Loosen Up

Loosen up. How many times have I been told to do that, I can’t even count. Maybe it’s because I have a perfectly developed schedule that I follow to the exact second. Maybe it’s because I spend three hours each day reorganizing my apartment. But honestly, it’s truly helped me in life. I have my dream job as a scientist, I have my supportive and beloved boyfriend, Kevin, and enough cash to let me live in a decent apartment and eat food everyday. That’s all I need, right now at least. But all my friends: Sadie, Amy, Grace and Tyler: they all say the same thing to me every time we meet for coffee. “Don’t you ever loosen up and relax?”

Well, their advice has not been taken, sorry to say, and I will continue my tried-and-true ways of life. Until I met Tessa again, and she completely ruined my life. Let me start from the beginning. My name is Holly Black, and I’m a twenty year old scientist. I love my parents and my sister, Tessa, who is two years older than me. However, Tessa and I are not always on... peaceful terms, which led to the aforementioned ruining of my life and the two simple words “loosen up”.

I met Tessa for coffee that day. She lived in a small house next to a bookstore, and I lived in an apartment a block away from my office. That day we both drove our shiny cars (mine black and hers white) to our favorite coffee shop; Ben’s Beans. We recently had a fight and wanted to talk it through. The first words out of both of our mouths, that arrived in the cold winter air in unison, but neither sounding very sincere was “I’m sorry.” We sat across from each other at a table close to the door - it seems we both thought quite highly of escape at that point - and chatted about our lives for a while. “Holly, I need to talk to you about something. It’s very important,” Tessa had told me gravely. Well, I wasn’t sure what could be so important but I listened.

“You need an attitude adjustment,” was the first thing she said.

“What?” I said calmly, not sure whether she was joking.

“You’re too stressed out, never having time to not be working, and it’s been playing on your health. You know that.” she added in a very matter-of-fact voice. I sighed because it was true. I was always tired and never found time to sleep.

“And what lovely attitude adjustment could you have planned for me?”

“Holly,” she groaned, “Listen. If you chill out for a while and relax - just for a while, please just try it - you might enjoy your whole entire life better!” Tessa was that persuasive. “You’re ditching your friends for work, you’re neglecting Sunshine, and you don’t even have time to visit Ma and Pa, they said!” I bit my lip guiltily. It was true; I was calling off friend meetings more and more, and Sunshine, my dachshund, was far from pampered. But worst of all, I couldn’t even see my parents. I used to see them every month, but now I barely saw them in a year. Tessa was right: I needed to change.

“A-alright,” I said reluctantly. “Maybe it’s time for a change.”