The food was delicious and Lauren couldn't complain that it had been ordered, because she didn't even get takeout much, her family could hardly ever afford it. She only ever got takeout if her father was feeling particularly generous, so Lauren savoured every bite. She also savoured the optimistic and pleasant atmosphere of the Hickory household because it wasn't something she got to experience all that often.
"This is all very delicious. Thank you for dinner."
At Alexander's question, Lauren paused. She honestly didn't have anything planned for the future -- she was so sad and tired all of the time that she hardly ever even thought that she would have a future, much less what she would be doing in it. For the moment, all she could think about was escaping the hell she called her home.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure. Maybe I'll teach piano somewhere ..."
"Do you like teaching?" Anders raised an eyebrow, with this information being new to him he wanted to know more. "I think you'd be good at it, you certainly have the patience for it." He acknowledged, stabbing his salad leaves with his fork.
"And the age group is important, whether you like teaching young children or older." Nina pitched in being a teacher of a kind herself. "Highschoolers are the most difficult to teach."
"That's because high school is the worst," Jenna explained and Anders couldn't help but agree. He couldn't wait until he graduated, though, Jenna had a worse experience in it than he had, he still resented it. The only thing he did like about it was being able to spend time with his friends,
The conversation continued and the when the house phone rang.Anders excused himself from the table to answer the call himself. While he was away, he had answered two calls, and when he returned he was wearing a thoughtful and peculiar look on his face.
"I wouldn't be able to teach high schoolers." Lauren knew that much -- she could hardly function when speaking to high schoolers now, so there was no way she'd be able to do it in the future. She was too timid, anyway. "But I like kids, so I'd probably prefer to teach little ones. They're sweet."
When Anderson left, Lauren averted her eyes to her plate and let the other three talk amongst themselves, since she felt quite shy without her good friend there. This was the first time she had ever been to someone else's house, to a friend's house. She didn't know how to conduct herself with their parents and their siblings. What could she say?
Luckily, Anderson came back, and Lauren visibly relaxed when he rejoined the table. Then, she noticed his thoughtful expression, the one that graced his beautiful face. He really was attractive. The thought brought a slight blush to her face.
"Eh, something like that ... I suppose." Anderson licked his bottom lip a bit dazed as he flipped over his salad leaves with his fork. He quickly snapped out of it and put on a smile to move on from the subject. "But, anyway, they finally called after I've been waiting so long."
"And who would that be, darling?" Nina questioned, arching an eyebrow at her son curiously.
"The New York Symphony. Their twentieth anniversary is around the corner, so their hosting different performances and an after party." He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'm one of the small performances." Small or huge it was still a recital with the actual New York Symphony with a leading and infamous conductor. He was happy to just perform with the orchestra. It was a huge and meaningful step for him.
"That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"
"I may also get to see some of my friends from the last competitions, including Chrissy, so it's a bonus." Because his friends he made from competitions were foreigners. He turned to Lauren."Do you want to come?"
The New York Symphony? Lauren guessed her eyes were about as wide as saucers. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Anderson, her very own friend, Anderson Hickory, had been asked to play with the New York Symphony?!
Though, of course, it probably shouldn't have come as a surprise. Anders was an accomplished pianist. He had won plenty of competitions, and he was amazing at what he did, so, of course, he'd get to play with such a prestigious group of musicians.
Lauren could have died when Anders asked her to come.
"...Me?" Her? Little Lauren, who was too scared to even answer a question in class, too timid to stand up for herself -- go to New York and see the Symphony, even if just to spectate? No. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve such a prestigious honour.
But ... she wanted it. Badly.
So she nodded almost fervently, grinning with delight. "I would love to go."
Anderson beamed, leaning forward in his seat, toward Lauren. He couldn't have been happier to hear her say that. He had initially been expecting her to say no but he was given a pleasant surprise when she said the opposite. She was simply so pusillanimous, which under normal circumstances those type of people annoyed him, he wouldn't have guessed her to agree so easily.
It saved him the trouble of convincing her.
