Be A Pest

Chapter 8

He took the caramel ice cream and I took a raspberry one. It was, among some others, a flavor that also reminded me of him. He was as sweet as vanilla, yet loving him felt like a bitter black currant. And when those two opposites colided, they couldn't attract under any circumstances.

Having that happen in my mind was the worst feeling ever. Even worse, having him to watch me there, battling it, was simply unbearable. The only good thing was that he had no clue. Although, I often wanted him to know. And as I was eating the dark pink ice cream and walking there with him, I tried to focus on how satisfying it all was. Until he had to start annoying me again.

"I don't understand you", he said. "What do you mean?", I asked, not being able to look at him. "First you're angry at me, and then you ask me if I want to do something, as though you're afraid of me". I wanted to slap my face so badly after that, but of course, I couldn't. And I thought I'd never understand how he could notice exactly what I didn't want him to. I seriously started asking myself if I could hide my feelings or not.

"I'm a teen, you know", I finaly answered, "That's common in my age". "Oh, ok", he said. I quietly sighed in relief. It was close. But it was already over. Being a teenager was the best exuse ever, for any case. To be honest, that was the only adventage about being one. Not only that, but he didn't notice. For once. "Let's go sit here", I said, pointing to a bench that had a beautiful view of the sea.

I could finaly distance myself for a while as we sat there and stared into the calming space. It was the only thing that made me feel at peace in that moment. Only now did I have time to think. Hm...this was my world. Basicaly, sitting there with him and doing nothing but staring was my thing. And only here was I actually comfortable with him. Maybe this wasn't my imagination, but it was great.

Silence is golden, they say. I felt the freedom of that silence.

Until...

"Do you want to practice Spanish?".

I almost stopped breathing. Yes, he was real. I mean, it was difficult getting used to that being the actual truth. I shoock my head and got up. He only wanted to tease me. "Let's go to the swings", I said. His face immediately lit up, "The swings!? Yaay!". We started quickly walking to the playground. Needless to say, I was pretty glad about how he reacted. It did sound a little cringy but...it was worth trying.

Ah, swinging. My freedom. Literaly flying back and forth. As long as I was doing that, nothing and no one could bother me. Not even Wakko. The wind blew into my face and I couldn't stop smiling wide because I was having the time of my life. This was something I could do every day and it made me extremely happy. Then again, I'd get caught by something at times and feel a little sad. I recognized it would happen every time I frowned because my face hurt from so much smiling.

Still, it didn't really make sense. That once I frowned, my chest closed and I immediately thought of something I didn't like. I glanced over at Wakko and saw that he was also having a lot of fun. Nobody disturbed him and it seemed like he was stuck in his own mind, completely fine with it. After I got tired, which felt like forever, I slowly got off and drew back a little. "Come on, jump!", I said to him, "I'll catch you".

He, of course, shoock his head. So I let him be. It was fair, if I didn't want to practice Spanish with him, I couldn't expect anything from him. I sat down on a bench and waited. Surprisingly, he got off the same way I did, by slowing down. I got up and we headed home. But we didn't say a word to eachother. It was odd. Not only the silence, but the way he got off so carefuly. I couldn't get it out of my mind. There was something more going on.

The next morning was pretty much the same. We went to the beach and he started playing tag with me. It also went on like that for what seemed like forever. I got so tired, both phisicaly and emotionaly, that I decided to take a nap. My heart was hammering and it was difficult to fall asleep, but I somehow managed to do it anyway. Bad idea, awful even. 'Cause I didn't wake up by myself.

"Y/n, y/n!". I opened my eyes and saw him practicaly shaking my arm. "What?!", I almost snapped. "Look!", he pointed at my shoulder. I turned my head to that side and gasped. It was red, and the skin was peeling off. I quickly got up and started packing. Not only had I seen it, but also felt it, and it stung. After I was done, I grabbed his hand and we walked home as fast as we could. I was in so much pain, I couldn't even run.

We got home safely and I went straight to the mirror. Not only were my shoulders and back red, but my face, especially nose, was slightly pink. Then I ran to my mother. "Mom", I said, getting her to take a look at my face, "Please don't tell me it's blush, please be-", I silently whined, but she cut me off. "Whoa, slow down", she chuckled, "First, it's not. And second...", she made a serious face, "Shower. Now".

I did as she told me and, as usual, washed my hair. This time I needed to take a cold one, because I was basicaly burning so much, so I was desperate for something cold. When I finished, the pain was mainly gone, yet I still felt it a little. I wasn't feeling better, though. My legs were trembling and my heart was still in shock. So after lunch, I layed down again on the couch.