summer boy ~ tal fishman ✓

~11~

'I have to leave, I have an important game tomorrow', Adi says after we played never have I ever. We literally checked off all the basic games you can do in the evening. Most of our friends had already gone home. Meredith stands up and walks to the door with him. I raise my eyebrows while we make eye contact and she rolls with her eyes, before closing the hall door behind her. It blocks out most of the sounds from the hallway now. I smile, they would make a cute couple. 

While she's away with Adi, Tal moves to sit closer to me so the gap between us, where Adi first sat, is barely existent. I realize now he actually smells pretty good. I sound like such a creep.

'You ok?' he asks. I snap back into the real world. I look into his eyes while I say: 'Yeah, just a bit tired. Why, do I look that bad?' I say, teasing him. 'No you look good', he says, smiling. Okay, I wasn't expecting that. Now I have to think of an appropriate response.

I blush a bit and break eye contact to look around the room and I notice that we are the only ones left. I look back at Tal, only to find out he came even closer. He wipes a lock of hair out of my face, just like last year. I feel my cheeks get even hotter while I keep staring at his face. Even in this horrible lighting, I can see the small traces of freckles on his cheeks.

At that moment Meredith decides to come back. She looks happy and her hair doesn't sit perfectly, so I raise one eyebrow. She pretends she doesn't notice. 'Shall I leave you guys alone?' she asks. I take a bit more distance from Tal. 'No, sit down if you want to', Tal says. 'I don't want to, I'm preparing your bed, Jul', she says. 'Do I need to help?' I ask, starting to stand up. 'Nah I'll be fine', she replies. I shrug and sit back down. 

Tal moves again so he's even closer to me. I didn't know it was possible. I partly panic because this cute human being is quite close to me now. Somehow, I recall what Adi had told me on the beach about a year ago. I ask him about his girlfriend. Stupid me. 'What's her name and what is she like?' I ask, but I regret it immediately. He leans back a little and looks down at the ground.

He seems uncomfortable. Great Julia you messed this up once again. 'Well.. um.. you know Laura right? Well, my friends and I had a stupid bet that I lost and I had to convince her to be my girlfriend for a month. I didn't really like her, though. Not in that way.' He sounds like he's sorry. 

'Oh, you're that kind of guy, huh? Just taking a girl because your friends told you to do so.' I sound mad but I don't want to scare him away. I regret it instantly. Why am I doing this? Why would I bother? Why, why, why? I want to get closer to him, but it's not really working out if I keep scaring him away, I tell myself. I am such a weird person. 

'No, she dumped me after a month. She told me her friends had also told her to say yes to me and that she was sorry. Actually, I was pretty relieved when she broke up with me. And I have no idea why I'm telling you this.' I feel like I am sort of relieved. Relieved he didn't really catch feelings for her and relieved that she didn't like him either. 

'I don't know either', I say with a smile, and I lean in closer to him. He does the same. 

I want to hug him. I want to kiss him, again, but instead, I just sit here and stare into his gorgeous eyes, while he stares into mine. Then his phone rings, breaking the little trance we were in. It's Adi. 

Tal picks up, listens and after he hung up he says 'I have to go.' I don't really know what to do, so I decide to stand up to walk to the door with him. I regret I didn't do anything and I regret asking about his girlfriend. You could say the end of this night wasn't that big of a success. 

In the hallway, he puts on his coat and he steps outside. Well, I'm done let's make this night a success, I say to myself. I am feeling bold today. When he stands on the doorstep I put a step towards him, and I am standing on my toes when I give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiles at me, wishes me goodnight and walks away. In this light coming from the house, I swear I see him blushing while he walks away into the darkness.