"Great! I don't all the details but there is a lot to discuss and prepare." When he thought he couldn't have possibly been more excited for the trip he was wrong. Lauren was coming! And he had a strong feeling this was the first time that she'd get to see an orchestra performance live. And not just any orchestra but a worldwide famous one. "The stay there is a week or two, for me at least." He had to practice for the recital.
The thought of seeing what her facial expression would be at the conference hall sent chills down his back. They'd both get to meet amazing musicians and would have a wondrous time with their friends.
"We still have to ask Lauren's parents, Anders, don't forget."
"Of course, not." He had completely forgotten and brushed off for that didn't matter right now She had to come, he wouldn't have it any other way. Anders held on to her fingers tips and squeezed tenderly. "You'll love every moment of it."
Lauren was totally overjoyed -- she was going to New York City, with Anderson, to see the New York Symphony! She would be surrounded by beautiful art, beautiful music, and people who shared her love and passion for piano. This was going to be wonderful, and Lauren was so happy in that moment that she couldn't even worry about the possibility of her parents not giving her permission to go.
And as if she couldn't have been more happy, she saw the expression on Anderson's face, saw how happy he was that she was going, and her heart soared to new heights. She had never seen someone so happy about something to do with her anymore. She didn't even think it was possible for someone to tolerate her, much less to have someone be so happy that she would be joining them when they went somewhere.
"I know I will," she murmured, her heartbeat fluttering like a hummingbird when he squeezed her hand.
After dinner, Lauren helped Anderson clean up and put the dishes in the dishwasher, in an attempt to repay the Hickorys for the amazing dinner and experience she had had. Then, she turned to Anderson.
Anders dried his hands on his dishtowel before hanging it up. He wasted no time taking her by the hand and leading her to his spacious bedroom. Its scheme was a mix of refined and cozy with obviously his own personal touches. Most of all, it was pristine, without out flaw.
Anderson Hickory was a rather neat and organized person.
Most of his awards sat in the living room on the fireplace, but he had a few on his dark colored wood dressers and his piano sat on a platform in the corner of the other side of the room. While he had one bookshelf that was mainly filled with music sheets and music disc, not all of them were classic.
"What time do you have to head home?" He questioned, plopping down on the end of his bed.
Lauren's heart skipped about twenty thousand beats when Anders took her hand. It had been somewhat unexpected, but not an unwelcome surprise. She happily linked her fingers with his and concluded that she most definitely would not mind if this happened again.
Then, he lead her to his bedroom.
Lauren had never been in a boy's bedroom before.
She stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment as she looked around the room. It was so neat, not at all what she had expected from him, though she wasn't sure why she held that view. It was also incredibly fancy, much more fancy than anything that could be viewed in her own home. In Lauren's mind, this just cemented the thought that he would never date her. He was so much better than her in every single way that it was impossible for Lauren to imagine that he'd ever lower himself to her standard.
But she pushed those thoughts out of her mind for now and followed Anderson inside the bedroom.
"Um ... I've got another hour, I think," she said, before checking her phone to see the time. She had been having such a good time that she hadn't kept track of it. "Yeah, an hour before I have to be home." Or her dad would lose his shit, and she did not need that, not when she was going to ask for permission for a very huge thing.
Lauren sat down beside Anderson and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "So ... when you're not playing piano what do you do?"
"Where do I start?"
Anders flopped back on his mattress, briefly closing his eyelids, not in thought, but in peace. It was rare he ever felt this tranquil, he was a storm, inside and out. He had no peace of mind, always fidgeting, running wild and out of control. Now, laying here with Lauren sitting beside, he felt "okay" to put it simply.
And being "okay" was a rare thing in the life of Anderson Hickory. Even when he was happy, he was never okay. There was always something a wrong and painful. To take the edge off he'd smoke.
"My life is the most uneventful, yet, I'm sure." Opening his eyes, he stared at the ceiling above covered in galaxy patterned stickers. He remembered putting those up when he finally accepted the Hickorys. That was hardly two years ago.
