Dr. Ist: Hello, young man.

Gregory: Hello, my dear doc.

Dr. Ist: Someone’s in high spirits.

Gregory: Who?

Dr. Ist: Don’t look around. I’m speaking to you, dear sir. What’s going on?

Gregory: Who, me?

Dr. Ist: How was your flight?

Gregory: It was fine. Long.

Dr. Ist: How’s Lilac?

Gregory: Very unusual. I don’t know how to describe it yet. I had a reunion party a few days ago with Emma and Zoe after years of separation.

Dr. Ist: Oh, that’s why you’re beaming so blindingly. Hold on, let me get my sunglasses. How long has it been?

Gregory: Aviators . . . really?

Dr. Ist: Can’t I have a moment of assimilation with pop culture?

Gregory: I just didn’t expect it from you. Do you have the jacket too?

Dr. Ist: Just the bike. I’m saving up for the jacket.

Gregory: Anyway. I think we were around eight when they moved to Lilac.

Dr. Ist: That’s a long time.

Gregory: Yeah. We were inseparable almost from birth.

Dr. Ist: I’m so glad to hear you’re back together now. How did it go?

Gregory: Emotional. We couldn’t stop hugging each other and crying.

Dr. Ist: How about—

Gregory: And dancing.

Dr. Ist: And dancing, ha? It sounds like the best time you’ve had in years.

Gregory: It was overwhelming.

Dr. Ist: Hm. Where are you staying?

Gregory: Mom’s friend’s place. But not for long. Another friend of Mom’s knows someone at a local grocery store looking for a worker.

Dr. Ist: Gregory, you just arrived. Take a breather, will you?

Gregory: We arrived over a week ago. No, we have to get our own place soon. I’m not very comfortable there.

Dr. Ist: Knowing the kind of hard worker you are, I’m certain they’ll hire you in a heartbeat.

Gregory: Thanks, I’m counting on it.

Dr. Ist: Are we ready for the official part of our meeting?

Gregory: Nope.

Dr. Ist: Tell me more about the reunion.

Gregory: Zoe looks . . . she looks different.

Dr. Ist: How different?

Gregory: Like a . . . I don’t know, she’s just different.

Dr. Ist: Mhm. In a good way?

Gregory: Yes.

Dr. Ist: Emma?

Gregory: She didn’t change much—just as I remembered her. Makeup . . . they use a lot of makeup now. Almost to the point where I want to toss them into a laundry machine to confirm their identities. They each carry with them a portable wardrobe crammed with makeup. They sound familiar though. So I hope it’s them.

Dr. Ist: Kids these days, ha?

Gregory: I’m not exaggerating, Dr. Ist.

Dr. Ist: I believe you.

Gregory: They’re both dancers now. “Thriller” is their go-to dance. They do it well, too. Synchronized. They put the music video on TV and dance in front of it as if they’re part of the crew . . . I mean the entire spectacle, with the dead resurrecting from the tombs and all. Emma was always great at dancing. Zoe was shy. But the way she moves now is just . . . she’s very fluid.

Dr. Ist: Fluid?

Gregory: I don’t know how to say it. Very feminine, I guess.

Dr. Ist: Mhm.

Gregory: “Don’t Speak” is everywhere.

Dr. Ist: You mean the song?

Gregory: It’s everywhere! On repeat. It doesn’t end. They sing to it too—to their hair brushes. It’s like a mini concert. When we were little, Emma was the rock star in our trio. She’s two years older than us. She’s always been the lead, our alpha.

Dr. Ist: Yes, I remember this about her.

Gregory: Did you know that a heart can be unbroken?

Dr. Ist: No. How?

Gregory: It’s another song on repeat.

Dr. Ist: Oh, do you mean “Un-break My Heart”?

Gregory: Aviator sunglasses and now Toni Braxton? You’re scaring me! Who are you?

Dr. Ist: Gregory, I—

Gregory: By the way, your wall-to-wall bookshelves look great in those sunglasses. I can even read some of the titles from here.

Dr. Ist: Stop shaming me.

Gregory: Stop wearing them.

Dr. Ist: There . . . Happy?

Gregory: Yes! Thank you, and welcome back.

Dr. Ist: How about your friend—the one you played Contra with in your childhood—did you see him already?

Gregory: Yes, we’re actually staying in their apartment for the time being. He’s now sixteen and apparently allowed to drive. We were cruising around . . . “Cruising” is another thing I learned here. We were cruising around the city in his dad’s Cherokee with a super-duper boomy and loud stereo system blasting “Ready or Not” and 2Pac. I think I’ve gone partially deaf after only a couple of rounds. But on the bright side, I think I’m now a gangster. I’m habitually strapping, if you get my drift.

Dr. Ist: I do.

Gregory: You’re grinning, but these are serious and potentially life-threatening matters. We cruise with one arm out the car window all the time. We look out suspiciously at the passersby—intently attempting to locate likely incoming fire. He does this too while driving. Although he can be barely detected from the outside because it’s not cool to drive with the seat not all the way down. He’s driving in an almost horizontal position. This makes me the only target in the car.

Dr. Ist: Hm.

Gregory: But I don’t care ’cause I’m strappin’ locked-and-loaded heavy artillery.

Dr. Ist: Gregory, gang violence is at a high rate now. I know you’re joking, but be careful.

Gregory: I am. We’re only driving in relatively safe neighborhoods. But I dare anyone to come at me or my half-asleep friend!

Dr. Ist: Does this feel a bit surreal to you?

Gregory: A lot! I’ve been growing up watching movies made on these streets. Yeah, it’s surreal alright.

