Chapter 7 "CRUSH"

Chris was my neighbors grandson and we lived just across each other. His room was across mine, he had a small balcony where he stood most of the time, and I was grateful for the balcony because it gave me opportunity to spy on him, not in a creepy way, like to get a better view,if you get what I mean. My room had no balcony, just a window. I sat on the window rails whenever I felt like staring at the stars or writing a song,it was a good space. I and Chris lived opposite each other for months,and never had an actual conversation. Maybe he would think I'm creepy because I'm pretty sure he caught me staring numerous times. One night when I was writing a song while sitting on my window rail,Chris came out to his balcony and I didn't notice until..

"Hey.." Chris said to get my attention because I was so caught up with the paper and pen in front of me. When I looked up I saw Chris standing in his balcony, looking hot as ever,with this smile that melted every aspect of my being,I stared for what seemed like ages, forgetting that I had not replied him yet.

"Um okayy... tough crowd,whatcha doing,I'm Chris by the way?" Chris said again making me realize that I have been staring for too long,I saw him smile when I snapped out of my thoughts,yes he noticed I was staring.

"Umm...I'm Ari..I mean Ariel.. no I mean hey..I um" i stammered continuously,I could not even form a reasonable sentence,urggh I was so embarrassed.

"Okay Ariel... Whatcha doing?" Chris asked again staring at me like I was some sort of creep,well I won't blame him,I was acting like one.

"Umm, song.. writing... paper" That's it,I officially ruined my chances with my crush,what the hell was I saying,I sounded so dumb. Ariel focus,I yelled at myself in my head. I wouldn't have been surprised if he ran into his room and never spoke to me again, because I was acting weird.

"You write songs?" Chris asked with an eyebrow raised, trying to confirm if that was what he heard thanks to the gibberish I vomited.

"Yeah,that was what I said" I replied confidently,finally saying something that made sense.

"That's cool, you're into music?" Chris asked again

"Yeah,um,I am...music is kinda my whole life,if you get what I mean" i replied with a nervous smile. It was so weird that we were having our first conversation in this weird space,he was so far,over there in his balcony,and here I was on my window rail.

"That's cool..I'm kinda into music too you know, I write songs,well it does not always turn out perfect but it counts" Chris said and laughed, making me laugh too.

"Yeah,I play the electric guitar,been playing since I was like 10 I think,I'm kind into pop music you know, like let's rock N roll!!" He said demonstrating a rockstar playing a guitar,I found myself laughing,he looked so cute and funny when he fooled around. So new piece of information my crush loved music,we are a perfect match made in heaven,I thought, staring at his beautiful face under the moonlight, that made him look so unreal and mystical.

"Do you play any instrument?" He asked,but I was so lost in my thoughts,and in staring at his beautiful face that I didn't hear the question thrown at me.

"Um sorry,what did you say?" I said shaking my head, hoping the thoughts would shake off too but no,it stuck like glue.

"Do you play any musical instrument?" He repeated, staring at me,his eyes were boring holes into my body,was that what it felt like to get someone stare at you like that.

"Yeah I play the piano,you know tun.. tun..tun" I said making weird sounds that was actually supposed to sound like the sounds from a piano,it made Chris laugh so hard and I found myself joining him in the laugh marathon, I'm sorry but his laugh was contagious.

"Chris!!" Chris's grandma called him,her voice echoed from inside the house.

"I think that's me" Chris groaned,did he really enjoy the conversation we had and was angry he had to leave,nice job Ariel,I made a mental note to pat myself on the back later.

"You think?.. or maybe it's me" I joked around,making us fly into another laughter marathon.

"Um okay,so talk to you some other time" He said with a smile

"Okay, tomorrow then?" I said but he had already left. Why was I sounding desperate in my head,like what the fuck was 'tomorrow then",made it sound like I was asking him out on a date,Ariel get yourself together. I walked back into the room and closed my window before jumping around and screaming like a teenager in love,which I was.

"He spoke to me...he spoke to me!! He spoke to meee" I screamed excitedly

"Who spoke to you?" Grandma came in and interrupted my celebration,with a stern face. Did I forget to mention that my grandma was like the parents and grandparents of other religious families in the town that were against their teenagers dating?, Well if you have spent so much time in this town, there's no fucking way you won't become part of the custodians of these their religious rules, and my grandma who had spent all her life here,was not an exception. My mom was not totally against it,note the words "not totally" so she was and was not,she was scared of me getting pregnant like her but also believed I should experience love. My mom's naivety thanks to the town rules,made it easier for her to fall into the wrong hands in the city. She was given a type of freedom she had never tasted and got too overwhelmed with it. She was like a young cub, without it's lion parents in the wild jungle. So back to me.My mom was chill with me having a boyfriend,but I just had to make sure I tell her about it,be safe,and keep it from grandma. Grandma insisted on me not having any sexual relationship until marriage,yes that's how religious my grandma is.

"Who spoke to you?" Grandma repeated sternly.

"Um no...no one grandma,was just um I was..." I kept on stammering,I was a really bad liar and was trying to come up with something fast,I can't tell Grandma I was talking with a boy.

"You were doing what?" Grandma asked not ready to drop the issue.

"I was um.. writing a song,I was singing actually....like singing the writings of the song... more like practicing" I answered immediately, hoping my dumb answer would work. Grandma was quiet for a while..

"Come down for dinner" she told me after staring at me weirdly. I could tell she was suspecting me.

"Ai ai grandma" I replied trying to lighten the atmosphere,but grandma was not taking any of it, and walked away.

"Geez!close one" I sighed,I didn't realize I was holding my breathe all this while until she left. I made my way downstairs to join her and my mom for dinner.