Dream You

07. Stuck In His Room

"Why are you taking that into your room?" Chris's mom asks as soon as he enters the house. I can already tell she's watching "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" as I can hear the dialogues and it's like one of my fav sitcoms. Chris doesn't reply to her and quickly heads upstairs, enters his room, and locks the door. He gently takes the blanket off me.

"So, this was your plan? You left me speechless," I say to him.

"Your brain first of all needs to level up to come up with something like this," he tells me.

I scrunch my nose and reply, "Excuse me mister, not my fault if your brain is still running on dial-up while mine is on high speed fiber optic."

"Think again, slowpoke. My old-school brain is as speedy as Usain Bolt, easily leaving your high-speed processors in the dust," as he says that he flashes a grin and casually shrugs.

I roll my eyes, sarcastically chiming in with, "Oh yeah, you're a real genius, aren't you?" and take a closer look around. I realize how nice Chris's room is. There are posters of some shows, and bands like Arctic Monkeys. The cute cornflower blue bedsheet adds a nice touch of brightness without being overpowering. It complements the overall aesthetic of the room really well. The sunlight probably easily lights up the room since the window is large enough.

As my eyes wander, I spot a shelf filled with a collection of trophies and medals. How impressive is that! It's clear that Chris has achieved some accomplishments. I bet each trophy and medal must hold a special story. It represents his hard work.

I'm in a room that truly reflects Chris's interests, passions, and achievements. It's a place where he can truly be himself and I feel kinda proud to be here so soon, because I don't know much about him yet, but watch out! Soon I'll have all the deets!

"I see why you brought me here," I tell him with a sparkle in my eyes.

"Why?" he asks, curious.

"To show off your skills, of course! You're dying to impress me," I reply, arching an eyebrow and pursing my lips, as I cast a skeptical glance his way.

"Yeah yeah, you caught me," he shrugs, pretending to be defeated.

"So, what are you suggesting?" I ask, a quirky smile spreading across my face.

"What do you mean?" he wonders, playing along with my quirkiness.

"I'm staying here for the night, right?" I inquire, pretending to stake my claim.

"Only if you want to," he says, his voice filled with a hint of excitement.

"So, you're sleeping on the floor? For me? Aww, look at you! Such a gentleman," I tease, giggling softly.

"Whose room is this?" he asks, instead of replying.

"Yours," I respond.

"So, who should be sleeping on the bed?" he asks further.

"Me! You can't take everything," I protest, flashing him a puppy face.

"Fine, I'll let you take the bed. Only. Out. Of. Pity," he concedes.

I whip out my phone and open the camera, excitedly saying, "Take a look."

But to my surprise, he quickly hides his face with a hand and asks, "What are you doing?"

I chuckle and reply, "Taking a selfie, obviously."

He gives me a serious look and questions, "Is this really the time for selfies?"

I happily respond, "It's for the memories."

Then he hits me with a deep question, "You want to keep memories of me?"

I pause for a moment as that question, does something to me. But I quickly reassemble my focus and try to formulate a snappy reply.

"You need to ask? Today is special, you know? You were there for me, when I was literally homeless."

He looks at me, still maintaining his tough demeanor, yet handsome as ever.

I can't help but plead, "Come on, just a little smile, pretty please?"

But he remains poker-faced. Well, at least I managed to capture a picture of us together.

The room suddenly falls into an awkward silence, and we both sit there, not saying a word. I fail to stand that kind of silence for too long and break the ice by asking him, "What time do you usually have dinner?"

He looks at me and casually responds, "Around 9 o'clock."

I glance at my wristwatch and realize there's still a good two hours to go. My stomach grumbles in protest, and I can't help but whine, "God, I'm starving already! How am I supposed to survive until then?"

He offers to make food, saying, "Do you want me to bring it now? My mom doesn't start cooking early, so I can prepare it for you."

Now, I don't want him away for too long, so I quickly shoot back, "No need for all that hassle. You can just bring me some snacks from outside."

He nods in agreement, saying, "Alright, I'll be back." And off he goes.

As I sit there, looking around the room, my eyes catch a glimpse of something peeking out from under the bed. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I reach down to grab it. Goodness, I can't believe what I just discovered. Right there, under the bed, I found a teeny-tiny teddy bear! I mean, seriously, how ridiculously cute is that?

As I concealed the teddy bear behind my back, there was a knock on the door. Chris returned with a tempting assortment of chocolates and Doritos. Seizing the opportunity, I wore a serious expression and addressed him, "Chris, I think there is something concealed behind my back."

Perplexed, he inquired, "What?" With a swift motion, I revealed the teddy bear, cradling it firmly with both hands. "Oh my gosh, look what I found!" I exclaimed.

In an instant, his face flushed crimson, and he pleaded, "This is no joke, Grace. Return it to me."

Ignoring his pleas, I declared, "Too bad, it's mine now." Raising the teddy bear above my head, when he tries to snatch it.

While we were goofing around with the teddy bear, something unexpected happened. Without even realizing it, he gradually moved closer to me until his face was just inches away. We were both holding onto that fluffy bear when suddenly, he pinned me down on the bed, firmly trapping me beneath him. The realization hit both of us as we locked eyes, and the intensity of the moment sent a rush of nervousness through our veins.

In the heat of the moment, I instinctively grabbed his neck while rising, pinning him down on bed. Pretending to spot something, I traced my fingers along his neck, moving from top to bottom as if searching for something.

"What the heck are you doing?" Chris finally asked, his cheeks visibly flushed.

"I thought I saw a bite there," I replied, trying to change the mood.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"I meant a mosquito bite, silly," I released his neck and sprang up like a startled cat, grabbing a book from his nightstand. At this very moment, I feel like I'd go to great lengths just to dodge any form of interaction with this guy. I flop onto his bean bag chair, avoiding any eye contact, and pray he's on the same page, keeping it on the down low. But he instantly smashes the silence into a million tiny pieces.

"In case, you're planning to ignore me, at least do it in the right way," he remarked, gesturing for me to adjust the book's position. Damn you Kat. How come you did not realize you were holding the book upside down..?

In reply to his statement, indirectly mocking me, I do the fake *cough cough* and hold the book all straight and proper.

🔪

Bro 😭😭

If I were in Kat's position, I'd straight-up pass out on the spot

She handled it like a pro, or at least like a semi-pro?