A Love Restrained by Many

Chapter 4

Teasing friends about crushes is the best.

Seeing how pissed off, embarrassed, or how silent they'll become  at hearing the name of the person they like; their reactions are always priceless.

Well, not until...

Dave, my guy friend, stated that I have a crush on Caleb Rye!

"Kylie, you have a crush on Caileb Rye, don't you? You asked for his name, and I'm guessing that
you've had a crush on him since."

That made me sew my mouth shut, and I began to avoid their gazes and glances.

I was probably blushing like a tomato back then.

"How did he jump into that accuraten of conclusion?", I thought.

"Right, he's my friend after all. The one friend that always has the latest tea that you'd expect him to own a whole tea shop by now!" I realized.

"Oh my God! You do like him." Leanne turned to me in shock.

"Who has a crush on Caleb Rye?" Kian joined our
little chit-chat after hearing his well known name.

"Kylie does!" Dave exclaimed loudly, I glared at him and tried to deny it.

But of course, my face betrayed me.

The tables really turned on me, huh?

----
The teasings went on and on, and I wondered when it was gonna end—they were too loud in the hallway, asked me questions about how it started during break, they were squealing in excitement while in the cafeteria; everytime I was with them his name would be echoed in my ears, embedding him into my fuzzy teenage brain even further.

Well fortunately, my feelings for him grew. I didn't even know how it happened.

It was like an apple that fell on my head without warning.

With my inquisitive interest about him, I started to notice him more.

I gazed at him nonstop through the window whenever he passed by, like an absolute fool.

I kept looking at his face, the way he interacts with his friends, his little laughs; I was falling for him like crazy.

He was like a flower that danced with the wind, and I was a bee attracted to his fragrance.

His presence was more than enough to let my inner-self scream in delight.

That smile of his somehow captivated me;

That damn smile, It made me smile out of nowhere everytime I pictured it in my head.

It was such a contagious smile, It beams like the sun to whoever he's talking to.

Crazy of me to daydream about someone whom I just knew a while ago. But this was only the beginning.
             ----
I don't know if I was too busy with school, or crushing on someone that but it was already September, and most importantly my birthday; time sure does fly fast, huh?
It felt like a normal morning to me, nothing out of the ordinary, but as per usual, my family greeted me early in the morning. Got scolded for a bit but it was normal for me.

I got my way to school.

Entering the cramped four-cornered room where I was greeted by everyone.

Coincidentally, someone shared the same birthday as me.

I wasn't in the mood to celebrate it though.

I was also aware that my family had no plans of throwing a celebration on my behalf, and I was honestly okay with that.

It felt kind of weird that my friends wanted to go home early today, they would always want to stay in school for a bit.

"Hey Cha, are you going home already?" I shouted as I saw her, and some of my friends going out it of the school gate.

"Yes Kyl, I got a parcel at home that I have to unpack, see you." she replied waving her hand goodbye.

I sighed, and waited for my service.

When I got home, I was surprised when my friends popped out of nowhere and greeted me with a cake.

That made me so happy. Having them together with my family to hold this little party just for me made me scream in delight.
We were not complete but I was still overjoyed.

While chatting with them, I noticed that something was different, I started to get suspicious by their eye contact with each other, their devious smirks and grins.

"Is something up? You guys are being weird" they replied with even more smirks and grins that could rival even the joker's.

They handed me a phone.

It was a video greeting.

They filmed themselves greeting me, I was getting a bit emotional by it, it was so nice of them do such a thing, I was so glad to call them my friends.

I thought the video was already finished,  so I decided to thank them but they all said it wasn't finished yet, and to keep looking, and to my complete utter shock,

I saw Caleb Rye, GREETING ME.

I was absolutely flabbergasted; My eyes were wide open, that's when I screamed, and hit the table.

I listened, and watched the recording multiple times, still processing what just happened.

I was screaming and squealing like a 5 year old at my friends, the adults around got confused because of my reaction, but we just told them that it was nothing to be concerned of.

I was overflowing with happiness, and I subsequently fell for him even harder.