Around the Corner (Discontinued)

Chapter 14

Phil's P.O.V.
I bring the food over to the table and set it down. Eliza quickly grabs a plate and devours it.
"Someone was hungry..." I mutter under my breath. Jessie grabs the other plates and hands them out. I quietly grab my food and sit down next to Laila.

I attempted to eat, but the butterflies in my stomach didn't let me get more than a few bites.

Laila was calmly eating beside me, eating her food in small bites. She didn't talk or say anything. In fact, she didn't seem to want to become part of the conversation. I thought that was different from all the other girls I've known.

A good kind of different.

I can't help but smile as I take a bite of my orange chicken. Jessie, Lucero, Eliza, and Ari were busily chatting. Laila and I were the only ones not willing to participate. Make a move, now's your chance I thought to myself. As bad as I wanted to talk to her, I was nervous. What could I say to impress her? I stare at her beautiful face...her eyes...her hair...

She turns around and notices me staring at her. My face turns red in embarrassment and I smile awkwardly. Great, now I look like a stalker.
To my surprise, she returns a smile and says, "you don't need to be embarrassed."
Her voice was gentle and warm. I loved it.
"Well, it's kinda embarrassing when you get caught doing something weird." I reply.
She laughs,"you don't look weird."

She has a gorgeous laugh, one I'd love
to hear everyday.

I mange to work up the courage and talk.
"So, you're Fern's sis, huh?" I ask.
Her eyes turn cold and she becomes tense. "Yes." She says sharply.
I realize I made a wrong move and try to lighten up the mood.
"So, umm...where are you from?" I ask her.
"I was born and raised here in Los Angeles. My parents are from Honduras."
"Oh, that's pretty cool. What do you plan on becoming when you're older?"
"Hmmm..." She said thoughtfully, " I think I'll be a type of doctor. Maybe a nurse."
"Wow, you must be really smart to become a doctor."
"Well, I guess... I'm not that smart..."
She said shyly.
"Don't be so modest," I chuckle. "I'm sure you're very smart."
She laughs.
"What about you? What do you plan to do with life?"
"I really want a musical career. Maybe something to do with vocals." I respond. She looks at me in surprise.
"You can sing? I'm terrible at singing!" She says.
"I don't think you're that bad." I reply.
"That's what the all say." She says sarcastically.

We talk for a long time. Slowly, I got to know her more. What she was like, and what she valued.

Slowly, I fell more in love.

Everyone finishes and we go dump our food. We gather up and stare at each other blankly.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Lucero asks.
"Let's go to the arcade!" Eliza squeals with excitement. I swear she's on drugs or something.
"Sounds cool, I guess." Jessie replies.
"Alright then," Ari says, "lets go!"

We run off to an arcade down near the movie theater in the mall. As soon as we get there, Eliza runs to a coin machine and jams it with crumpled bills. Lucero and Ari walk over to a small maroon bench and chat. Jessie wanders off to the clerk at a snack bar. Laila and I stay where we are.

"So, you pick a game first," Laila says.
I look at her and then at the games surrounding us.
The arcade was relatively small, but it was full of almost all types of games. Claw machines, shooting games, racing games...

"What about that car game?" I ask. Honestly, I had no idea how to play any of the games, but I figured if I could drive a car, I could drive a virtual one.
"Sounds cool," she says.
There are 2 leather seats and a wheel in front of each screen. Laila sits on the one to the right. I shuffle my pocket for $1.00 worth of quarters and luckily, find them. After handing Laila two, we started playing.

As soon as the race started, Laila went dashing off. My car was close behind hers. Eventually, Laila beats me by 7 seconds.
"Looks like I won," Laila says smugly.
"What? I let you win!" I reply.

Laila laughs sweetly.

Again her warm laughter filled the air.

I take a closer look at her. She has beautiful brown eyes, like bronze coins. Her hair was a dark brown, but it glittered gold in the light. Her lips were full like her sisters, and her eyebrows were a replica of Fern's slightly arched eyebrows. Her nose was long and defined.

She was gorgeous.
Every little flaw was a unique characteristic of this masterpiece. Never had I felt that anyone was a beautiful in such a way, but Laila was different.

A good kind of different.

We play a few more games, then we decide to leave. As Laila, Ari, and the girls leave, I decide to call Bruno to see what's up with him.

"Yo, what's up man?" I say.
"Aye Phil! And nothing really." Bruno replies.
"Well, we're actually going to leave. Coming?"
"Ya, alright."
"Ok. See ya bro."
"See you."
As I hang up, I notice Jessie glaring at me. Her eyes seemed like stones, and she looked like she would kill me at any given moment. I look at her questionably, and she continues to glare. I walk over to her and quicken my pace to keep up with her fast strides.
"What's wrong with you?" She hisses.
"What do you mean?" I ask
"I know what you're trying to do."
I look at her, a mixed feeling of confusion and curiously clawing at me.

"What do you mean? I'm not trying to do anything!" I say, defending myself blindly.
She looks at me fiercely, her brown eyes piercing my skin.
"Don't pretend like you don't know what you're doing!" She snaps.

At this point, anger is starting to grow. More even, she was making me frustrated for a reason I didn't know.
Why is she so damn mad, anyways!? The least she could do is let me know what she's talking about!

"Look, enough with the riddle shit, just tell me what's wrong with you!"

She continues to glare at me.
"I see the way you look at her. The way you talk to her. The way you act around her. Like she's your girlfriend. Like you guys are a thing. Well, reality check Phil, you've only known her for 3 hours."
I begin to realize who she's talking about.

She's talking about Laila.

"And besides," Jessie continued, "she's nothing like you. You guys would be a horrible match. She's 4 years younger than you anyways! 4 full years! Why don't you flirt with someone your own age?"
I looked at her in hatred, after all, I was beyond furious. She dare tell me Laila and I weren't meant to be! Matter of fact, she dare tell me who I should be with at all!

"What's your problem Jessie? I can like whoever I want to like! Whether or not she's 20 years apart from my age! In fact, why should age matter at all?"

Jessie looks at me fiercely. "Cause maybe she isn't interested. Maybe she doesn't like you. Haven't you considered that?"

I feel my stomach churn at the thought that Laila might not see me the way I see her. What if she only wanted to be friends? I couldn't do that. I would never be happy. To watch her the way I do now, and to let her be in the arms of another man...

"No." I said fiercely. "Stop poking your nose in places they shouldn't be, Jessie. Who are you to be judging what I feel? Who are you to be questioning what I think? In fact, everything you've said is a matter of opinion; give me something realistic." I demanded firmly.
Jessie seemed shocked at my sudden statement, but still remained angry.

"Fine then, what if some other girl liked you?"

"What do you mean 'some other girl'?"

"I mean that maybe there's another girl out there- one that you've known for a long time- who likes you. What if she wants to be with you? What if that girl has a crush on you?
Are you going to leave her heartbroken for petty little Laila, a girl you've know for mere hours?" She asks, her angry tone transforming into desperation.

For a brief moment, the cold in her eyes fade and are filled with something foreign.

Something that can destroy any type of relationship.