Beauty and The Geek

Can I Tell You Something?

Clove

I'm sitting on my bed when my phone rings and I answer it. "Hey, Glim." I smile.

"Clove, can I tell you something?" She asks. "Something you can't tell anyone else."

"Sure," I'm a bit curious of what my best friend has to say.

I hear her take a deep breath. "I was in my room with Cato, he was reading the play with me and I realized something."

"What?" I ask, worried.

"I-" she says. "I think I have a crush on him." For an odd reason, a pang of a weird feeling I've ever felt before hits me.

"But you just met him." I tell her.

"I know, but- I don't know." She stutters. "You didn't see the way he would look at me, you didn't hear the way he would recite those lines from that script."

I sigh, shaking my head while smiling. "Okay, Glim." I chuckle.

"And, I got the most amazing feeling when we almost kissed." She says. I feel my cheeks heat up. I now know what the feeling I feel is . . . it's jealousy. But why?

Why am I jealous? I ask myself.

I gulp. "That's great," I smile, though it feels forced, for some reason.

"Yeah, it is." She says. "Do you think he possibly feels the same?"

I shrug. "I don't know," I say plainly.

"Me neither. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She says with a small chuckle.

"Okay," I say. "Bye." I hang the phone up and lie down on my bed. My door opens and I sit up to see my mom standing in the doorway. "Hey, Mom." I smile.

"Hey, Sweetie," she says, walking over to me. "Whatcha doin' ?"

"Nothing, just hanging out in my room."

"Why don't you come downstairs and get something to eat?" She suggests.

I shrug. "Okay," I stand up. "I will." I meet her at my door and she places her hand on my back.

"How was school?" She tightens her apron around her waist.

I sigh. "It was okay, I guess." I grab a plate from the cabinet and go to the stove, where my mom had a full feast of food. My mother is wonderful at cooking, though, she's just a waitress at a diner.

She furrows her eyebrows. "Just okay?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Yeah, it's just a day at school. Nothing you would expect to be perfect."

She shrugs her shoulders, as well. "How's Glimmer?" She says out of the blue.

"She's good," I say and take a bite of chicken casserole.

She nods her head. "How about the others?" She places food on a plate for herself.

"They're all good, Mom." I say.

"That's great," she says. "There's this boy that came to the diner with Plutarch, one time. Oh, Clove, he was so handsome. You should've seen him." She smiles as she's talking about a completely different subject. "And, he was just the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I don't know what it was, maybe that he was this shy-looking kid."

I furrow my brows, swallowing the food in my mouth. "If he was so great, maybe you should've asked for his number." I say.

Her smile widens. "Oh, you're interested?"

"No, Mom, I meant for you." I laugh.

Her smile fades and she crosses her arms. "You would've liked him, he was cute." She states.

"Mom, puppies are cute. Boys are . . . well-" I think of a word to describe guys. "Boys."

"Clove, you're at that age where you're interested in boys." She says and I look at her, one eyebrow cocked up. "You'll find them extremely attractive." I continue to stare at her. "You'll think they're hot." She says.

I nod. "I get it." I place my dishes in the sink.

"So?" She trails. "Any guys you think are hot?"

I've never heard heard a mother ask her child that. I think quietly to myself.

My cheeks heat up. "Well," I bite my lip. "There is this one guy -I wouldn't say he's hot, though, maybe extremely attractive."

"Oh my goodness," she jumps up and down. "My baby has a crush. Tell me who it is."

What have I done? I think, shaking my head.

"I'm not telling you," I say and stick my tongue out at her.

"Come on, Clove." She begs. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

I begin walking upstairs. "Nope." I say and run to my bedroom.

"Fine!" She laughs. "I didn't want to know anyway."

I chuckle and roll my eyes. "Sure you didn't!" I call out sarcastically.

"Bye, Babe!" She says. "See you when I get back!"

"Bye, Mom! Have fun at work!"

She laughs. "Okay! Don't let anyone in!"

"What if it's Glimmer?" I ask.

"You can let her in!" After that, I hear the door shut and I put Scream in my DVD player and watch it.

My phone rings again and I answer it, making me pause the movie. "Hey, Ann."

"Hey, Clove." Annie's voice comes through the phone. "Wanna go to the bowling ally tomorrow?"

"Sure." I smile. "What time?"

"Does after school sound good?"

"Yes." My smile widens. "That sounds great."

"That's great." I can practically see her happy, smiling face. "So, how are you?" She changes the subject.

"I'm good, just watching some Scream." I tell her and look out my window to see Cato lying on his bed, talking on his phone and throwing a football up and catching it with one hand. "Stalking my neighbor," I joke right when Cato turns his head and looks at me, smiling and he waves; making me smile and wave back. "Debating when I should pull out a mask and knife and stab him to death."

She laughs. "Okay, Clove, have fun."

"I will." I joke. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." She says.

"Bye." I repeat and hang up. I collapse onto my bed and start the movie again. I turn my head to look at Cato once again.

He is handsome. My conscience says, making me snicker.