JANUARY 10TH, 201X, [ S U N D A Y ] - - - - - - -
Their eyes—which coincidentally are both brown, only supporting the fact that they're totally Meant To Be—meet. ([This is] beautiful, just downright gorgeous.) Their feet, however, fail to engage in the one pivotal action of stopping all movement when they are at a direct reflection across the x-axis of their targeted Future Lover. ([This is] not beautiful, just downright disgusting.) Instead, they stop when she's in quadrant two and he's in quadrant four and the x-axis is debating which one of their throats it wants to wrap itself around.
Now, you may gasp at the x-axis and remark, "God, that's a bit much." To which, the x-axis will reply, "Your tiny, meaningless thrives off of ignorance, fool. You're barely past the first paragraph of the first chapter." Then, frightened by the x-axis's supposed omnipotence, you will gasp again, but the x-axis, in the calmest manner it can manage, ardently screams, " t h e y h a v e b o t h b e e n l o w k e y c h e c k i n' g e a c h o t h e r o u t f o r t w o m o n t h s ." The x-axis then vanishes, along with any semblance of understanding you may have had regarding this story.
To name and place our idiots, Evan Anthony Zavala resides in apartment 205 and Jasmine Freeman lives right next door in apartment 204. Every single Sunday, at somewhere around 6 p.m., these two walk past each other, attempting to inconspicuously steal glances at the other but failing intensely. Their vocals cords have never once been anything but entirely still (except for that time where Jasmine could have sworn words came out of her mouth—they might have been at the volume of what she thought was a very attractively gentle .2 decibels, but they came out).
In other words, mutual affection is not for wusses—and Evan and Jasmine are, indeed, absolute weenies.
"So, how'd it go?"
Jasmine jumps up from her kitchen stool, broken out of her period of self-reflection by her younger sister, Kiara. Kiara was well aware of what routinely happened between her sister and their neighbor in the hallway. Her interest used to be such that she would peek through the peephole to watch their encounters. After doing this four times, however, she realized every uneventful episode was a rerun. She still listens in from time to time, wondering if one of them might conveniently trip or enter cardiac arrest and the other says something romantic and edifying like, "OHMYGODAREYOUOKAY" or "SHIT, I TOOK A CPR COURSE IN HIGH SCHOOL BUT I SPENT THAT ENTIRE CLASS TRYING TO BEAT THE 49TH LEVEL OF CANDY CRUSH...!"
"Progress was definitely made. I think he blinked twice this time: a sign he's nervous, and therefore, is in love with me—or maybe he's actually mute and trying to speak to me in some sort of visual adaption of Morse code. I don't know how the school curriculum works now but do they teach you Morse code in 6th grade?" Jasmine is only half joking.
Kiara groans. "In 6th grade—and ya know, life in general—we learn about basic communication skills. When you like someone, you try to get to know them. And when you try to get to know someone, you talk to them."
A scoff. "Who needs spoken language when there's body language?"
"You, like, always look down at the floor when you walk by him. And you have your hands in your pockets."
"That all translates to me being a person who keeps to their self but actually longs for someone who can ignore the sham walls they put up and simply charge in with affection and complete dedication."
Kiara pauses, looking at her sister with furrowed eyebrows, and then shakes her head slowly. "...You talk so smartly but what you actually say is so...stupid."
"You're twelve; what do you know?" Jasmine remarks, pouting as she grabs one of her curls and lets it spring back.
"What I know is that he lives in one of those end-of-the-hall apartments that are really cool and that I want to be able to be in without having to help Lora clean. And I also know that if you don't introduce yourself by next Sunday I'm going to knock on his apartment door when you're not home, start crying, and tell him you left me without a babysitter and I'm scared of being alone."
Kiara loves all things related to theater, movies, and acting. Not only can she execute such atrocities, but she can do so well.
Jasmine simply scoffs. "Fine. I was gonna do it anyway."
And so, in seven days, two months of total silence will be broken...possibly.
