Could It Be?

After dropping Anna first at her home, Ashley reached her place around 2.30 pm as she paid her share of the total fare and got out of the Uber. Maybe Anna was right, maybe she had been too negative about the whole Samuel thing and was expecting Samuel to do too much in such little time. Besides, it is not like they together in the same college or even the same campus for him to do something quickly.

However, she still wished he would do something straightforwardly now. As she entered the apartment she noticed how quiet it was. "Mom?" she called out, but there was no response. "She must have gone out to pick Roxanne from school." she thought to herself.

As she took a look around, she found a note on the fridge that read, "Honey! I'm out to pick Roxanne we will then go grocery shopping our way back. There's pizza in the oven! Will cook Chinese tonight for dinner, your favourite! Love, mom."

She pulled the oven handle to find the fajita flavoured pizza inside. "Ahh" she smelled in the aroma enjoying the fragrance that came out of the oven. From the dough to the layers with toppings, to the cheese that smelt like heaven for the stomach, it was like mom's love on a plate. She poured herself some orange juice from the fridge and pulled a slice out as she started eating on the kitchen counter, with her mind still analysing the incidents that had happened earlier that day. Maybe it was a good thing they went, at least now she knows he will start visiting her campus again hopefully from coming Tuesday. Plus she finally got to feel his eyes on her every time looked away and she loved it.

She pulled out another slice and placed the rest back in the oven to keep it warm. As she took her slice inside her bedroom, she cuddled up in her bed as she ate. She dug out her phone from her bag and then typed out on google "How to know if a shy guy likes you?" and plenty of results came forward on her screen.

The more she went through the articles the more it gave her hope as it all perfectly described Samuel's reaction whenever she was near him. She smiled as she passed through each of the points from article to article.

He creates opportunities to be around you. ...

His body language gives him away. ...

He gets nervous around you. ...

He throws you secret glances. ...

He listens intently. ...

He's chivalrous. ...

She caught a flashback of the time Sam had held the door open for her so she would walkthrough. "He is so lovable!" Even though it frustrated her on how awfully slow things were moving her forward but she had to admit she adored how charmingly awkward Samuel was around her. Growing up she always knew she had a celebrity crush on Jesse Eisenberg's character in Zombieland and to see an adorably awkward nerdy guy just like that in her own life made her like Samuel even more.

She opened up her Facebook and typed in Sam's name on the search bar once again after the last time she went through his profile with Roxanne.

There were two updates since the last she saw it. He had posted a picture on his Facebook account of his entire college group. There were a lot of new faces in the picture and some old ones too, she saw Emma in it right next to Sam as they all casually laughed while posing the same way she had caught the live version of them hanging out together earlier in the day. She took a closer look at Sam, he was in a white coloured button-down shirt with formal dress pants looking handsome and a blue coloured cap on the head looking handsome as ever!"

"Wait! He was wearing a formal shirt AGAIN!? Does that mean he started wearing more button-down shirts ever since I complimented?!" Ashley thought to herself.

She immediately checked the date when the picture was posted and then quickly opened her calendar to confirm. The last she had met Samuel at her college was on Wednesday two weeks back and this picture was posted on the Friday that week, exactly two days after.

"Was this again just a coincidence? Am I overthinking the little insignificant stuff again? Or perhaps did he seriously start wearing these types of shirts because I told him I like them on him?" she thought to herself. "Ths couldn't be it, this is me overthinking! Don't attach yourself too much!" she told herself.

She looked over at his profile to see what the other update was and to her surprise, it was a poem. A love poem. She knew Samuel wrote poems but none of those was romantic but this one was directly speaking about a girl. She could feel her heart sink as she started skimming through the poem, her hand grabbed the arm of the chair as she read:

"I have forever been terrified of heights but know that I would climb day and night if I knew you were waiting for me at the top,

The day when you finally arrived, I knew I was the luckiest guy alive, every time you smile, my stomach, does somersaults,

I will never break your precious heart nor will I let someone tear us apart,

You are mine, and I was already yours, the day I first looked into your eyes and caught a glimpse of your heart..."

"OH, MY GOD! She looked at her phone screen in disbelief as her lips parted in a silent surprise. "COULD THIS BE FOR ME!? No no no no-no-no. It couldn't be. Of course not! Could it be? NO! When did he post this? He posted this LAST NIGHT!!"

She licked her dry lips and went over the poem again more carefully this time. She could feel goosebumps all over her skin, her stomach contracting into a tight ball as she imagined herself waiting on top of a hill while Samuel made his way to the top. What if it really was for her? What if this is what he felt about HER?! NO! She snapped herself out of the ridiculous idea but her mind was spiral.

"It obviously couldn't be for me, he doesn't even know me well!" She finally decided, "If it were for me, he is gonna have to say it. He is gonna have to do something big. At least bigger than a simple hi! But what if it is for someone else? What if it is for his ex and what if he is still stuck on her? After all, Zoey did say she was pretty darn amazing!"

She closed his Facebook page and turned the screen of her phone off. "Too much stalking for one day!" she thought to herself, trying to distract herself from the poem and who it was directed to as her mind went back and forth.

She turned on her side and forcefully closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep but her mind was stuck on Sam. If that's what he felt about her she couldn't help but blush, and after a long tiring day at Sam's campus, her eyes were drowsy over her smile.