"I spend a lot of time helping Jenna out, hanging with the others and ... I volunteer at the animal shelter and garden."
Lauren loved learning new things about Anderson, learning new tidbits of information about the boy she was lucky to call her friend. She also loved just looking at him and admiring how beautiful he really was -- it was hard to believe that such a perfect and serene person could even exist. It made her feel pale in comparison but she didn't care. It wasn't like she had high expectations for herself anyway.
"That's sweet," she said, smiling softly. Lauren also laid down on the bed, but instead of on her back, she laid on her side so she could watch the rise and fall of Anders' chest and admire how peaceful his face looked now, when he was undisturbed by anything in particular. It made her feel special to know that she was a part of that serenity.
"The volunteering thing, I mean. I couldn't do that. I don't have the confidence to really talk to anyone." She couldn't even get a job without worrying about talking to strangers -- which was, unfortunately, a large part of any job. But Lauren knew she'd just have to get over it eventually.
She dreaded that day, though.
"Do they have cats at the animal shelter? I love cats. I've wanted one for the longest time but my dad doesn't like them so I've never been able to have one."
"Cats? Plenty. I used to have a cat." He used to have kittens too, and puppies and dogs, just about any animal. It was always short-lived, though. Jenna had always brought home strays, a lot of them being injured. She still did. They never kept any of them but they found homes.
Anders was sure being a shelter animal was a miserable thing. It reminded him of foster homes and the orphanage in a way. He volunteered for that reason and another, the second being for himself. Working with animals made him feel a little closer to his ...
"I don't understand it. Why do you - " He turned his head so that he was looking back at Lauren's face. Their faces only inches apart, he blinked. Time itself had stopped. Except for the beating of his own heart
Sooner or later he had to breathe again. Anders coughed and sat up, then he stood, putting his hands on his waist. He had forgotten where he was going with hs question. "Lauren, you're beautiful and sweet and amazing. You shouldn't be shy, or insecure, there's so much you could and can do."
When Anderson turned his head, Lauren stopped breathing, too, simply because she was so shocked by the proximity of their faces. She had no idea what Anders was going to ask and quite frankly she didn't care, either, because all she could think about was how soft his lips looked, and how much she wanted to kiss them.
Anders rose to his feet and Lauren sat up, bringing her nails up to her lips to chew on them as she watched him, scared that she had done something wrong. She had to have done -- why would he stand up so abruptly if she hadn't done anything wrong?
Then, he spoke.
Lauren's eyes widened at his words and she quickly came to realise that they were the nicest, most caring and compassionate words anyone had ever said about or to her. And she could tell that they came from the heart. He wasn't saying them to be nice, or to get something from her -- no, he really and truly meant them and that meant more to Lauren than she could ever hope to describe.
Those words gave Lauren the confidence to stand up, slowly approach Anderson and wrap her arms around his waist, coming close for a gentle hug. She would never have dreamt of doing anything like that before he had said those simple words.
Lauren's embrace had come as a shock to Anderson but not unwelcomed. There wasn't a pinch of hesitation as he hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her dainty shoulders and squeezing her briefly. After a moment, which felt like a blissful eternity, had passed, he pulled away.
Anderson wasn't an easily frazzled person, yet, Lauren was unraveling him from the seams. The sweetest girl he ever had the privilege to meet, he had never met anyone so kind and beautiful in his life. He was lucky to have her as a companion and he would be sure never to screw up their relationship. The struggle of a life he lived would be just as painful again if she was gone.
He was unaware until now how much her tiny voice impacted him now.
"If you ever need help with anything let me know," He ran his finger through his dark hair, unsure of what to say or do. Would it be wrong to hug again? Because that was what he wanted to do almost as much as he wanted to give her a soft kiss but that crossing way over the line.
"We still have some time left, do you want to play a game or something?" Something to keep his mind off giving her any sort of affections.
