Temporary Love

Chapter 2

The car ride after the game was long. My parents were talking the whole time about the game, especially the last goal. They talked about #8 so much, saying how talented he is. Honestly, they're not wrong, he's really talented. And hot.

I can't stop thinking about our eye contact. It was short but it's all I can think about. I believe eye contacts are extremely meaningful. Eyes express your feelings and emotions, so much can be said through them, it's wonderful. The perfect example is how my parents look at each other. It's so clear they're in love just because of the spark in their eyes whenever they talk about each other. I'm not saying I'm in love with the guy, but I am definitely attracted to him at a whole other level than any other boys I've met before.

It's been 15 minutes since I came back and I am fighting the urge to open Instagram and find his profile. I'm not usually the stalker type, as I find it a waste of time and I believe it's creepy. My friends, especially Sophie, have stalked so many people to the point where they could easily be hired in the FBI. Honestly, I don't even know how they manage to do that. I could give them one name of a random person and they would find the person's favorite color along with what they ate exactly 3 months ago. Finding #8 would be a lot easier, though. I just have to check my brother's followers to find him.

But isn't wrong? Stalking your brother's teammate on social media seems out of pocket, especially if he's 3 years older than you and you barely know the guy.

I mean, who would it hurt? My curiosity takes over and I search up my brother's account. My brother referred to him as Blake, however I can't figure out if that's his first or last name. I open my brother's follower list and search up his name. My brother knows a lot of people, which means I see at least 10 people with Blake in their username, some are even girls. One profile specifically draws my interest, as the profile pic is the back of a soccer player with the jersey #8. I click on the profile and instantly see his full name.

Noah Blake.

I also see a bunch of soccer posts from a few months ago. His muscles are visible in all of them, this guy is so athletic. One post catches my eye, it's a shirtless Noah Blake on a soccer field. This man is so fucking fine it's not even fair. I stalk him for a good 5 minutes, it's addicting.

•

I've been on facetime with Sophie for a few hours now, we've been updating ourselves on our day. I haven't told her about Blake, I don't really think it's relevant to my life, although I've been thinking about his face during the whole FaceTime.

Sophie has now been my best friend for 13 years now. We met in elementary and we bonded really easily. I tell her everything and she knows me better than anyone else. Honestly, I would donate my kidney for her. We've been through multiple friend groups together and somehow always stuck with each other. My parents treat her like their second daughter, she's basically appart of our family. She's had family issues ever since she was young, therefore I've always been trying to include her in my family so she can have a second family to count on.

''Okay girl, I think I'm gonna head out to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow, maybe we can hang out and do something with the girls after my parents leave, it's been a while. '' I conclude our FaceTime with, and finally get ready for bed.

After brushing my teeth and scrolling through TikTok for a bit, I decide to go to sleep. Except that one thing stops me from closing my phone. I open Instagram and go back to the same profile I stalked a few hours earlier. I look through his posts again to find any signs he has a girlfriend, and end up going back to the shirtless post that makes me drool. I try to zoom with both of my fingers, which accidentally clicks the screen twice twice, making the worst thing I could ever imagine happen.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I just liked his post from last year. Oh my god. He will definitely notice, look at my profile, and notice I'm Aiden's sister. What did I just do?! I'm never going to my brother's game again. I'm so stupid, I hope I never see him again

I'm gonna have to distract myself tomorrow from not thinking of the mistake I just made. To be honest, it wouldn't have been that bad if it was a random guy I was stalking, but I just saw this man not even 3 hours ago which makes everything ten times creepier. I fall sleep to my overthinking.

•

I change myself and decide to wear a short dress with a flower print. When I go downstairs, I spot my parents and Aiden drinking their coffee and eating breakfast. I quickly find my seat and join them, I am starving. I haven't really been thinking about what happened last night. Honestly, the odds he notices I was stalking him are really low. I come to the conclusion that I was overthinking last night and I should stop thinking about him and have fun with my friends today.

''Good morning Mari, we've been waiting you. How'd you sleep?''

''Good, thank you Dad. What happened, is everything okay, are you both still leaving today?''

I'm assuming this conversation is going to be about their trip, my dad is taking my mom to Italy for a few weeks. They're leaving in the afternoon.

''Everything is fine. We're just gonna remind you of some ground rules about the house you both need to respect when we'll be away. First, no parties. Or at least we don't want to be aware if you throw one.''

Me and my brother look at each other. We will, obviously, be throwing parties. Me and my brother always go crazy when they leave and our house is huge enough to invite at least 100 people. We have the reputation of throwing the best pool parties in town, and I am always dedicated to make every party perfect and well decorated.

My parents continue to establish some basic rules they always say before leaving. They go on with their boring speeches about how important it is to keep everything clean and turn off the oven after using it. Last year, Aiden forgot to turn it off and burnt half of the kitchen. Let's just say he isn't the smartest when it comes to cooking.  About 20 minutes later, my parents are finally done with their endless lecture and dismiss me and my brother.

•

Aiden helps my parents bring their suitcases to the car. I always get sad when they leave, I'm really close to my family and not seeing my parents for a few weeks is a little rough for me. I hug my parents and my mom gives me an extra long hug.

''Bye, baby. Take care of yourself and your brother, okay? And don't forget to text me every single day. I love you''. She kisses my forehead and heads out in the car.

We tell them our final goodbyes and wave at them. I return inside and FaceTime the group chat. I wait for a few of them to pick up and tell them to meet at the beach today at 5pm to catch up, tan, play volleyball and enjoy the sea. Florida beaches are the best, no one can convince me otherwise.

The 3 of them end up confirming they're available, which makes me so excited. It makes me come to my senses that we don't have school anymore and that we have the whole summer ahead of us.