Acceptance

“Are you okay?” 

“No, I’m not.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t want to talk about it” 

“Come on. Tell me.” 

“Well, I lost a lot of money.” 

“Let me guess, gambling?” 

“Yeah, Kate’s gonna be furious with me.” 

“Of course she is. You promised her that you would stop this habit of yours.” 

“Stop reminding me. I’m already stressed enough as it is.” 

“Daniel, you brought this one on yourself. Now drink your spritzer.” 

“I told you; I hate spritzers.” 

“Well, I bought one for you. You should thank me.”

“No thank you.”

“Man you are as snarky as you were during kindergarten.”

“Don’t remind me of kindergarten. “ 

“Why? Oh yes, is it because of your favorite teacher Ms. Delfina?” 

“Don’t say the name of that fossil. She was too harsh on me. Mrs. Trumbull was nicer.” 

“Yep, I vaguely remember kindergarten however I do remember some things such as the time Max threw up.” 

“Oh yeah, I remember that. I felt embarrassed for him.” 

“Don’t all kids throw up or do something stupid during kindergarten?” 

“Of course, in every grade, you have to do something stupid. I remember my fair share of embarrassing moments. Man, I’m cringing right now!” 

“Hey, do you want to go to Red Robin?” 

“Can you pay since you know. . .” 

“Yep since you are flat-out broke, but don’t get anything expensive on the menu.” 

“I promise.” 

*

“The music here is pretty cheesy don’t you think, Dan?” 

“Not really, you think One Direction is cheesy?” 

“Um. . .yeah. Anyways, what are you going to get?” 

“Maybe a burger, don’t know. Although, I may have the wings here. They look good. “

“They do. How many?” 

“4 I think.” 

“For how much?” 

“8.00.” 

“What the!” 

“Too expensive?” 

“Yeah! For 4 wings. We might as well eat at Olive Garden then.” 

“Restaurants these days are getting expensive. Especially grocery stores. Have you seen the prices of eggs at Walmart?” 

“Yeah, pretty ridiculous. Can’t even go to Walmart without exiting the store spending $200.”

“Me too, I didn’t even get a lot of things and it came up to $180.” 

“Sheesh. Anyways, do you want the wings?” 

“I mean, you don’t want to buy them.” 

“It’s fine. Although, I do want you to stop gambling for god’s sake. It’s as if you do this every day on purpose so you can buy off of me. . .wait, is that what you are doing?” 

“No, of course not! I just have a filthy habit, that’s all. I need to stop.” 

“I can help you, you know?” 

“I know you can. Either way, Kate’s gonna be so furious.” 

“I feel bad for you buddy, but at the same time, I don’t. However, I have seen Kate get angry and my lord, I’m surprised she hasn’t fainted.” 

“Haha, I know. Her cheeks get puffy red and she suddenly turns into Tinker Bell.” 

“Exactly. Oh, the waiter is coming. Yes, I would like a Sprite.” 

“I would like a Coke.” 

“Man, they took their sweet time in order to ask for our drinks. Look, that family just recently went in and they already have their drinks.”

“Now, Kyle, calm down.” 

“I won’t calm down!” 

“God, you are such a big child.” 

“As if you don’t complain?” 

“Well I do, but not in public.” 

“Whatever, what were we talking about?” 

“Um. . .about Kate I think.” 

“Oh yeah, Kate. Well, let’s change the subject. You know George from our class?” 

“Yeah, what about him?” 

“Well, I saw him at the hospital. He works as a doctor there.” 

“Oh good for him. I remember him saying he was going to be a doctor. I’m glad he’s successful unlike me.” 

“Daniel, stop putting yourself down. You will find a sustainable job. You just need a, what do you call it, a push.”

“If only I stopped gambling.” 

“Instead of complaining, you should start looking for jobs.” 

“Well for your information, I did find a job of interest.” 

“Ok, for what?” 

“Librarian.”

“That sounds good, you love books."

“I do, but the thing is, I don’t have experience.” 

“That should be fine right?”

“No, I don’t think so.” 

“Hey look, our drinks are coming. Thank you. I would like a hamburger, everything in it, with bottomless fries. “

“I would like the same as him.”

“I thought you were gonna get wings.” 

“Nah, don’t feel like eating them. They don’t look worth it.” 

“I see.” 

“You know, I never thought I would be worried about money right now.” 

“Yeah me too. It’s really weird how once in our childhood we thought of becoming adults and loved the idea, so we wanted to grow up fast. However, adulthood sucks. ” 

“Yeah. ” 

“Hey, we should be happy now. Come on, do you want to go to the mall afterward?” 

“No, I don’t want you to spend more money. Either way, I’m tired. Might as well mentally prepare me before I come home.” 

“Can I tell you something?” 

“What is it?” 

“I also underwent a period where I had issues with money.” 

“Really?”

“Yep, sometimes I spent most of it on material things and on groceries so I would always end up broke. However, a friend helped me along the way and supported me. If he didn’t help me along the way, I might’ve ended up on the streets. So what I’m trying to say is: try to talk to Kate. Let her vent out for a bit at first and then talk to her. I know Kate will understand because deep inside, she cares deeply for you.” 

“You know something, Kyle? You can be a really inspirational person. I mean, you should be in a Ted Talk one day.” 

“Shut up, I would freeze if I was in front of a big audience like that.” 

“Haha. Yeah, you’re right about Kate. Underneath that angry exterior, she’s a really caring person. Thanks, Kyle.”

“Don’t mention it, now enjoy your Coke.” 

“You know, maybe a trip to the mall wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. We can go to Barnes and Noble.” 

“Oh god, my wallet will go broke with the number of books you’re going to get.”