You look outside, it’s cold, rainy, and miserable. What a great addition to your already horrible weekend. Let’s see, lots of homework, you have a cold, homework, your mom’s friend’s kid who hates you is coming to visit, did I mention you have homework? On the bright side, he isn’t attractive, so you don’t have to worry about being distracted by having a good-looking guy around. Then again, you haven’t seen him in what, four years? But it’s not like anything will have changed, he’s probably still awkward-looking and a jerk.
You groan inwardly and start writing your essay for English on The Great Gatsby. You comment on Nick Carraway’s narrative throughout the story, and you’re deep in thought when the doorbell rings. Ugh, they’re here. You hear your mom open the door as her and her friend exclaim how long it’s been and you hear your mom say something to the boy about how much he’s grown. Ag, doubt he’s changed on the inside at all. “Jamie, come downstairs!” your mom calls.
“But—”
“No buts, be a hospitable host!”
You groan loudly and take your sweet time getting downstairs. You stare at the ground the whole time, not wanting to see him glare at you the way he always did before.
“Oh my! You’ve grown up so well!” your mom’s friend says.
You just nod, keeping your eyes on the floor.
“And you remember Will,” your mom cuts in.
You nod again, still looking at the floor, but curiosity gets the best of you and you look up, meeting his gaze. Wow, he’s changed. Instead of the awkward, pre-pubescent boy you remember, you see well, a man. You feel your cheeks flush slightly as you take in the curves of his cheekbones and his deep, soulful eyes. Yup, good-looking and a distraction, great. He’s probably still a jerk, you tell yourself.
You realize you’ve been staring and blush even more. He smiles gently, and you see no hint of the boy you remember. Your mom and her friend excuse themselves to the kitchen and leave you standing there, awkward and uncomfortable.
“Well, are you gonna stand ten feet away forever and make me yell?”
“I guess not,” you mumble and shuffle closer to him.
He smiles and you notice his face is just a little red. “I’m sorry for always being such a jerk when we were younger.”
You shake your head, “No, its…”
“Childish.”
You’re about to disagree, but then, “Yeah, actually it was.” You smile shyly.
He continues, “I mean, I was just never very good at expressing my feelings,” his face turns bright red and he stammers, “I m-me-mean, uh…”
You smirk, “’Feelings?’”
He shrugs, “I had a really big crush on you back then.”
You laugh, “That explains a lot.”
He smiles once more, “Yeah, I guess it does.”
Homework can wait.
