February 2019

Kevin Maggliardi and his girlfriend, Shanti Lee, spent an evening together watching cartoons in Kevin’s Cambridge, MA apartment. Their friends were out doing other things, so it was just them.

Shanti’s ear was on Kevin’s chest so that she could listen intently to his heart beating. She thought it sounded very deep.

“You have a soothing heartbeat,” she said to him. He drew in a deep breath.
“It’s been through hell and back,” Kevin remarked.
“Your heart?”
“Yup.”
“How so?” Shanti asked.
“When I was held at gunpoint for one, they pressed the revolver into my chest to the point that my heart actually stopped for a split second,” Kevin remarked.
“Oh wow.”
“And then do you remember a couple years ago when I pulled the all-nighter?”
“You’ve pulled several all-nighters.”
“Yes, and then I feel like crap the next day. But this time was fueled with energy drinks, pop, and coffee. All at the same time.”
“Do I remember what you were doing?” Shanti asked.
“I was working on a huge side chemistry project,” Kevin replied.
“That’s right. Now I remember.”
“I was living on energy drinks, pop, and coffee throughout the whole day since I didn’t want to leave the project unfinished. It screwed me over when I finally went to bed around 6 the next morning. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to throw up. I even had to apply an ice pack to my side to slow down my heart rate.”
“Poor heart.”
“Now I know to never drink all three at the same time ever again. That was horrible,” Kevin said.
“No doubt,” Shanti replied.
“When I pull an all-nighter anyway, I always notice an increase in my heart rate.”
“Well yeah because of the increased adrenaline levels.”
“Damn straight.”

September 2009

Kevin Maggliardi and his older sister, Addison, came home from school for the day. Kevin was a sophomore, and Addison was a senior. They went to high school in Cranston, Rhode Island. Kevin had been struggling with cold and flu symptoms but ultimately decided to suck it up and go to school.

When Kevin walked through the front door of their house, he felt a sharp burning sensation and nausea in his stomach. Before, he knew it, he was kneeling on the floor, throwing up on their rug just inside the house.

His parents rushed toward him and gave him a trash bin to throw up in. Kevin was so embarrassed. His face was flushed, his heart was pounding so hard that he felt like it could burst inside his chest, and he had the worst nausea that he remenbered having.

He sat upright with his back against the door, and his arms over the trash bin. If he made any sudden movements, he would probably get sick again. His dad picked him up and carried him to the couch, so he could rest. Kevin knew he couldn’t go to school the next day. He had a fever of 102.

September 2020

Kevin Maggliardi went to his parents’ house in Cranston, Rhode Island for the weekend. This was the first time in a few months that he has been home, and he also wanted to spend some time with us second cousin, Rosie. His girlfriend, Shanti Lee, was also in Rhode Island, but she was visiting her family right now.

It was around 3 pm, and Kevin was watching some TV since he was really tired after a grueling week of work, tennis, and soccer. His cousin and her family came over for the afternoon, and Rosie was on his chest. Kevin fell asleep with Rosie wrapped in his arms.

He was sleeping on his left side, with Rosie’s left arm wrapped around his right side. Her right arm was nestled under his left arm.

Kevin’s cousin walked over to them and saw them napping together. She could even hear Rosie snoring softly. His cousin shook him gently until he slowly woke up.

He had slept for over an hour with Rosie in his arms. It took him a while to wake up, but Rosie was still asleep. Kevin moved over on his back, and Rosie was nestled under his left arm.

April 2019

Levi Cranston and Kevin Maggliardi had just finished a run along the Charles River in Boston. They sat along the river to catch their breath and regain their composures.

“Did I tell you the story about when my friends and I did the energy drink challenge?” Kevin asked his friend.
“Yeah, I think so. Don’t remember offhand,” Levi replied.
“It was literally the stupidest thing we could’ve done.”
“Remind me what happened?”
“It was really more of a science project,” Kevin said. “We wanted to see the difference in our heart rate before and after we had energy drinks.”
“Yeah, that sounds like something my friends would have done as well,” Levi remarked.
“Can’t speak for Jing, Wong, or David, but after I drank a can and a half of the stuff, my heart was pounding, and it took me a while to fall asleep.”
“When Jack, David, Asad, and I were in high school, we ran down the alleys in downtown Valpo. I didn’t tell my mom what she did. When she found out from another parent, she was super pissed.”
“I did some crazy stuff with a few friends in high school as well, but nothing like that.”

