Wait For It

Part 1

"Alex! Dude!" Nino snapped me out of my daydream.

"Wha-"

"What're you staring at?" Adrian was slow on the uptake, as always.

"He's staring at that girl. And I can't blame him. If my boy Alex didn't have such a huge and obvious crush on her, I'd totally go for it."

"Nino! I do not have a crush on her!"

"Keep telling yourself that, buddy."

"Well, if you like her, then why don't you just say something to her?"

"Adrian, you never tell a girl you like her, it makes you look like an idiot." Nino shook his head. "I can't believe we're still friends with you after three years of this crap."

Adrian didn't look very offended. He didn't usually let the insults get to him, and I appreciated that about him. But he was still totally naive about girls. "Maybe not tell her that you like her, maybe just say hey, or compliment her sweater. Little things like that." Adrian smiled.

"I can't. She's just so...." I sighed.

"Oh no, he's off in Lizzie land. Snap out of it, dude!" Nino slapped me, hard.

"What the fuck, dude!"

"You were in Lizzie land. I had to save you."

"I can't help it. She's so pretty. The way her eyes sparkle in the light and how her hair flows..." I stared at her, drinking in all the little details of her that I would never get to call mine. I imagined her in pajamas, waking up next to me with bedhead and no makeup, but still beautiful.

"Oh look, she's coming this way!"

Adrian's comment shook me out of my daydream. "What? Wait!"

As she walked by, Nino stood up. "Hey Lizzie!" he called.

"Hey Nino. What's up?"

"Nothing much. You?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing much of anything either."

Nino shoved me towards the edge of the bench. "Talk to her!" he hissed.

I stood up awkwardly. "Uh...hi."

"Hi! Alex, right?"

"Yep. That's me. Yes, I'm Alex. I mean-"

She giggled. "Anyway, nice talking to you. I gotta get to class." She started to walk away.

"Oh for gods sake, do I have to do everything around here?" Nino shoved past me. "I like your sweatshirt, Lizzie."

She turned towards us. "Thanks! It's a reference to Homestuck. Do you read it?"

Nino shoved me. "Oh! Uh...what's Homestuck?"

Her eyes widened. "You've never heard of Homestuck? Oh, it's fantastic! It's this web comic about these four kids and it's amazing! You have to read it."

"How about you write it on his arm so that he can remember to look it up?" Nino winked at me.
"Sure! I'll just grab a pen." She started to dig through her bag when Nino produced a pen out of nowhere and offered it to her. "Thanks! I'll write it so you can easily read it."

I held my arm out and Lizzie pushed my sleeve up so she could write. Her hand was on my hand, her arm cradling my arm. Her shoulder was pressing gently into my chest and I could smell her hair. It smelled like cinnamon. I looked up, and Nino winked at me, while Adrian was sitting there looking at us like we were two puppies cuddling.

"There! I also wrote the website in case you're concerned you're in the wrong place, but you should just have to look it up on Google or something."

"Uh...thanks. I'll check you out, I MEAN, I'll check it out."

Lizzie gave me an odd look and walked away.

"Nice, bro."

"Did I actually say that to her? Please tell me I didn't."

"Well, if that's what you want. You didn't tell Lizzie that you were going to check her out and then you didn't get super red and come up with something else to say."

I groaned and buried my face in my hands.

"Thanks, Adrian. Dude, it's not that bad."

"Nino, I told her I would check her out. How is that 'not that bad?' I've ruined my chances with her forever. Goodbye, I'm going to go live in the South Pole and try to forget this ever happened."

"You're being overdramatic."

"Hey guys, I think there was a reason Lizzie left. She had to get to class. And we've been sitting here talking for a while, and class starts in less than a minute."

"Oh shit."

We ran for the exit as the bell rang.