Racing towards your heart (*ON HOLD FOR PART2*)

10.Me, her and a warm hug

DREXEL GENESIS

"You have a crush on Crimson," declares Archer ceremoniously.

I disregard Archer and focus on doodling on my partially completed homework. Suddenly, Archer leaps off the bed and spins my chair to face him, grabbing hold of me and preventing me from moving. "What is wrong with you?" I inquire and forcefully kick him away with my leg.

"What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?" he retorts.

"Why are you even here?"

"Excuse me, this is MY room."

Oh, that's right.

Archer continues to stare me down and I hold his stare. He narrows his eyes and crosses his arms. Waiting. And waiting.

Undoubtedly, Archer had noticed my hostility towards him as I had been glaring at him all day due to the incident earlier in the hallway when he had interrupted a significant moment between me and Crimson. Now that I think about it; how childish.

I slump back in the chair and release a deep sigh, feeling swamped by the situation. After a moment of silence, I finally manage to speak, but my words are barely audible as they escape my lips. "What am I supposed to do?" I mumble.

But they don't escape the superhuman ears of Archer as his eyes widen and he quickly brings another chair next to mine, straddling it backwards. "You...you like Crimson?" he asks a little too eagerly. I shrug my shoulders as if to suggest that it was not significant or worthy of attention. Archer slaps my arm with force and commands, "Stop shrugging and tell me what's going on in words!"

My frustration intensifies as Archer continues to pester me. Eventually, I give in and comply, crossing my arms in annoyance. "Alright, alright!" I exclaim. "I like her, are you happy now?"

Archer suddenly looks emotional, covering his mouth as if to keep in the non-existent sobs that were threatening to escape, "Drexel, you...you've finally shown an interest in the opposite gender, I almost thought that you were-"

I cut him off by throwing my book at him. "Shut up," I say as he rubs the back of his head where the book had hit him.

"Not that it would matter, but jokes aside, tell me everything Drex...how did it happen?"

I understand why Archer was enthusiastic about my confession. As his best friend, I've never shared with him my thoughts on girls or crushes before. With my hectic lifestyle, I haven't had the time or tendency to engage in romantic relationships. No one has piqued my interest enough to garner my attention, and I refuse to waste my time on people whom I'm not genuinely interested in.

Crimson, however, I decide, seems to be a different case altogether. Initially, she was just another friend among many, but gradually, over the past few weeks, she has managed to capture my attention. Although I was conscious of these feelings growing, I didn't admit to them until we found ourselves together on the school rooftop today. Her presence was a much-needed sweetness amidst the bitterness of this morning, unlike Mr. Denver, who always seemed to be looking for an opportunity to cause trouble, with me as his primary target. Why he targeted me specifically, I couldn't fathom.

I've come to the conclusion that it was probably because Mr. Denver is the uncle of our dear Kash Grater. Yep, you read it right. The old geezer was the uncle of our favourite poop brain.

Despite my attempts to ignore Mr. Denver's behaviour, it appears that he has no intention of stopping anytime soon.

On top of everything, I've been under a lot of stress and overworking myself, which might explain my gloomy state at school yesterday. It all started when I finished work at The Garage two days ago and drove home. As I pulled up to my house, I saw Aunt Annie sitting on the doorstep, "Aunt Annie, haven't you gone back home yet?" I asked as I got out of the car.