A Seemingly Unimportant Day

From the view of an outsider, the sight before them would look unmistakably average. Nothing spectacular or even a remotely exciting thought would come to them. They would take a quick glance and possibly take a note of how ordinary the scene was. Then they would walk away with their mind already on something seemingly more important.

“There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.” – Alexander Woollcott.

The air in the basement was chilly and damp. The walls which were originally painted eggshell white were now spotted with grey fingerprint marks and the occasional flash of color. The only mark remaining of an unknown childhood memory. Small holes and indents surrounded the dusty dartboard and below that was a makeshift Ping-Pong table which sat in a corner. The only new piece of technology in the entire room was the small flat screen TV which was contradicted by the worn out stand underneath it that probably has been in use since the early days of Madonna.

An overplayed 1990s movie was currently playing from the television. The one that starred a now famous actress before she was hot and that actor who everyone thought would go far but now works at the local Radio Shack. It was filled with annoyingly catchy pop songs about love and loss that you couldn’t help but hum along. 

The glow of the television spotlighted a soft yellow couch which sat opposite on the center wall. The variety of birds and flowers that were stitched into the fabric were now tattered and frayed, making it look even older than it was. The odor smelled vaguely like a mixture of cats and peaches which had become so familiar that it was now oddly comforting.

The old couch was currently filled with one too many teenagers than it was built for. The five of them were squeezed together each refusing to be moved. Only one lone teen sat on the floor in front, causing him to look slightly like an out cast, but truthfully he was just the easiest to push off. His curly blonde hair occasionally fell into his deep chocolate eyes, forcing him to blow it out of the way only to fall back a few minutes later. The movie was becoming tediously boring for him, even though it had barely started twenty minutes ago.

“This is lame,”

He was answered by a sharp kick in the back from the boy sitting above him.

“What the hell Adam?”

“Catherine loves this movie Ross. Don’t ruin it,” Adam smirked in response, while giving a teasing glance at the girl wedged next to him.

“Funny,” was her only given response because her attention was strictly centered in on the screen in front of her.

Her long wavy blonde hair, which normally framed her pretty face, was now pulled into a high ponytail. Which she aimlessly played at the end of with one hand because her other was inconveniently stuck in-between her leg and the couch.

A slight frown formed onto Adam’s face as his attempt to gain her attention failed. He has had a deep crush on Catherine for the past two years. Some would say he was in love with her, but that sounded way too much like a teenage romance cliché for him. So he decided on a firm ‘like’ while he waits for her to return the feelings.

The girl sitting on the opposite side of the couch smirked knowingly at the exchange. Olivia is the only person Adam has spoken his feelings to, even though it was obvious to everyone else in the basement. Well, everyone but the blonde to his right.

Olivia’s chocolate brown hair hung straight and smooth around her shoulders. She was very pretty and very oblivious to the fact. She lazily picked at the stitched pigeon on the cushion of the arm rest next to her. This movie bored her too, but had no better ideas on how to spend their Sunday afternoon.

A stray giggle came from her left and she rolled her eyes, though it was more out of habit than annoyance. The girl and boy next to her have been dating for a little over four months and were still surprisingly in that giddy relationship stage. Olivia still wondered how they even became friends no less formed a relationship.

The girl, Kate, had choppy white blonde hair and constantly had something on her mind and wasn’t afraid to say it. Her smile was infectious as well as her laugh. Her hand seemed to be constantly wrapped in her boyfriends, which is where it was unsurprisingly currently located.

The boy glued next to her was said to be freakishly tall. His shaggy black hair was pushed to the side which gave him a slight skater look. James was a quiet kind of guy. The one who everyone believes writes love songs in his closet alone at night. But those who are close to him know he is a horrible singer and claustrophobic.

“Stop it James,” Kate giggled, “I said stop…” Even though you could tell she had no intension on wanting him to stop poking her sides, which is where she happened to be extremely ticklish.

Ross purposely cleared his throat from his position on the floor before, in a clear impersonation of James’ father, bellowed, “Hands where I can see them!”

The aftermath was predictable. The couple in question blushed red but made no move to separate their hands. The remaining teens burst into uncontrolled laughter, their movie quickly forgotten.

“It was only one time!” Kate said exasperated. It was clear that she had explained this to them several times before, but this only caused her so called ‘friends’ to collapse into even more laughter.

“Honestly, you guys are just jealous because you have no one to get caught making out with,” she tried again.

“Oh, don’t worry Kate I get plenty of women,” Ross said suggestively.

The short silence that followed was enough to send them all into another sprout of laughter.

“Right and I have a monkey growing out of my ass,”

“Wow, Adam that seems painful.”

“Which part of your ass exactly?”

“Why are you so interested in my ass James?”

“Hey buddy, at least I have a girlfriend,”

“And you can still be interested in my ass, no matter how many girlfriends you try and cover that up with,”

“I’m hungry,”

“For Adam’s ass?!”

Ross received another kick from behind.

“No, dumbass, I want some food,” Catherine explained like talking to a small child.

“Well, its Olivia’s house, have her get it,”

The five teens turned to the pretty brunette.

“I’m not hungry,” was her only response.

“Fine,” was Catherine’s only acknowledgeable answer through a long list of mumbles and threats of getting better friends.

“And so help me God, if my seats gone…” she said while fixing a fake glare at Ross who was sitting innocently on the floor. And with that last thought she quickly hopped up the basement steps.

As soon as she was out of sight, Ross dived into the vacated spot, causing both James and Adam to wince in pain.

“Ross-damn it- ouch – your too big-“

“That’s what she said!”

They all rolled their eyes in response.

“What the heck- Ross. I called seat check,” Catherine was back with a bag of no name rip off brand chips in one hand and a Dr. Pepper in the other.

“Honestly, when has that ever worked?” which was a reasonably honest response.

She exaggerated a sigh and sat on the ground leaning into Adam’s legs causing him to grin uncontrollably.

“I’m hungry, hand me some of those chips,”

“Olivia, you said you weren’t hungry just like two minutes ago,”

“…Well, I lied,”

In response Catherine tossed the bag in her friend’s general location.

The only problem with this is that the bag, opened, decided to spill all of it contents out, all over everyone else, on its way.

“Gah!- It’s all over my hair!”

“That’s what she said!”

“sigh clean it up,”

“That’s what she said!”

“They still taste perfectly fine,”

“That’s what she said!”

“Ross, stop it, that’s gross and demeaning,”

“That’s what she said!”

Kate could only stare while the rest of the teens burst into uncontrolled laughter.

“Guys stop encouraging him- and if you say that’s what she said I will kick you,” but this only caused the laughter to pick up in noise and hysterics.

Kate groaned in annoyance and swiftly picked up a pile of chips from her lap and crumbled them in both of her hands. And before anyone noticed she stuffed both piles into the faces of the two bodies nearest to her.

In return she only got a muffled shout and a lick on the hand, and soon all six of them were tossing the food at any available person until a giant dog pile had accumulated onto the small sofa.

In the background the soft glow of the television was still flowing. The mumbled confession of love and happiness between the happy couple could barely be heard above the teens’ laughter. Sugar coated music floated into the scene as the hero kissed the girl. He had saved the world and together they will live in happiness forever.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”   -C.S. Lewis

From the view of an outsider, the sight before them would look unmistakably average. They could probably think of a thousand better ways to spend a Sunday afternoon, one that would be full of adventure and excitement. Perhaps they would travel the world and meet the famous. They might find a lost treasure and be covered in wealth. They would then bring home millions of riches with a huge grin on their face. 

I pity them. They did it all alone.