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His jaw drops with a smile. “Wow, okay. And here I thought you were trying to seduce me.”
“In your dreams.”
He stands there, staring at me. It looks like he wants to answer back, but he doesn’t. Instead, he turns back around and starts walking. “All right, then. This way, Lady Nerd Girl.”
I follow him around a corner and up a flight of stairs. Just like everything else, the hallway and carpet on the stairs are flawless. The cream color looks like it’s never been stepped on, even though I know Matt has a little brother that probably makes as big of a mess as any other little boy his age would. There are a couple pictures hanging on the walls, all of them either of Matt or his brother, or both together. Matt looks like he was adorable as a little kid, with his hair still shaggy like it is now. Turning a corner at the top of the stairs I see one door with an ‘Isaac’ nameplate on it. Walking past it, we stop at a door that looks just as clean as the other doors we passed.
“Welcome to Casa de Matt,” he says with a confident grin, opening the door.
It’s like walking into a completely different house. Gone is the cream color carpet, the eggshell-white walls, and the showroom lighting that seemed to shine through the entire home. Inside, the floor is beige tiles, and his walls are a grayish-blue color, but I don’t see much of the paint because the walls are covered from floor to ceiling with posters. Comic books, anime, manga, video games. There are two huge bookshelves lined with volumes of graphic novels and manga. Fullmetal Alchemist, Batman, Green Lantern, One Peg. You name it, and it looks like he has it. His bed is made up nicely and is the only thing that doesn’t have some kind of geeky thing on it, just dressed in black and blue sheets and pillows.
Next to his bed sits a desk. The laptop is open, an Akira screen saver jumping around on the screen. There are little figures on the desk and on the shelves, but above the desk is a large shelf attached to the wall. Different models and figures are lined against it, and the thing that catches my eye the most is a figure of a character from Cowboy Bebop, Spike Spiegel.
“Oh, wow,” I say low as I walk over.
Examining the figures, there’s a Hulkbuster Iron Man figure, and a Darth Vader figure, but my eye keeps coming back to Spike.
His room is double the size of mine, but a third of it is made into what looks like a work area. I examine all the little things, all the books and posters, before making my way over to the area. There are three mannequin figures, all adorned with costumes. One has his Iron Man costume wrapped around it. I’m looking at it up close now, getting a much better look at it than when I saw it at the show. It’s still amazing. Next to that, is a Star-Lord costume that looks like it came directly from the set of Guardians of The Galaxy. The dark burgundy jacket has the fine details worked into it, and the mask with red eyes looks like it’s the actual prop.
The third costume is my favorite though because it’s of Cowboy Bebop again. It’s Spike’s suit. Dark blue with a yellow undershirt and the tie. Of the three it looks like it’s the easiest one to make, but it’s my favorite.
Turning around, Matt is watching me with caution. Gone is the confidence he greeted me with at the door and even before letting me into the bedroom. It’s like he’s waiting to see how I’m going to react to everything.
“Matt, this is amazing.”
“Yeah?” He sounds so unsure it’s almost painful.
“Yes! The posters, the books, it’s all incredible. And these costumes, they’re unbelievable. You’re terrific at costume design. And this?” I motion to the suit. “This is my favorite.”
“Really?” He sounds more at ease and walks over next to me. “You like Cowboy Bebop?”
“No.” My eyes stay on the suit for a moment before I look at Matt. “I love Cowboy Bebop.”
“Me too. It’s my favorite.”
“Oh yeah? Favorite episode?”
“Oh, come on, I can’t pick just one.”
“Okay, one of your favorites.”
“Mmm …” He looks at the suit then over at the Spike figure. “The Ballad of Fallen Angels.”
“Seriously?” I scoff. “That’s, like, everyone’s favorite.”
“Fine.” He taps a finger to his chin. “I mean, Asteroid Blues is great. It kicks off the series nicely.”
“True. I always loved Ganymede Elegy.”
“That’s a good one.”
I take another look around, examining everything for a second time, admiring it all. Then I turn and see Matt staring at me. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just …” He bites his lip. “You’re the only person who’s seen this stuff.”
“Really?” I’m genuinely surprised. I remember him saying his best friend doesn’t know how big of a nerd he is, but it still catches me off guard.
“Well, I mean, other than my parents or Isaac. Yeah. Carter’s been over to the house, but we always just hang out in the den area, since we’ve got the big screen for movies and video games down there.”