Dr. Ist: Hm.

Gregory: They made a bet about who I’ll fall in love with this time around.

Dr. Ist: Who did?

Gregory: Emma and Zoe. Emma thinks that I’ll fall for Zoe.

Dr. Ist: But aren’t they like sisters to you?

Gregory: Exactly! But not by blood, you know?

Dr. Ist: Weren’t you fighting all the time, if my memory doesn’t fail me?

Gregory: Me and Zoe?

Dr. Ist: No?

Gregory: Well, yes, but . . .

Dr. Ist: It’s different now?

Gregory: Yeah, it seems so.

Dr. Ist: How does it feel?

Gregory: Sleepless.

Dr. Ist: I was too when it floored me the first time. I was around your age . . . No, I was younger. I was twelve, I think.

Gregory: Dr. Ist, I’m not in love, if that’s what you’re implying.

Dr. Ist: Give it time. Notice every present moment. Try not to spend too much time in the present dreaming of future moments to come. You’re about to engage in gathering some of the most symbolic artifacts for you to keep for the rest of your life. If she agrees to hold hands with you, know that pain and happiness will be holding hands in that moment along with you.

Gregory: Oh, we hold hands plenty. There’s no shortage of holding hands, Dr. Ist.

Dr. Ist: I mean romantically.

Gregory: Mhm, sure.

Dr. Ist: Is your mom excited?

Gregory: Yeah, she reunited with one of her best friends too. She has quite a few friends here.

Dr. Ist: That’s great.

Gregory: I can’t wait to smell the ocean. We’re driving there tomorrow. This city . . . it smells so attractive. I don’t know how else to put it.

Dr. Ist: Are they in relationships?

Gregory: Emma has a boyfriend. Zoe’s not sure.

Dr. Ist: Well—

Gregory: They put makeup on me yesterday and made me sing “Don’t Speak” with them to one of their hair brushes.

Dr. Ist: How did it go?

Gregory: They had a great time. Our moms were there too. They were on the floor, laughing their butts off.

Dr. Ist: Did you have fun too?

Gregory: Yeah. I’ve missed them a lot. We went over some of our memories together. How their dad would take us to a large local park with a train ride for kids and we would spend hours hiking and goofing around with each other. It was sad to have to tell them that the train station is now abandoned and the park is in poor condition.

Dr. Ist: What other memories sprung to mind?

Gregory: Well, Zoe’s meanness toward us. She finally accepted she was jealous.

Dr. Ist: Hm.

Gregory: We also accepted we were ignoring her sometimes. I guess some of the meanness was justified. We remembered how we used to fearlessly run on the roofs of buildings, and how dangerous it was. We would climb up anything we could get our hands and feet on. Trees, fire-escape ladders, garages . . . Zoe was mostly absent in my and Emma’s bloody and teary-eyed explorations. We made bows and arrows from tree branches along with other neighborhood kids, and played war games with them. We played soccer, dodgeball, jump rope . . . the boys would suddenly become ill and fall on the ground or they would fall while playing, as if accidentally, when the girls wearing skirts played jump rope. So yeah, a lot of memories, Dr. Ist.

Dr. Ist: And a lot more yet to remember and relive.

Gregory: Exactly. We also remembered how we were enchanted by the Lambada.

Dr. Ist: The song?

Gregory: Well, more like the dance. Emma and Zoe learned the dance shortly after watching the music video and once they’d mastered it they fervently performed it in front of the neighborhood kids.

Dr. Ist: Hm.

Gregory: A lot of boys had a crush on Emma. I was in love too.

Dr. Ist: Yes, I remember this. But apparently, things change.

Gregory: People change. Things stay the same.

Dr. Ist: I may be wrong, but what changes or stays the same depends on your outlook on people and things at a specific time in your life.

Gregory: Maybe. But Zoe’s different. She definitely changed.

Dr. Ist: At that age, we all change by the minute.

Gregory: What happens when your childhood is behind you?

Dr. Ist: I miss it very much when I can afford to reminisce about it.

Gregory: Why can’t you sit back and take the time to remember your childhood? Are you in touch with any of your childhood friends?

Dr. Ist: Some memories need bypassing to reach those to reminisce about. I regularly trip over the corners of those memories I swiftly try to avoid . . . like a child. How about the food—have you had the chance to try your favorite cheeseburger with fries yet?

Gregory: The day I arrived here. I also had Chinese food the other day for the first time.

Dr. Ist: Did you like it?

Gregory: Most of it smelled strange and not very appealing. Orange chicken was good though. Maybe I need time to get used to it. For now I’ll be mainly consuming the simplest and best food ever invented by our species.

Dr. Ist: I’m with you on the simplest.

Gregory: Where are your Aviators?

Dr. Ist: Here.

Gregory: Don’t you dare call that food merely “simplest”!

Dr. Ist: I hope one day your taste buds will disagree with you.

Gregory: Never. This will remain unchanged. Forever. Put those back on, please. I want my Aviator-wearing, beer-chugging, volleyball-kicking, grease-smelling . . . red-light-ignoring, airspace-violating, greasy-food-consuming Dr. Ist back!

Dr. Ist: You asked for it!

Gregory: Agh, they look so good on you!

Dr. Ist: You’re just jealous.

Gregory: You got me.

Dr. Ist: Well, Gregory, I think that’s our time.

Gregory: Thanks for not insisting on the official part.

Dr. Ist: There’s no need for the official part when you’re living some of the best days of your life.

Gregory: I’ll see you around?

Dr. Ist: You know where to find me.