Teen Romance Fantasy

Act 40 (Ch)

"Christian, mom asks when your friend was supposed to- What are you doing here?!"

I was caught off guard by my sister May, who had suddenly been standing right outside of my room. Clumsy as I was, I tripped over the stack of comics next to my chair and almost fell to the ground but luckily I managed to hold on to my desk just in time.

"Can't you see?! I'm obviously cleaning!" I shouted back, as I tried to find the last bits of dust on my desk. I wasn't worried at all. Everything was just fine. I had just been cleaning my room the entire day and tried to make sure that everything was perfect. I mean, after all I didn't want Sarah to think that I couldn't take of myself, let alone of my room. No need to worry.

"You know what, forget it. I'm not going to waste my precious brain cells on you. If you need me, I'm downstairs helping mom with dinner. Just try not to die in the meantime."

Just as May had said, she left without closing my door. Usually I would have gotten quite mad at her but right now I was too busy cleaning up. I knew I should have cleaned up earlier but until an hour ago I still hadn't digested the thought of Sarah coming over to study with me. Like seriously, was I not dreaming?!

My eyes met the ones drawn on the cover of my favourite comic book. No matter what I tried, I just couldn't forget Eric's words. Didn't he realise how stupid it sounded to think that I could have had a crush on Sarah? Someone like me couldn't possibly feel that way. Then again, apparently even super heroes had crushes. As I skipped through the pages of the latest volume, I suddenly realised how casual love was handled in the series.

Most super heroes were nerds just like me. Outcasts. Loners. And yet all of them understood what it meant to love someone in a romantic way. Why was I the only one being left out? Eric told me that being in love meant to always think about that one person in your life. You want to be with them. You feel comfortable around them. You feel like they are a part of your life that you can't turn your back on.

Nonsense.

Eventually, after cleaning every corner of my room, everything was perfect and I still had a couple of minutes on my hands. What now? I stared at my computer, as if I had been in a trance. One game wouldn't hurt, right? I mean, there was this one level in one of my favourite games, which I seriously couldn't beat at all. I tried my best but somehow it always ended with a loss.

I turned my computer on and leaned back in my chair, as I waited for the loading screen. Now that I thought about it, when was the last time I actually cleaned up my room. We, or rather I, rarely ever had any visitors. There was no need for me to clean up my room. Still, I didn't mind to see my keyboard free from all the dust.

As always I did well in the beginning of the level but around the middle I messed up. Game over. I was never going to beat this level. I sighed at kept staring at the game over screen until I realised that Sarah was running late and it had gotten rather quiet downstairs. Weird. I carefully opened the door to my room and suddenly I heard a loud sound, as if someone had shut the front door closed. What was I thinking? That was exactly what happened! Don't tell me Sarah was finally here.

My heart couldn't calm down. It was beating loudly. Was I the only one hearing it? My mind longed for me to walk down those stairs but my feet were glued to the floor. I tried to move but a feeling of exhaustion overcome me. I thought that it couldn't get worse but all of a sudden the front door was reopened. What was going on?

"Are you sure this is the right Christian Foster? Brown hair, glasses, thin as a stick and has no social skills at all?" I heard the voice of my sister May. What the hell was she talking about? Suddenly she closed the front door again and called for our mother. Seconds later the front door was opened again and my mother started talking.

"I'm really sorry darling but are you sure this is the right address? Maybe you are searching for another Korean by the name Christian Foster, who has a math exam next week and invited a friend over to study."

That was enough. I had no idea what was going on but clearly something was wrong. My family was trying to embarrass me. The weird feeling of exhaustion was taken over by the sensation of embarrassment and anger. My legs started moving on their own.

"What is going on here?!" I questioned in disbelief, as I descended from the stairs. I saw my mother and my sister standing at the front door and in front of them was none other than the Sarah Archer. She eyed me embarrassedly and perhaps even a little frightened. My heart skipped a beat. She was wearing a dress. A beautiful white dress. Sarah looked just like a princess.

"Seriously, can't you go one day without embarrassing me?!" I frowned, as I approached Sarah, which the black mist would have still covered her round face. For some reason my eyes tried to avoid hers.

"Sorry about that. Don't mind my family. They can be a little troublesome sometimes. Why don't you come in already. You can leave your shoes right here."

"Of course, thank you for having me." She bowed down shyly, before she took off her shoes and innocently smiled at me. I felt the heat rush into my cheeks. Quite shy and embarrassed I told her how to get to my room. When I tried to follow after her however, my sister May suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"That's a girl!" She whispered, as her brown eyes widened. My mother stood right next to her and was similarly surprised. As much as I hated to admit it, I had already expected such a reaction.

"I know. That's Sarah. I told you that she's helping me study." I answered calmly.

"You never mentioned that a girl was going to help you!" May declared.

"Is it really that important whether Sarah is a guy or a girl? She's just a friend from school. We share a few classes together and she offered to help me with math. Can't you say anything mummy?"

"I never thought the day would come when my little Christian brings a girl home. I'm proud of you." My mother pretended to wipe away a tear from her eyes, which made me even angrier than before. Was nobody in this household taking me serious?!

"She's just a friend!"

"Mummy, I think Christian is going through his rebellious phase."

"May!"

"It's okay darling. Your sister and I will be on our best behaviour. We'll leave you two alone. Don't worry about us. The walls are really thick in this house."

This was going to be a long evening.