She’s perfect. Immaculately applied ebony eye liner rimmed her alluring green eyes, defining the emerald in her sparkling pupils. I watched her as her pouty, pink lips stretched across her caramel skin as she laughed at her brunette friend’s joke. Her dark brown, bouncy curls were straight today and they cascaded onto her shoulders and curved under her breast as she leaned forward in convulsive laughter. God, I wanted to make her laugh like that but I couldn’t.
David said I had no guts and he was right; I was afraid of rejection. Every time I envisioned talking to her, it never ended well; I’d imagine that beautiful smile of hers curl in disgust. “Ew, who are you?” She would say and I wouldn’t be able to ever show my face to anyone so I admired her beauty from afar, contemplating what it’d be like to talk to Meenah Jones.
“Dude, you’re drooling.” I snapped out of my reverie as Emma punched me on the shoulder. I cringed visibly but tried to hide it. I’m not a wimp; I’m pretty fit; maybe not football team material like Meenah’s boyfriend but I’m not weak; Emma could pack a pretty hard punch though. She snapped her fingers in my face. “Hello? Earth to Dylan!” she peered at me one part amusement, three parts annoyed that I didn’t join in the playful banter at our table.
“Huh? I’m here.” I replied surreptitiously glancing in Meenah’s general direction (or so I thought). “Really?” Emma’s sharp, condescending voice interrupted my thoughts “You almost drowned us in an ocean of your drool thinking about my cousin?” That’s right folks, I’m infatuated with my best friend’s cousin. David cackled in sheer amusement at her “joke”. “Em, you’re so funny!” Em smiled timidly and I rolled my eyes at both of them wishing they’d just go out already. Before I could open my mouth and shoot back with a snide response, my phone chimed.
I pulled it out and realized it was a notification for a new tweet. I was just about to put it away automatically deeming it unimportant when there was another chime. I swiped the notification bar down and realized it was another notification from Twitter:
“MeenahTheQueenah tweeted: ‘I want a gay best friend. Any takers? :-P’”
I instantly favorited and retweeted her tweet then, I did the unthinkable: I pressed the reply button and typed: “I volunteer as tribute!” and clicked the send button and a whoosh confirmed that I sent the tweet that would change my life for better or worse.
I predicted worse since I just told the girl I like that I would be her gay best friend when I was straighter than a ruler. My dull, brown eyes rose only to unintentionally meet her riveting jade orbs. As cliché as this sounds, everything faded away, Emma and David’s shameless flirting, the loud and annoying sounds of squealing cheerleaders, the dull throb of the mix of voices in the cafeteria, the not-so-subtle sour smell of spoiled milk— all melted into the background as we stared at each other. A mere three seconds later, it ended and she got up unaffected, grabbed her bag and strode towards the door amicably chatting with her funny friend.
I sighed and ran my hand through my blonde hair, frustrated that the connection I felt went only one way. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and I high-tailed to my final period without my friends in tow. English, which always felt like the shortest class of the day, was uneventful and soon it was time to go home. As I grabbed my history text book for the evening’s homework out of my locker, I felt a timid tap on my shoulder. I whirled around and met the small, round face I’ve admired for the past four months.
Uhh… H-hi.” I stammered and waved in a jerky fashion instantly filling the air with an awkward energy.
She peered at me curiously, all traces of bashfulness gone. “Daniel right?”
