Manifesting

Chapter 3

Hugo is looking at me with disapproval. He whispers: “Where are you going?”
He knows something's up when I wear high-waist denims instead of my infinite collection of kaki shorts.
“I need to sort out a few things. There's food and water in your bowl. See you later.”
“See ya.”
I close the door behind me. Devon's wrecked car is in front of me. He's wearing sunglasses even if it's dark already. He probably doesn't want anyone to see him with me.
I run towards the front seat, but the door is locked. He tells me to sit in the back.
“Thank you, taxi.”
“I don't want to be recognised with you.”
“Why? You think people would say you're gay too?”
He stays silent and speeds through the streets of my neighborhood.
“I mean, you're not scared of being around Matt, though.”
“Matt is cool.”
“And I'm not?”
We stop at a red sign. Devon looks around.
“You're cool in a weird way. Art freak and all that shit, you know.”
“Damn, didn't know we went back to the Breakfast Club era.”
“What?”
“Nothing, keep driving.”
“By the way, this event is private. So you won't sit with us.”
“Because I'm not cool, mean girl?”
“No,” he says, annoyed, “because you didn't win a full-ride at Willowbrook. You realise this is a ceremony, right?”
“So... am I like sitting with your parents or..?”
The car stops in front of a fancy Italian restaurant. Devon throws me some clothes that were folded on top of the front seat.
“You're a waiter for tonight. Ask for Ricardo when you get in.”
“Are you serious?”
He turns around and looks at me: “Deadass.”
As he gets rid of his sunglasses and asks me to leave his car before him, I realise that I paid him fifty bucks for working for free. I don't understand if I'm dumb or if he's a genious. Probably both.
I rapidly change clothes, still on his car. I can see Devon's eyes on my pot belly and love handles. I blush.
“Man, did you lose weight or something?”
“What?”
“Nothing. Get dressed and get the fuck out, I don't want to be late.”
His eyes tighten, he's confused. As I put the uniform's trousers on, still sitting on the back of the car, I notice my love handles are half as big as they were last night.
Well Devon, I am questioning reality too at the moment.