Lauren would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly disappointed when Anderson pulled away from her. She wanted to continue the hug. She wanted to kiss him and hold him close to her for the rest of time but that was out of the question because she knew that Anderson would never reciprocate those feelings because she wasn't worthy of them and that was something she just needed to accept.
But she wasn't upset or disheartened. She was just being sensible.
"I will," she said when he said she could speak to him about anything. She knew she couldn't tell him about her father or her home life but surely she could talk to him about other things, right? Surely he would be there for her?
"Depends," Anderson sighed pensively. He strolled across from his bed to where his flat screen television was mounted on the wall above the wall console shelf and entertainment center. Stored there were his games including board games, card games, and video games. He owned both an Xbox one and Wii switch, both which had many games installed on.
"We can play just about anything," announced Anders, opening the cabinet door, revealing their many options to select from. "Except for Monopoly, I loathe that game." It was nowhere to found in his game selection. He only thought to let her know just in case, though, the game could be located in the living on the shelf there. As for video games, he simply didn't by the ones he didn't care for so there was nothing to exclude.
Anders rocked back and forth on hs feet slowly. Around this time he usually took a smoke and he desperately wanted one too. He was making a conscious effort to hold off his desire just to spend more time with the blonde beauty. It would be well worth it.
Lauren wanted to know what made Anderson despise the innocent game of Monopoly so much but that was a question for another day -- right now, they were going to play a nice and calming game before Lauren had to go home, before she had to return to the life which she hated. But there was nothing she could do to avoid that.
"Hm ... how about we just play UNO?" Lauren suggested quietly, coming up behind Anderson and standing beside him. She suggested the simple card game both because it was her favourite, and because she didn't want to get out a big game only to play it for a short amount of time.
"I do warn you, though, I'm going to kick your ass," she said jokingly, taking the deck of cards out of the cupboard and walking back over to Anderson's bed with them. She took the thin cards out of the box and shuffled them before dealing them both seven cards.
"I am the UNO queen in my household. You had better bring your A game." Lauren was joking, of course, she was no better than anyone else.
Anders couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Lauren and snort a good-natured snort. He walked over and sat on his mattress, outstretching his long legs off the side. Her sudden gumption for the little card game was an invigorating sight. A little side to her had yet to see until today.
He liked it.
"Well, your Majesty, there's only two other people in your household so I'm going to just assume you're a common everyday player." Anders rolled his eyes and ended up smirking at the start of the game, confident as ever. There was rarely a time that he wasn't feeling that way, or to be more precise, it was rare when people could tell he wasn't. He was a rather magnificent actor and a spectacular bluffer.
He flipped the top card to the stack of the deck and set it down, starting their small and fun game of UNO.
Lauren loved UNO. It was the only game her entire family enjoyed playing and so she jumped at the chance to play it. Usually her parents would be calm and relaxed when they played with her and so she had good connotations with the game. Though, lately, she hadn't been playing much with her dad. He was angry all the time.
But she pushed the thoughts of her father out of her mind as she played with Anderson, whose company she genuinely enjoyed. She loved spending time with him so much that she didn't know how she would be able to drag herself away at the end of the night.
The single game of UNO lasted almost ten minutes, because Lauren, strategically playing her cards, managed to drag it out until she had the cards to completely screw Anders over. She played two skips, two reverses, a draw four and finally her last card, before beaming brightly and declaring victory.
Anders hadn't been playing to win, it helped to drag the game out longer. Mainly, he liked seeing the victorious look that Lauren wore. It suited her well, that in itself was more fun to him than the actual game. And spending time with her, which, sadly, that had reached the end of their minute together.
"Eh, I guess you did." He noted with a slight tilt of his head. "I still don't think you're Queen, so, until I'm totally proved on you'll just have to settle with the title of princess."
He gathered the cards in his hands and stacked them neatly after shuffling them quickly and professionally. He looked at the clock, they had at least ten more minutes left together but the drive to her house would take that long. Anders didn't want to make her family worried or angry with her not getting home on her curfew.
"I'll drive you back." He told her, "But before that, I'll give you a prize for your win."