February 2019

Kevin Maggliardi and his girlfriend, Shanti Lee, were in Cranston, Rhode Island for the weekend. Kevin’s cousin needed help assembling a stethoscope for her job. She is a Nurse Practitioner. He was a little cold, so he kept his leather jacket on. He was wearing a green sweater underneath.

Kevin spent no more than ten minutes putting the stethoscope together. Once he was finished assembling it, he put the earpieces in and tapped the chest piece with his finger. He then lifted his sweater and placed the bell on the center of his chest, closed his eyes, and concentrated on his heartbeat. A minute later, he moved the bell over his left nipple and just concentrated. This was really important to him, since he was held at gunpoint that previous October.

Kevin kept the bell against his chest, but he wanted Shanti to listen. She gently took the earpieces out of his ears and put them in hers. When she started listening, she giggled very loudly. His belly button was also exposed, and she thought that was also cute.

“Are you nervous? Does your chest hurt? It sounds so deep. It’s so cute,” Shanti remarked.
“This is me when I’m with you,” Kevin replied quietly, following a very heavy sigh.
“Awwww, you’re so cute.”
“My heart is beating very fast.”
“Yes, it is. It’s so strong and sexy beating inside you.”

June 2019

“Do you remember that one time a couple years ago when I was really sick?” Kevin Maggliardi asked his roommate, Jing Hao. They were playing video games in their Cambridge, MA apartment.

“Yes, I do. Very interesting situation,” Jing replied.

“I was so out of it, I couldn’t work for three days. So I went back to my parents’ for that time so I could recover. It was just a really bad cold, but that was the worst I think I ever felt with just that.”

“Didn’t you like sleep for a day straight?”

“I slept for 16 hrs. Like I fell asleep at around 10 that night, according to my dad. Then I woke up at like 2 that following afternoon. And I felt so gross when I woke up, I sweat through my t-shirt and my hoodie. I remember my armpits smelled so bad that I was afraid to raise my arms,” Kevin remarked.

“That I don’t remember,” Jing said.

“It was my cat, Tuba, that woke me up. But I probably could’ve slept through the whole day.”

“I think a similar situation actually happened to me right before college actually. What brought this up?”
​
“David mentioned something.”

January 2020

“Do you remember my 21st birthday?” Kevin Maggliardi asked his older brother, Sheridan, over the phone.
“How could anyone NOT remember your 21st birthday? That was literally the goofiest thing Graham and I could ever come up with!” Sheridan replied.
“Soooo I told my friend, David, about that idea for his cousin’s 21st, and he thinks he’s gonna take that idea and run with it with his brother.”
“Oh, your friend from college?”
“Yes, David Rogers. He lives in Chicago now. Actually, not too far away from Addison,” Kevin remarked.
“Where does David live in Chicago? I know Addison lives in Lakeview,” Sheridan asked.
“Somewhere around there, I think. Uptown? Edgewater? Not sure. He told me before, and it’s one of those two. I just don’t remember offhand.”
“Yeah. That was probably the best night of your life.”
“Well, one of them.”
“Yeah, Graham and I dressed like women and spoke with high-pitched voices. I remember we had a great time.”
“Yeah, you all honestly looked like fools out there, while I was getting tipsy and just laughing at you guys,” Kevin said.
“We were totally rocking it. I wish Addison was there to see it as well,” Sheridan remarked.

Like around June 2018

Levi Cranston (The Magic Video Game) and his girlfriend, Mackenzie Burbanks, were out and about on the mean streets of Boston. Jack Andrews and Asad Prejesh were in their apartment playing video games for the evening. Their new friends, Jing Hao and Kevin Maggliardi, invited them all to play video games, but everyone else declined. Especially since Levi and Mackenzie had a date, and Jack and Asad just simply did not feel like playing tennis.

It was around 6 pm, and Jing and Kevin walked over to the nearby tennis courts, where they all practice. They were planning to stay for at least three to four hours.

“Should we run around the track first?” Jing asked.
“We always do, so I think that answers your question,” Kevin replied.
“Okay, so let’s do it.”
“We need to leave around 9:30, because Levi wanted to chat around that time.”
“I think we’ll be done by then,” Jing said.
“Usually, we are,” Kevin remarked.
“When is Sheridan coming to the States?”
“Next week. He is stopping in Dublin first.”
“To do what?”
“To party there, I think.”

Sheridan is Kevin’s oldest brother, who is 32 years old and lives in London to pursue his doctorate degree in biomedical engineering. He has another brother, Graham, who is 29, and lives in New York City for work, as he works in IT. His only sister, Addison, is going to be 27 years old in a couple weeks, and she lives in Chicago for graduate school. Kevin just turned 25 years old, and Jack, Asad, and Levi view him as their little brother. Kevin is originally from Cranston, Rhode Island, pretty close to Levi’s motherland.

