave when I'm done. Even do the dishes, maybe."
Elana's face lit up just a bit.
"You'd do that? What has gotten into you?"
I smiled, going in for a second bite of the beautiful casserole in front of me.
"I'm just practicing how to be nice for when I give the neighbor fruit salad and say, 'welcome to our shitty little neighborhood.'"
Elana giggled, continuing to eat her plate of casserole.
"I'll stay and keep you company Ari, don't worry. This is my house, after all."
I shrugged and continued chewing my food, "By the way, Elana, thank you. Thank you for staying with me even when I'm an asshole."
Elana's expression changed, and she looked like she was about to cry. She stood up, giving me a little hug over my shoulders since I was still sitting down. "I love you like a brother, Ari. I'm glad you can trust me, and I'll always be here when things start to go to hell."
"I appreciate that, Elana. I really do."
It felt nice having someone care for you, it really did. I stood up and wrapped my arms around Elana, hugging her tight.

"I'll get some salad together while you finish eating," Elana pulled away, heading back in towards the kitchen.
"Thank you for dinner," I said, bringing my empty plate into the kitchen, setting it into the sink. The clock said 8:30, and I started to yawn once I realized the time.
"It's so early but I'm so tired."

"Head home, and rest. Please let me know if you see him tomorrow," Elana handed me a tupperware container of fruit salad, as well as a separate container of casserole.
"Let me know how it goes," She smiled, heading towards the door with me.
"Don't worry, you'll be the first to know. Thank you again, Elana. You're awesome."

----

Getting home was the best feeling ever, as I started to fade quicker than normal. This never happens, so I simply blamed the recent events and my stupidity. 
My hand reached to turn the shower on, and I slowly dropped my clothes to the floor.
"Ah, fuck it," I mumbled.
The clothes were fine on the floor, they never made it to the hamper anyway. 
The water felt warm and soothing. Showers always calmed me down, the opposite of what everyone always says they do. I've tried showering in the mornings, but each time I end up falling back to sleep afterwards. 
Thinking during a shower is nice, too, and boy did I think a lot. 

Halfway into shampooing, My phone started to vibrate on the bathroom counter. 
"How convenient!" I yelled at my phone, as if it had feelings. In response, it vibrated its way into the sink. 
"Jeez, better not be important," I mumbled to myself.
Reluctantly, I shut the water off and pulled the curtain back, shaking out my hair like a wet dog. 
I dried off my hands and wrapped the towel loosely around my lower half, reaching for my phone. 
One missed call: Mom. 
"Of course," I mumbled.
Truth was, I was too tired to deal with anything. My problems were spread out in front of me like a deck of cards. My thoughts ran rapidly through my brain,
Apologize to parents, apologize to Dominic, introduce yourself to neighbor man, is neighbor man even gay, am I even gay? Yes, I'm gay you fucktard. Hey, who are you calling a fucktard? Oh, yourself. You, Ari, are a fucktard. But first, it looks like you and that dude were getting pretty friendly over there.
During this whole process, my eyes were staring into the empty sink, water dripping slowly and quietly onto the counter from my hair.
Man, you need to sleep was my final thought.

----

If you're reading, thank you! please hit the vote button to show your support!