Pass or Play?

Do I like him?

e r i n 

We arrived home and I quickly went to my room to isolate myself from my family. The last thing I need is for my parents to get involved in my love life. Alex was so cute - those green eyes would not leave my thoughts. He was so handsome, fluffy brown hair, tall, kind; he was just my type and maybe more. 

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"Erin! Dinner!" Mum called. Ugh, I just want to sit here and daydream about him. I took my time, getting up, walking down the stairs, walking to the kitchen, to waste as much time as possible. I entered the kitchen and instantly regretted it. I swear. I always get called down to dinner and when I get there, it isn't even ready! Why does this always happen! Ugh. 

As usual, Mum got me to set the table, pour the drinks and get cutlery. Eventually, when everything was ready we sat down at the table and ate a nice medium-rare steak with Mum's special (and delicious!) gravy. As time wore on, we finished our meals, and conversations began. I was hoping that Dad wouldn't bring up-

"So, Erin here likes the new boy," said Dad. Shoot. Why, Dad, why? Ugh, the one conversation that I didn't want to be brought up at the dinner table. 

I quickly defended myself in every way possible, pleading the case that I did NOT like the boy. My cheeks flared a tomato red, and it was clear to all of them that I absolutely simped for the boy. Dad went on about Alex and I slowly crumbled my head to my hands. 

"Ooh, Erin and Alex, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," taunted my older irritating brother. I honestly wanted to die in a hole at this point. Mum quickly shushed him before interjecting into the conversation. 

"Alex, you say? Is that Alex Franklin? From Tree Mountain High School?" Mum questioned. I nodded. That was the Alex that I had my eyes on. What did mum know about him? "I teach him maths at school. He's a very sweet boy, a good one for you Erin," she winked. 

I gave Mum an awkward look, signalling that I was uncomfortable and didn't want to continue this conversation. I excused myself from the table and went back to my room. I returned to 369 new messages on my Whatsapp. Gosh, my friends are quite over-caffeinated sometimes. I opened the app and saw all the messages were from the same group chat, my friendship group. Ally, Elle and Lyss. The best friends a girl could have. 

Ally was with me since primary school. She moved from England in the first grade, and ever since then, we have been great friends. We moved together to the same high school, the only ones from our primary. We have a long ride to school, but that's okay because we do it together. We'll also be moving schools together in our senior years to Tree Mountain High School since they only accept girls as seniors. 

Elle is boy-crazy obsessed. The only thing she cares about is becoming a successful multimillionaire lawyer, getting married and having kids. She wants like, 10 kids, which I can't even begin to fathom. Though, if she married a millionaire or billionaire, she'd give up the lawyer part and become a full-time momager with a shopping addiction. She already has a shopping addiction and it's her coping mechanism. I can't even keep count on the guys she talks to, let alone her exes. She just keeps going on about how she "needs" a rich boyfriend.

Lyss and I met in English class last term and hit it off straight away as best friends. She was quite quiet and introverted at first but now she's willing to spill all her secrets to me. She's really nice and sweet and kind, and often the only sane person in our group. 

I hopped onto the chat and read through all their messages, literally just ranting about all their first world problems again. When they saw the 'read by' symbol go blue, they knew I was there and spammed my messages like hell! When I finally acknowledged my presence to them and said 'Hi', they went on asking about tonight's training session. 

I began by talking about the training part, the drills etc, that bored them to death. Until...

"Any cute guys Erin?" asked Elle. Of course, that's all she cared about. I slowly began to tell them about Alex, and of course, they went wild over the thought of me talking about a boy.

What does he look like?

What colour are his eyes? His hair?

How old is he?

What school does he go to?

Do you like him? 

Is he cute? 

Is he single? 

Woah, woah, woah. These girls really need to calm down. I attempted to answer their questions but they just kept flooding me with more. I told them about his head-turning green eyes, his fluffy brown hair that was to die for, and his oh-so-kind personality. Instantly, they concluded my crush on him. I wasn't even sure of my own feelings, how would they know. 

"Erin, you should ask him out!" texted Elle. 

"Geez Elle, not so soon," Lyss replied. 

"Yeah, play hard to get!" Ally messaged. These girls were seriously so over-enthusiastic about a boy I met an hour ago! Once they realised I didn't want to talk about this, Lyss initiated a conversation about some boy called Bailey who was 'SOOOO HOT' and 'SUPER SWEET' according to Elle. Ally said they had never even met yet she was practically in love with him. 

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I was quite uninterested in this conversation so I muted notifications and went to change into my pyjamas and brush my teeth. Once I was finished I read 'Hush, Hush' before turning off the light and laying in bed. It took a while to fall asleep, as Alex was the only thing on my mind. 

Eventually, I closed my eyes shut, and drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming of those lovely green eyes.