i s r a e l
』
"Indiana Jones!" Someone yells in the hallway. I turn around, seeing my best friend, Indiana (no, his last name isn't actually Jones).
He rolls his eyes, walking to where I'm standing by his locker.
"I hate when people call me that!" He says. "I wonder each and every day why my parents chose the name 'Indiana'."
"I wonder why mine chose Israel," I point out. "At least you get a cool nickname."
He looks at me, rolling his eyes. "What are you doing this weekend?"
I shrug. "I'm not sure..."
"You wanna spend the night?" He asks.
I nod. "Yes, please save me from my crazy family. My mom wants to do a family Zumba class on Saturday morning. Zumba!"
He laughs. "I'll be your 'Get out of Zumba free card,'"
I smile at him.
』
After school, I drive home quickly to tell my parents and pack a bag.
When I pull into his driveway, I see his brother and sister-in-law's SUV. His brother, Gabriel, and his wife, Veronica, just had a baby boy named Hudson.
I grab my stuff and walk inside the house. I don't bother knocking anymore, we've been friends for so long this is practically my second home.
Indie's mom comes into the entryway.
"Hi, sweetie!" She says, giving me a quick hug. "Everyone's in the living room with the baby."
I smile, thanking her.
I quickly put my stuff in Indie's room and then I go into the living room where he's holding his nephew. He looks absolutely adorable.
Indie and I have been friends since Kindergarten. Recently, though, I started feeling things— things I hadn't felt for my best friend before. I kind of freaked out, avoided him over a weekend, and then tried my best to act normal. Eventually, things sort of went back to normal (or as normal as they could); he still doesn't know though.
I wanted to kiss him so badly earlier in the hallway, but I have no clue if he feels the same— I highly doubt he does. I just keep falling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. Maybe, someday when we're seventy years old, I'll tell him.
Indie looks at Hudson and then at me, and there's so much emotion on his face.
"He's so cute," I say.
"I know," he says softly. "He's so tiny and precious..."
He looks up at his brother and sister-in-law.
Indie hands Hudson to me carefully; he's so tiny.
"How much did he weight at birth?" I ask.
"Six pounds and eight ounces," Veronica says. "He was eighteen and a half inches long."
"Oh my goodness, how tiny!" I say.
Gabriel and Indie's little sister, Juliana, walks in the front door, just now getting home from school; Juliana is sixteen and in tenth grade.
"The baby!!" She says quietly. She comes over to the couch beside me, looking at him. I look at her.
"He's cute, isn't he?" I say.
She nods, and I carefully hand him over to her, looking back at Indie who's got one of the biggest smiles on his face.
For dinner, we order pizza and take turns watching and passing around the baby.
Around 7:30, Gabriel, Veronica, and Hudson leave to go home and Indie and I go up to his bedroom.
"I think I'm obsessed." Indie says, looking at me. "He's the absolute most precious thing I think I have ever seen."
I nod. "I'll be that cool uncle who isn't actually his uncle, but is his best friend's uncle."
Indie smiles at me, moving closer to me.
"No, you'll be his actual uncle," he whispers, leaning in and pressing his lips against mine.
"I love you, Is," he whispers, kissing me again. "I love you so much. I've wanted you for so long..."
His lips press against mine once again; I cup his face, trying to pull him closer to me.
His lips move against mine, smiling, as he nips at my bottom lip, slipping his tongue in my mouth, and presses his lips hard against mine.
When he pulls away, he leans his head against mine, leaving his eyes closed for a few seconds before he looks at me again.
"I love you," I say softly, brushing a stray curl of hair from his forehead.
He smiles at me, cupping my face and pressing a long kiss to my lips.
』
Indie pulls my body close to his underneath of the covers, resting his chin on my shoulder, his arm wrapped around me. I smile to myself, because just earlier I was thinking about telling him I like him when we were seventy years old, but now, we'll be married when we're seventy years old. I wonder what our lives will be like? How many kids we'll have, where we'll live, where and when we'll get married... how many pets we'll have?
Indie kisses my cheek. "You seem like you're deep in thought about something," he says, smiling softly.
I roll onto my back, looking at him. "I'm thinking about you and me. Us. Our future..." I tell him.
He smiles at me. "How many kids do you think we'll have? Do you think we'll have twins?"
I laugh. "I hope we have four kids. Two girls and two boys. And then we'll obviously have some dogs and cats."
He nods, agreeing. "I kind of hope we have twins, and I kind of hope we don't. But, if we have twins, then we have: two kids in one go, and we also have one kid per person."
I start laughing. "Only you would say that,"
He smiles at me, kissing me softly.
"I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with you," he whispers.
"Me too, Indie," I reply, looking at him and kissing him.
2/12/2021
