Spiral Bound Journal

Frenetic, Forgetful Summertime

"I must say, Felicia, you and Adrian have a really nice place," Marlon remarked. "Between the skyline views and the balance of walkability with residential buildings, it's pretty awesome!"

Felicia opened her mouth to express a desire for a balcony or patch of grass to put a grill when she heard a low thurm. She glanced around and spotted her phone on the dining room table. A blue light blinked in one corner.

"Everything okay?" Marlon asked.

Felicia nodded. "Sounds like I got a text. Let me check it real quick."

Felicia grabbed her phone off the table and pressed a finger against a sensor on the back. Her phone unlocked, a text bubble on the top. She went to her text messages a found a new one from Zach.

Zach: Hey there. Wanted to make sure you're still coming to the party today. I got some Dr. Brown's for ya.

"Crap dammit," Felicia grumbled.

"What is it?" Marlon asked.

"I flaked and forgot about Zach's party. I told him a couple months ago I'd be there."

"Is Zach a friend of yours?"

Felicia nodded. "He managed to get a house during that three week window of a buyer's market recently. Today is his housewarming party, and I completely forgot about it."

"We can go to that. I don't mind. Where is it?"

"South Minneapolis. Are you sure you want to do this? I imagine people will recognize you at the party. They might even recognize me even if I never met them."

"Well, your work to bridge activists in different neighborhoods and generations certainly seems to be common knowledge in town."

"And adding a nationally renowned quarterback to the mix will make things worse."

Marlon's shoulders sagged. "Why do you assume I wouldn't want to go to a party just to have some peace and quiet? If I get recognized, I get recognized."

"Isn't is super stressful to be 'on' all the time, though? I mean, you seemed to appreciate the relative quietness at Bok right before dinner."

"That's true, but that was also a situation where everyone was expected to be on. If this is a little get together, I would think that'd be different. Besides, I haven't been to a regular ol' backyard barbecue in too long."

Felicia peered at her friend. She felt that he deserved a tour of Minneapolis without people asking him about football or clamoring for autographs, and she worried that both of those things would happen here. On the other hand, he really wanted to go to this party. With a shrug, she sent a reply.

Felicia: Mind if I bring a guest?

The drive to Zach's bungalow didn't take long, but finding street parking proved to be utter madness. As they walked to Zach's place a block away, Felicia noticed that about half the houses they passed had some sort of gathering going on. They did make it to Zach's bungalow, where a couple people sat on the porch. Felicia raised her hand to knock on the door when someone approached. As he approached, Felicia blinked.

"Is that Zach?" Marlon asked.

"No," Felicia muttered with a brief shake of her head.

The new person opened the door, and his mouth formed a small 'O'. This brought the gray patches at his temples into fuller view.

"Felicia?" he asked.

"Oliver," she responded. "Long time no see. I take it you know Zach?"

"Old college buddy," Oliver replied. "I see you brought a guest."

"I did. I already texted Zach about it, and Zach said he didn't mind."

"Well! The more, the merrier. Come in. Everyone's kinda spread all over the place."

Oliver held the door open for Felicia and Marcus. As they stepped onto the porch, they actually found a few people playing Cards Against Humanity (or some iteration of it, judging by the pandemic-related phrases Felicia caught). The three of them walked through the living area, where a couple people kids ate and watched their kids play Wii Bowling. They snaked through the kitchen and another large area before making their way to the back yard. Here they found more people plopped in lawn chairs or hovering around the grill. Felicia spotted Zach over by a card table where several snacks were set up. Oliver left them to join Zach.

"I take it you know Oliver?" Marlon asked.

Felicia nodded. "Long story. Don't worry. He cares way more about hockey than football. He's a true Minnesotan that way."

This got a chuckle out of Marlon, who was still laughing a bit when Zach walked over.

"Hey, Felicia!" Zach greeted her. "Glad you could make it."

"Yeah. I admit I forgot about all this," Felicia confessed. "Marlon decided at the last minute to make a quick trip up here, and I had been focused on giving him a grand tour of the place."

This prompted Zach to look at Marlon. "Marlon, as in...."

"The Marlon Patterson in the flesh."

Felicia fought both a groan and an overwhelming urge to roll her eyes as Zach began to babble in front of her famous friend. A few other people stopped by to say hello to Marlon, something that to Felicia's surprise Marlon did take pretty well. She heard him regale the small crowd with stories about a couple visits to Minneapolis after his toddler years and having vague memories of when he lived in the area. Still, he was being very open about enjoying his time in the city so far and even took to asking people in the crowd about their favorite things to see and do in town. Felicia was engrossed in watching the interplay when she realized someone was standing next to her.

