Side Note: I Think I Love You

Chapter 24 - Attie

I did not have "making friendship bracelets with my fake boyfriend" on my Sunday bingo card.

I also did not have "Ian stealing my favorite bracelet" on that same imaginary card—especially the first one that had not snapped on me. But today is filled with a load of surprises.

Like this one: me holding out my left wrist for Ian to measure out how much string he needs to use.

Is he making me a bracelet?

That seems about right.

He doesn't ask me anything else but as soon as he catches me staring, he stops. "Close your eyes."

I raise a brow. "Why would I need to do that?"

"It's a surprise. Trust me."

I don't close my eyes but I lay down and pay attention to the stars on the ceiling. Even though the painting is technically done, I always go back and add more little stars. You can never have too many, right? One of these days, I will have filled it completely before moving off to college. I can only hope.

I don't remember how long it's been before I feel a hand grab my wrist and slip a beaded bracelet on. "You can look now, princess."

I don't get up from the floor so I hold out my wrist in front of me and gasp. It alternates with blue and white—my two favorite colors—and eight letters that spell out princess. I've been using Taylor Swift songs for all of my bracelets but I somehow prefer the one on my wrist to all the others Amy and I have made.

I guess I have a new favorite.

And a whole other set of butterflies bussing around in my stomach.

"Now you have your own good luck charm," he says in a humorous tone, lying down next to me. "Wow."

"Yeah, I know. It's a lot."

He nods. "Was this here the last time I came over?"

"Uh huh. I spent a good chunk of summer working on it."

"I can see that." He doesn't say anything else, only continues to look up. I notice his eyes bounce from one little star to the other and since I know he's not an art critic, I can't help but wonder what he could possibly be looking for.

"Did I forget something?" I ask out of panic.

"Just wondering why there aren't any constellations."

Wait, what?

"Constellations?"

He turns onto his side to face me. "Yeah, constellations."

"Like what?"

"Well, Ursa major is definitely important. Can't be a night sky without it." I barely recognize the name of any constellation. And I think my confusion definitely shows because his face turns a little red as he mutters, "the big dipper."

Oh.

Wait, how does he know this? I mean, I know Ian's smart—anyone who even understands the concepts of physics is automatically a genius in my book—but I'm starting to realize that Ian Bale knows a lot more than he lets on. From the tattoo on his leg to the names of random constellations that even I never thought existed, I can't help but wonder:

What else does he know?

💌💌💌💌

"Oh he is totally in love with you," Amy laughs just as he leaves the room. We're still resting on the carpet of my bedroom floor and I have yet to get up.

"No he isn't." Deny, deny, deny. It's not denying if it's the truth. He isn't in love with me—he's just pretending to be since he thinks that Amy believes the whole ruse. I didn't tell him otherwise because Amy made me swear to secrecy.

"At-Bat, it's so obvious." She starts holding up fingers for each reason. "He asked you to do this fake dating ruse." That's one. "He has a nickname for you." Two. "And let's not forget that he just sat with us for a whole hour just to make bracelets." Three.

"That could mean anything," I point out. "We're only friends, Ames."

"Friends do not tell you that you're a good kisser."

My eyes widen at that declaration.

She rolls her eyes. "I was listening to you guys talk until Carter called." Why does that not surprise me?

"It's not like your first kiss was bad."

Amy lets out a belly laugh, as if that's the dumbest thing I've ever said. "Oh no, it was terrible."

"I thought you liked kissing Carter."

"Oh I do," she tells me as her laugh dies down. "But he wasn't my first."

Side note: if I wasn't so interested in Amy's claim of Ian's quote-on-quote love for me, then I would be pounding on questions about Amy's actual first kiss.

"I'm trying to find a point to this," I say.

"Right." Amy clears her throat. "Like or love, he definitely has some sort of feelings for you."

"And that feeling is friendship." I start picking at the tufts of my carpet, specifically one with dried blue paint.

"Not in the way he looks at you."

I look up at the serious expression glued to Amy's face. "No."

But she nods vehemently. "I've read about this before. Personally, I think it's a kind of placebo effect. The more you pretend that something exists, the more likely it is to come true."

"That sounds a lot like manifestation."

"That's different."

"Regardless, this isn't a romance novel, Amy. I can go through the next three weeks and be just fine," I assure her.

"You say that as you play with the bracelet he made you." I look down at my hands and realize that she's right. I am fiddling with the blue bead. I drop the bracelet from my grasp though it still hangs onto my wrist. "I did say I was worried about this. Either one of you falling in love."

I raise a brow.

"One of you is going to end up heartbroken. I just hope you know what you're doing, Attie because those pieces you'll be picking up are." She places one hand over my wrist.

"I promise, I know what I'm doing. I think you might be drinking too many chai lattes if you're starting to doubt me."

She shakes her head in defiance. "No such thing."

I laugh as I look back down at my wrist and play with my bracelet. Do I know what I'm doing? I think that answers the question if I'm starting to doubt myself two weeks in.

Maybe I'm not developing feelings of love but an interest in who Ian really is. I'm no detective but I wouldn't consider myself someone who goes for the surface. If I want to get to know someone, then I want to know all of them. Flaws and all.

Side note: maybe not all the gross and gory details because my brain can only take so much.