It was finally Saturday, blessed Saturday. It hadn’t been that bad at work, but he felt mentally drained, so much that he didn’t remember what had happened in the book he had been reading the night before. Ever since visiting his family, Elias had this tugging feeling in his chest. He suddenly felt like that time when he was five years old, going to school for the first time.

Of course most kids are awkward on their first day of school, but some quickly move past that and are able to talk and play normally. On the other hand, he remembered being left alone in that big classroom with colorful decorations all about. Even at the tender age of five, he knew the reasons why the other kids didn’t near him. He was different.

They had small eyes with dark irises, he had bigger, clear hazel eyes. They had black straight hair, he had curly and caramel brown hair. And the biggest wall of all, he didn't speak the same language they did. Needless to say, he felt out of place. And now, twenty years later, he was feeling as lost and alone as back then.

Again.

Laying in bed, he suddenly felt an unbearable weight over his lower stomach, knocking the air out of him. His eyes darted open, and he saw the all too familiar face of his friend straddling him. Jaime smiled widely, sporting a brown wig that seemed to match his own curly mess.

“Jamie, get off.” Elias groaned, reaching for a pillow and throwing it over his face.

“Come on, Elly! I woke up early so we could have breakfast together!” Jamie jumped over him, pumping any air Elias could manage to take in right out. “Besides.” He stopped. “I want to make it up to you… I couldn’t go with you on wednesday…"

Slowly, Elias pulled away the pillow from his face, looking at his friend’s dejected expression. He let out a sigh, looking at the ceiling for a moment. “Alright, I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Yay!” Jamie jumped once more, causing Elias to huff loudly. The boy proceeded to jump off the bed and skipped to the door, where he turned and his skirt twirled, as he spinned. “I made bacon and hash brown so you better hurry!”

Yeah, no wonder people thought they were together.

Elias sat at the edge of his bed, pushing his hair back from his face and he got a rather blurry view of his legs. It had been a while since he dreamt of his days as a kid, so he was actually thankful to Jamie for waking him up, even if it had been abruptly. He stood up and went to his bathroom, where he washed his face and placed his glasses over his nose. Blurry sight no more.

He slipped into a pair of jeans that were just laying on his room’s floor, which he usually kept tidy. But his state of mind had not been the right one to even allow him to either put away his clothes or throw them in the laundry. He would organize his stuff later…

Going down the stairs, Elias was faced with the amazing aroma of his breakfast. His plate looked like one of those restaurant dishes on a menu that ended up not looking like it at all once it reached your table. Two well done sunny side up eggs with crispy edges, golden hash brown on the other half of the plate, along with still sizzling bacon and thumb-sized sausages. To the right of his plate, was a mug with steaming milk coffee.

“You spoil me too much.” Chuckled Elias as he sat down.

“Nonsense. We have the perfect symbiotic relationship. We give and take equally. Today I’m simply returning.” Jamie plopped on the chair opposite of Elias, his plate the same as his friends, but a glass of apple juice replacing the mug of coffee.

“I really don’t know what you’re returning.” Elias scoffed.

“Shut up and just eat.” Jamie pointed his fork at him.

“Itadakimasu*.” Elias clapped his hands together and started eating.

“Itadakimasu!” Jamie repeated after Elias. “You really need to teach me more japanese.”

“I tried teaching you.” Said Elias after swallowing. “And it’s not like I’m an expert. Just ask mom.”

“... Speaking of mom. Did something happen?”

Elias stopped the fork that headed for his mouth, letting it down gently before sighing. “Not really.” He poked at his food. “You know how I get when I go alone.”

“I really am sorry I couldn’t go with you…”

“It’s not your fault.” Elias shrugged. “It was actually pretty nice.” He laughed. “I’m just weird like this.”

There was a moment of silence while they both ate. Jamie kept looking at the man in front of him, eating slowly, staring at the remaining food on his plate. It had been almost three days since the dinner at the Rodriguez’s house and his friend was still affected by it when it usually took him a day to recover.

“Hey, how about we visit Mia today!” Jaime suggested.

“Doesn’t she have work today?” Elias looked up from his food, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s what I mean! What if we drop by at her work later today?”

“Do you even know where she works?”

“She told me the name of the place the other day. A quick search online and I’ll have the address in no time!” Jaime took out his phone, as if it was one of the seven world wonders.

“So we’re just going to drop by without telling her? Since when are you two such good friends? You met a week ago.” Elias laughed.

“We just bonded.” Jamie shrugged, scrolling on his phone. “Bet you two haven’t even reached the level of sending cat memes to each other yet. Well, we are.” Jaime smirked.

“Teach me your ways in social interactions, oh wise master Jamie.” Elias bowed his head, his voice with a tinge of sarcasm, which Jaime ignored.

“Wise Master Jamie, I like the sound of that.”

“Pff, you idiot.”

“Anyway!” Jamie shoved his phone on Elias’ face. “Found the place. They open ‘till 6pm. Wanna do something meanwhile?”

“First.” Elias raised his fork. “I’d like to finish my breakfast.”