ME & YOU

Teenage Love

The three of them were sitting around a square-shaped dining table. Sally was in the centre while Kevin and Stacy (his mom) were opposite each other on the table. All of them were having spicy tomato spaghetti for dinner. Sally loved this recipe but she wasn't in the mood today to enjoy it. In contrast, Kevin's state was exactly the opposite. It was like garbage had just turned into gold for him with the glee of excitement in his eyes. Sally notices his smile but tries not to spill the beans.

"Sally, have you taken a leave from your office?" Stacy asked.

 "Yes, Aunty. They were ready to offer a paid leave."

"Great. I want you to take care of yourself very well. We will stay here for a week to take care of you."

"I can manage, aunty. I don't want to add more pressure to you already."

"Trust me, we feel nothing like that. Ask Kevin if you want, He is fine with doing the chores." Both their heads turned towards Kevin, who had a spoonful of spaghetti stuffed in his mouth. Sally gave an apologetic look. On the other hand, his mom gave him a red-eyed stare, gritting her teeth at him. He gulps the spaghetti instantly.

"Yes, yes. I love to do the chores. It's a good pastime."

"See !!" His mom replied.

"But..."

"We are staying and it's final. I can't believe you had to be left with Amrit to take care of you." Stacy said.

Tears were dripping from her eyes hearing her dearest Uncle's name. She walked off from the table with her head down. Stacy tried to stop but she was too fast. She regretted her words immediately. She turns towards Kevin. Kevin was blushing in his daydream looking at his empty plate. His hand was doing heart signs using his fork over the leftover tomato sauce on the plate.

"KEVIN!! What are you doing?"

He wakes up immediately from the daydream. " Kiss... Wait, What? What happened?"

"Stop daydreaming and go help your sister with her emotional breakdown. The closest person she knows left this world. As a brother, you need to console her."

"How?"

"I don't know you are a teenager. You must understand her mental status. Show some teenage brotherly love." She commanded. "GO!!"

"Fine. Fine."

Kevin gets off his seat before waiting for another lecture on 'How to be a brother' and walks to her room. He starts speaking to himself with the confusion he is stuck in.

"What am I supposed to say? It's fine. We lose uncles all the time? What does she mean by teenage love? Do you get Psychic powers or something at this age? Sometimes, I don't even understand what these moms think. Plus, she is a girl. It's been years since I talked to a girl. Last time, my friend told me a story about how his father died. I laughed the whole time because his father tripped over a stone, fell into an open ditch on the road and hit his head. Who dies in a ditch? I won't be able to take this seriously. Uff... I am stuck. I can't do anything."

He stands next to her room door. He sees his sister sobbing quietly sitting on the bed. The table light was left switched on with the laptop open. Kevin knocks on the door.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah. Sure." She wipes the tears from her eyes. He sits next to her on the bed.

"I am sorry for the loss you have faced. Uncle was a fun person to talk with. He was a good man." Kevin told.

"Yes. He was." She told confidently. "Others thought he was a very grumpy person because of the wrinkles in his face. They were wrong. He was a nice person. He tried his best to help others and not make enemies and then... Suddenly, he got caught up in this huge mess."

"What mess?"

"I don't know. Some big mess he did which got him shot."

"Don't worry. Whoever is behind this, will pay for his price."

"If you need any help, I will try my best I could do for you, Sally. I love Uncle. He was my escape route from my mother."

"Thanks, Kevin," Sally laughed. "Oh!! Your mom must be cleaning the dishes. I will go stop her. I just hired the maid."

Kevin laughs as she sees Sally run away to the Kitchen. He sighs and falls on the bed. He turns his head to the left. There were her Two teak cupboards next to each other and a shelf at the corner below his feet. He sees some ancient box over the closet. He knew that Sally liked collecting artefacts as she was also kind of a historian. However, one question troubled him. Why was it not inside her cupboard when she had so much space? He went to pick up the box which was on top. He opens it and finds a silver chain with the blue coloured pendant. What is it?

That question was interrupted when the notification sound beeps again. He feels elated hearing the notification sound. He drops the chain in his bag and jumps on the bed with his phone. He closes his eyes and prays for it to be Natasha's message. It was. She replied a 'Hi' back to him. He starts punching the air with excitement lying on the bed.

"YES!! She replied 'Hi' to me. This means she is ready to talk to me. She cares about me. She wants to know about me. She loves me. She wants to be my girlfriend. She wants to be my soulmate. She wants to marry me. She wants to have kids with me." Kevin jolts with excitement.

Then, he realised that he was overreacting.

"Ok. I think that's way too much. She agreed to go to prom with Arjun. So, Kids, marriage and soulmates have been cancelled from the list for now. The rest I need to know."

However, it does not wipe the smile off his face. He starts thinking carefully about the next message. "Hmm... What topic should I talk about? Are there any incomplete notes or homework? No, no that would make me sound like a nerd. I need to act like a smart person. How about an event? The prom maybe. Should I ask her how excited she is about it? Then, I will slowly shift the topic from the prom to old-school crushes, and then get to know what she likes in a guy. Hmm... seems like a nice idea." Kevin smiled. "What if her father doesn't allow her to be in a relationship with a Christian? Well, we will see about that later."

Kevin sends his final message to her in her DMs.

"Now, all we have to do is wait."