Bose frantically looks between Ava and his parents over and over again, at a complete loss for words.
Daniel lifts his eyebrows. "Chapa?"
"Is she really your friend?" Tamara asks, a wide smile setting on her face, thrilled at her son starting to feel comfortable enough to make new friends. "That's super sweetie! Ooh, we should invite her over for dinner sometime too."
Bose's heart harshly jumps at the idea of actually having Chapa in his house. His palms get sweaty and the tips of his ears suddenly turn red. He bends his neck to ensure they're well covered by his hair. "She's not a friend...exactly."
Daniel looks up at him. "Not a friend exactly in the sense that?"
"Not a friend exactly in the sense that she kinda..." Hates my guts. Bose wants to say but that's probably not the most mature way to describe anybody.
Ava attempts to save him. Even though she got him into this mess in the first place. She just hadn't been able to resist seeing what his reaction might be and she has no regrets. She'd spent years and years secretly swooning over him, so much that she feels Chapa deserves an Oscar for doing what she didn't think any other girl would have the ability to do; actually make him swoon for once. She has to say it's entertaining. It makes her really want to meet Chapa. "Oh, Bose didn't you say she was the shy, insecure type?"
Bose wants to laugh. He actually almost does. Shy, Insecure and Chapa in the same sentence? Alert the media.
He akwardly coughs instead and says, "Well, I don't know enough about her to know for sure but she-" He starts feeling very subconscious at the way his father is examining him but he tries to ignore it. "She's okay, I geuss."
Tamara, squeezes his hand harder. "Well, I would love to meet her one day." She says.
Ava snorts. "You bet, you would."
The glare Bose gives her could kill her.
---------------------------------------------------------
It's 8pm and Bose still doesn't want to go to sleep. He decides to relax for a bit on his balcony.
He doesn't get it, he's never thought so much about one thing like this before. He was usually so carefree. He never let anything keep him upset for too long and he never let anything stub him either.
He was never an overthinker.
But now he's staring at the stars and trying to decieve himself into thinking he's just randomly coming up with names for them to pass the time because he's bored.
Who's he kidding?
He hears Ava walk up to him and lean on the railing beside him. "So are you going to tell her how you feel about her?"
"Princess Iris of Ephedia? Ava, I told you I had that crush on her when I was like six." Bose replies. "I am now completely aware of how perfectly fictional she is so-"
"Oh, please!" Ava says, not even letting him finish. He's not charming his way out of this one. "Usually you're so cute when you joke around like this, but don't joke about something as serious as love." She says, before visibly cringing at the fact that she'd just accidentally called him cute.
But Bose hasn't even heard her. His eyes are far away and he looks like he's trying to drown out life as he knows it and just live in the atmosphere.
Ava feels like saying something. Anything to help him feel more confident in admitting he's possibly fallen. Because he has. She knows he has. Or, probably will anyway.