"Thought we'd scared you off," she said to Oliver.

Oliver shook his head and handed her a cherry soda. "Not that easily."

"I'm sure your wife would be thrilled."

"Eh, she's not here," Oliver replied. "Brought the kid out to Sioux Falls for a visit with her parents."

"Well, that's convenient. You bug out of seeing the in-laws to hang out with Zach and all that jazz."

"I'm not kidding when I say it's good you get along with your in-laws, because I don't."

Felicia frowned around a sip of her soda. "It's been a little precarious for me, too, but really it's only my father-in-law. Most of the extended family has actually been impressed with my work lately."

"I've heard about that. I mean, getting activist groups to talk to each other is no small task. How'd you manage it?"

"A lot of luck and asking tons of open ended questions. The first introductions were a little tricky. In fact, the very first time I introduced them to each other it descended into a shouting match 15 minutes in. I made everyone agree to some ground rules for the second meeting, and I essentially played referee. I should have worn my ref shirt, now that I think about it."

"Does Marlon know you have a ref shirt?"

Felicia smirked. "I'm pretty sure I mentioned it when we first met at Bok."

"Bok?"

"Bok Tower and Gardens down in Florida. We both got invitations to a community activist dinner there, which is how we met."

"Well, that answers that question. Last I checked you had no reason to head down to Kansas City."

"They do have a lot of fountains down there that I'd like to check out one of these days. Haven't done that yet. By the way, I'm surprised you recognized Marlon."

"I think anyone who is alive and has working eyeballs recognizes Marlon. He's kinda like Brandt Showalter only way less insufferable."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Felicia filled him in. "He considers Brandt a professional role model but has some serious issues with how Brandt pushes pseudoscience. Hell, that got him into bringing science lessons to the locker room, which in turn is how he got invited to Bok."

Oliver blinked. "Oh, this sounds like a hell of a story."

"It is."

Marlon rejoined Felicia a few minutes later. By this point, most of the partygoers had gotten over being starstruck and allowed Marlon to do his own thing. Felicia had also managed to get a break from Oliver by raiding the snacks. Before Marlon came over, Zach took Felicia aside and pointed out one of the few guests who hadn't swarmed Marlon upon his and Felicia's arrival. Instead, this particular fellow stayed on the edges of the crowd chatting with a couple people while giving Marlon glances from time to time. Zach told Felicia that the guy had a bit of a crush on Marlon, a fact that she mulled over when her friend returned.

"Ooh, snacks!" Marlon remarked. "What do you have?"

"A pickle roll up, buffalo chicken dip on pita bread, and tabouli," she remarked. "The first two are Minnesota staples. I suppose two out of three ain't bad."

Marlon chuckled. "Well, after all that chit chat I could refuel."

"I feel like you could refuel after standing still for five minutes."

"That was me at 17. Now I can wait for about 20 minutes or so."

"I bet that's a bit of relief for both your grocery bills and the grocery store employees."

"You're not wrong. So where are the snacks? I really am hungry."

"Oh, they're this way."

Felicia gestured with her plate to follow, and they made their way to the snack table. Felicia also caught a glimpse of someone taking some sausages off the grill and prepping them to be cut. She didn't need more snacks but was happy to be able to keep an eye on her friend as he first rummaged through a nearby cooler. At that moment, the guest Zach told her about happened to be walking over. Felicia backed away a bit and watched as Marlon stood up, a lime La Croix in one hand. The two guys bumped into each other, and it took what seemed like an eternity before either one of them spoke.

"Sorry about that," Marlon mumbled. "Wasn't paying any attention to what I was doing."

"That's okay," the other guy said. "By the way, I'm Garrett."

"Marlon."

The two shook hands for longer than Felicia thought was necessary before they started chatting about the snacks. Felicia polished off her soda and decided to find something stronger. Thank goodness she brought her bus pass. With how Marlon and Garrett were ignoring anyone else that approached the snacks or drinks, she had a feeling she'd be on her own for getting a ride back to her place. She walked away in search of both the recycling bin and beer. At this rate, why not crack open a cold one to try to process this unexpected development?





Word count: 1799

Prompt 1-Introductions ▼

Before you - or as you - introduce us to your world, introduce us to a character. I could go into experiencing the world through protagonists or roles within society, but today’s focus is on the methods or rituals of introduction themselves.

Write a scene in which a character is introduced by a friend.

*Noteb* Who are the characters and why are they meeting? What is the context?
*Noteb* How is the character introduced? Formally or informally? How much ceremony is involved? What gestures are used?
*Noteb* How is the character received and why? What about the character creates this impression?