From The Start

21

Nathan

The rest of the night was nothing but work. All five of us did our share, getting separate parts of the house clean.

I got the backyard, Phillip got the kitchen, Melanie took the hall, the girl from my English class, whom I later found out her name was Chriselle, took the bathrooms. I only hoped the bedrooms weren't too bad. My father went to pick up my mother on his way from work, so we had a head start. About an half an hour later, Gail had left in a cab, looking at me sadly, all the way until the car pulled off, as if she was expecting me change my mind and take her back but I ignored it completely and made sure to see her off nonetheless.

We were almost through, rushing back and forth, throwing things in the trash, sweeping wiping and hustling. Everything slowly got back to the way they were and I was beginning to feel hope.

Three minutes before their arrival, I sat down in a lawn chair with the pool net in my hand, daydreaming about taking a shower and jumping in bed. My thoughts cleared the minute Phillip walked through the door and stood in front of me.

"What's up man?" I asked looking up at him. He was really lanky and his body leaned to the side awkwardly.

Maybe he was just a late bloomer...

"Oh nothing," He snorted and switched the weight on his feet. "I was just coming to tell you that your home is clean." he whipped his palm over his sweaty forehead in a relieved gesture.

Thank God. This was the hardest that I ever worked, not that I was lazy or anything but I never been this tired before.

"Thanks man, I appreciate the help." I said honestly. He blinked a few times and turned red and I looked away. He nodded and saluted. "If there is anything that I could do for you, you let me know," I said.

"Oh that's nice, but I don't really want anything." His head was now down and he used the tip of his shoe to trace the tiles on the floor. Oh boy, I can't believe I'm doing this.

"Hey you sure there's nothing I can do?" He paused. I felt my heart race and I braced my self for his long request, I knew there had to be something on his mind that he wanted.

"Well, there is one thing." he said with is index finger in the air.

"What's that." I said nonchalantly, hiding what I really wanted to say. He was fidgety and nervous. What could it possibly be?

"I've been really trying to get this girl to notice me for the past few weeks and every time I try, I chicken out. She's so hot and I like her so much, she gives me butterflies..." he sighed, "I tried so hard to be cool, but it's obvious, I'm not you." He gestured to me. I felt so bad for him. He wasn't a bad person, but who would see pass his looks. Maybe this girl he mentioned could be a break through for him. Maybe, he'd grow into his looks or he'd find that special some one. There is plenty of women on this planet who digged, awkward and dorky. So, I vowed in return, since he helped me with my problem, I planned to help him out with his.

"Hey, to me you're a cool person and I don't mind helping you out," I said with encouragement. He turned red again.

Step one, quit blushing. I told him throughout our conversation and he immediately turned serious, I could tell he was fighting back the urge.

After a long talk, he told me about this girl that she like and described her very discreetly. He told me about his likes and dislikes and I sort a felt like we had a great deal in common. He liked videogames, so did I. He was picky with food, so was I and the list went on.

He described this girl's personality and how she smelled and looked. He even said she was black.

The way he spoke of her, she sounded too familiar and I just couldn't help but think it was delusional. It couldn't be her.