A/N: And part two of the Monday June 10 update! Sorry it's a little late, but our air conditioning broke so it was like writing in a sauna. Anyway. Read. Review. Enjoy. Illustrate. I want to thank everyone for their reviews already and want to thank everyone for nearly 1000 total views! Y'all rock! The next update should be pretty interesting guys!

Thanks,

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Chapter Ten.

I unlocked my apartment door and nudged it open slightly. My arms cradled the large brown paper bag that contained my burrito lunch. I tried to balance my keys, wallet, and food while pushing open the door with my back.

"Mew."

"Hi Mocha. I'm back."

I maneuvered my way into the living area of my apartment, and placed the lunch bag on the coffee table. From there, I threw my keys and wallet on the couch and began to grab for my phone. After feeling nothing where my phone should be, I began to get worried.

I opened my lunch bag, thinking my phone may be in there. It wasn't. I looked on the floor and still couldn't see it. I looked in the kitchen and outside my apartment and still wasn't able to find my phone.

Concerned about my forgetfulness, I went into my bedroom. My phone wasn't on the bed, or the night stand, or desk, or anywhere on the floor. I rushed into the bathroom.

I found it sitting there on my bathroom counter.

I breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed it. Retreating back to my living room, I checked it to see if I had missed anything.

One Missed Call From Marshall Lee.

That's weird. I hesitated on what to do next. Marshall had called about 30 minutes ago. If he really wanted to talk to me, he'd call again or text. Maybe he was waiting for me to call him back. But what if he called me when he didn't really mean to call me? Did he leave a voicemail?

My phone suddenly began vibrating in my hand while I was contemplating all of these options.

Marshall Lee Calling.

"Hello?"

"Benji! It's Marshall!"

"I know!"

"Right. Caller ID."

"Yea."

I uttered a small chuckle. I could sound so unattractive at times.

"So anyway," Marshall began, brushing off my moment of ugliness, "I just was calling to see if you were coming still tonight?"

While Marshall asked his question, I was getting comfortable on the couch and opening up my burrito. When his question came to an end, I was in the middle of my first bite.

"Of course," I said with a mouthful of burrito.

"Are you, are you eating something?"

I swallowed my bite.

"No—yes. I'm eating lunch. I accidentally slept in past breakfast and I don't have any groceries really so I had to go get lunch."

Why did I tell him all that? He didn't ask about my day, just if I was eating something.

"Ah, I'm sorry Benji. You should've called me! We could've done lunch or something! And slept in? You texted me at like 5 this morning."

"I did text you at 5. I had fallen asleep on my cat until like 4 and then texted you."

"Oh. Anyway Benji, I want you to bring a blanket with you tonight! And wear a tank top!"

I looked down at what I was wearing now.

"Would running shorts be okay to wear too?"

"I'm sure you'd look cute in anything."

I didn't respond to Marshall's compliment.

"I'm just joking Benj," Marshall laughed awkwardly, "anyway, did you catch the first part?"

"Yea. Blanket. Why?"

Good Benji. Long developed sentences. This is helping you make friends.

"For our date silly."

Date? What? Date? Ugh.

"Benji. Joking. Again. Sheesh."

"Oh, yea. Right. Sorry."

"No worries. See you tonight?"

"Right!"

With that, I hung up before I could make a bigger fool of myself.

I put my phone on the couch and finished the burrito I had started mid-conversation with Marshall.

I can't understand why, but every time I'm around Marshall, or even around him, I get super uncomfortable and forget how to talk like a normal human being. I'm articulate! Why does it stop when I'm talking with him.

Out of frustration, I threw my head back against the top of the couch.

After a bit, I realized that I had about four and half hours to kill before I had to get ready for Marshall's concert. I spent this time cleaning the apartment and doing laundry. I lived the life of a middle-aged housewife.

When the bathroom had been cleaned, I saw that it was 3:30, an hour before I had wanted to start getting ready. I wandered into the kitchen and began to search my cabinets. After climbing atop my fridge to get access into the small cabinets, I had scrounged up enough ingredients to make something for Marshall.

I had always baked something for my friends whenever they had a big event or celebration. I was known for it back home, and this seemed like an opportunity to integrate it into my Austin life.

After mixing all the basics, I slid the cookie sheet into the oven and went to get ready while they baked.

With my closet doors wide open, I had to pick out what exactly to wear. Marshall had said he wanted me to wear a tank top or a UT shirt. He seemed more adamant about the tank top, so I went for that section of my closet. I slid the hangers on the bar until I had gone through them all. I went through them all again and decided on a black tank top with a light blue Aztec pattern across the chest. I threw the shirt on the bed and began to look for the second half of my outfit. I had just bought a pair of red jeans and wanted to wear them, so I pulled them out, and they joined the shirt on the bed.

I then went into the bathroom to start the process of making myself look presentable. I pulled off the headband I had been wearing since that morning and found my hair to spring back up where it had been held down. I brushed it to no avail. I tried putting a little water in it, and finally had some success. After styling it the way I wanted to, I sprayed with my liquid cement.

When my hair was fixed, I brushed my teeth and put on some deodorant. I decided that was all I was going to do, and that I would just wear my glasses to the concert because I knew my eyes had been through a lot the night before.

Semi-pleased with my appearance, I walked back into my bedroom. I shed the tank I was currently wearing and slipped on the planned one. I was about to walk over to my dresser to retrieve a pair of underwear when I stopped.

Maybe I won't wear underwear tonight.

I slipped off my running shorts and grabbed the red jeans and slipped them on over my bare private parts and butt. I zipped them up and buttoned them. I sat down on the bed and rolled up the legs on the jeans to about mid-calf.

Before I picked a pair of shoes out, I checked how I looked in the mirror.

I guess I looked fine. Not exactly "date-wear" but this wasn't a date.

I strode over to the closet and picked out a pair of brown leather huarache sandals. I slipped them on and was about to walk out of my room when I remembered Marshall's other request.

The top of my closet held all of my extra blankets, and I reached up to get one. I grabbed a teal one with the university's logo on it. I folded it over one arm and walked out of my bedroom, shutting the door behind me.

I placed the blanket on the counter next to where I had my moved my wallet, keys, and phone. I opened the oven and the cookies looked perfectly done. I grabbed an oven mitt and pulled them out. Poking a toothpick in each of them, I found they were all perfectly cooked.

I grabbed a spatula and a paper plate. After transferring them to the plate, I slid the plate into a large plastic bag and zipped it up.

I checked the time on the microwave and saw that it was 5:40. I knew it would take about 30 minutes to get there, so I decided that then was as good a time as any to leave.

Gathering all my items and balancing them was a challenge in itself, but I managed to make it to the car, pausing in the middle to lock my apartment and tell Mocha goodbye.

I arranged everything in my car and backed out of my spot. I drove out of the garage and headed to the show Marshall had invited me to.

Let's do this Benji.