Levi and Kevin met at their tennis coaching job. Levi works in IT for one company in Boston, and Kevin works in IT for another company in the same building, so they very often commute to work together.

Levi, Mackenzie, Jack, and Asad share an apartment in the Allston neighborhood, while Jing and Kevin have a place in Cambridge. It is either a fifteen minute commute by bus, or a thirty minute commute by foot.

Jing is from Garden City, a suburb of New York City. He is 25 years old, and has a younger sister, Amanda, who is 23 years old. He and Kevin met when they went to college in Boston. Jing also works in IT, and he is looking to go into grad school pretty soon.

“This weather is pretty nice,” Jing remarked after a couple laps around the track.
“Yes, it is,” Kevin responded. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to get a watch.”
“I have never heard that one before!”
“No?” Jing asked, taking things a bit literally.
“Nope,” Kevin rolled his eyes and smiled.
“Time for tennis?”
“Time for tennis. We have a few hours.”
“We agreed 9:30, right?”
“Yup.”

Tennis practice was a complete blur. By the time they got on the tennis courts, it was already 7 o’clock in the evening. They had a couple hours before they’d have their phone chat with Levi, Jack, Mackenzie, and Asad later tonight.

A couple hours later, Jing and Kevin were really tired, sore, and sweaty. They headed back to their apartment in Cambridge, where they would get ready for the night. It was Thursday evening, so one more day before the weekend.

That’s why they all needed to chat.

When they got into the apartment, Jing beat Kevin to the shower, kinda pissing Kevin off.

Oh well.

Kevin used this time to lie on his bed to stretch his back out a little, and to throw a tennis ball against the ceiling. He decided that now was a good time to call Levi, and so he did.

“Hey Kevin, I have you on speaker,” Levi answered on his end. He and everyone else must have been out in the common area.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Kevin asked.
“Well, Mackenzie and I are back from our little date. We ventured out on the harbor walk and the North End.”
“Very nice. We’re all gonna check out the harbor walk again this weekend, right?”
“I wouldn’t mind doing that. We could also go out to Cambridge, whatever works for you,” Levi said.
“Well, I’m totally open. Jing is taking his sweet little time in the shower,” Kevin replied.
“I figured as much.”
“What is everyone else doing?”
“Well, Mackenzie is in our room. I think she’s on a phone chat with her family. Jack and Asad are in the kitchen heating up some leftovers from the night before.”
“That’s great.”

Jack and Asad had some Indian food from last night that they decided to heat up now, after spending at least two hours playing video games. They were being summoned into the living room to come up with some plans to hang out that weekend with Jing and Kevin.

“Hi Kevin,” Jack responded once he and Asad walked into the common area.
“Hey guys,” Kevin responded back.
“How was tennis?”
“It was pretty great. I beat Jing on all matches, so that was nice.”
“I wish we were there to witness it,” Jack said.
“I know! You missed out on a great evening,” Kevin exclaimed.
“Well, we were playing tennis on TV.”
“Not as fun.”
“Next time, we’ll play all of you.”
“Sounds like a plan. Well, Jing came in, and I’m going to shower. I’m disgusting.”
“Okay, you do you.”

February 2019

Kevin Maggliardi and his girlfriend, Shanti Lee, were in Cranston, Rhode Island for the weekend. Kevin’s cousin needed help assembling a stethoscope for her job. She is a Nurse Practitioner. He was a little cold, so he kept his leather jacket on. He was wearing a green sweater underneath.

Kevin spent no more than ten minutes putting the stethoscope together. Once he was finished assembling it, he put the earpieces in and tapped the chest piece with his finger. He then lifted his sweater and placed the bell on the center of his chest, closed his eyes, and concentrated on his heartbeat. A minute later, he moved the bell over his left nipple and just concentrated. This was really important to him, since he was held at gunpoint that previous October.

Kevin kept the bell against his chest, but he wanted Shanti to listen. She gently took the earpieces out of his ears and put them in hers. When she started listening, she giggled very loudly. His belly button was also exposed, and she thought that was also cute.

“Are you nervous? Does your chest hurt? It sounds so deep. It’s so cute,” Shanti remarked.
“This is me when I’m with you,” Kevin replied quietly, following a very heavy sigh.
“Awwww, you’re so cute.”
“My heart is beating very fast.”
“Yes, it is. It’s so strong and sexy beating inside you.”