Tammi Lyn [DISCONTINUED]

iii

I'm thirteen now, not quite a child anymore but obviously not an adult either. I was transitioning slowly from childhood to adolescence, a natural process of boyhood.

Across the street from us lived a classmate of mine I like since fifth grade. I'm only just starting high school as a freshman, and I've been crushing on her for almost two years.

Don't ask me how it happened; random things like that always comes and goes. I still wonder to this day why everyone has to go through that embarrassing phase.

So I've decided not to confess. What are the odds of your crush liking you back? It happens, yes, but rarely.

I admire her from afar instead. She's in the dance club and we're in the same class, but I doubt she notices me. No point in getting my hopes up if she doesn't even know I exist in the first place.

I was by the curb waiting for the bus to arrive, and by chance, my head turned toward my neighbor's house, only to see Tammi close the front door with a rather unusual look on her face.

Before I continue, I'll have to say that in the last four years, we kind of fell apart. We had our own groups of friends so we didn't hang often, but we still acknowledged each other on the bus or in other public places, just not during class hours. She didn't go out of her house that often and I got invested in video games. I grew to like baseball, and well... her? I didn't see much of her but whenever I did manage to catch a glimpse, she looked tired and out of focus.

She usually had a neutral expression, so I was a bit put off with the dark look on her features. Everything about her just screamed 'Don't come near me' with the way her usual ponytail was replaced by a curtain of jet-black hair around her head and blocking most of her face. Her clothes were all a mute gray and plain black, and she held a coffee cup in one hand as she lagged her backpack in the other.

I must've been staring too long since her eyes roved to meet mine and I couldn't stop the shiver that tingled down my spine. That was quite scary, but I wasn't about to admit that out loud.

"What're you lookin' at, idiot?" she snapped at me, my eyes going wide at the crude way she talked. That wasn't normal at all.

Of course I didn't come up with a witty retort, since by the time I managed to snap out of my shock, I was near the school gates, just now realizing that she didn't take the bus and preferred to walk to school instead. Again, strange but I wasn't one to meddle in businesses not my own. I certainly wasn't going to poke around hers.

When I saw her at lunch, she was seated at a table talking to a girl. She looked animated with her, as if she didn't just snap at me earlier this morning. Not that I cared. I was more surprised than concerned.

For the second time that day, completely by chance, her gray eyes moved and suddenly we were staring at each other. There was nothing weird about the whole thing, since all people went through that and just looked away casually. Except none of us backed down from the impromptu staring match and my own eyes continued to lock with hers.

My brows crumpled to show my disdain and I was the first to back down, tearing my gaze away from her and shrugging away everything that happened. Why do I always find myself caught up in those situations?

She rode the bus home but we didn't sit by each other. We never do. I think there was an unspoken agreement that we should stay as far away from each other as possible when there were other people around.

I certainly was in favor of that arrangement, but I'm not sure what she thinks of that. The last time we talked was when we were eleven, and even that was a short conversation consisting of 'hey' and 'what's up'. There was nothing deep, so I never really knew her. Except her preferred choice of colors and dislike of apples.

But when we got off the bus, that was when she spoke to me.

"Ross," she called out my surname softly like a whisper, but I was still able to hear her and stop so she knew I was listening.

Yeah I didn't like her, but that doesn't mean I hate her. Dislike and hate are two different things and I held no malice against her. I just avoid her if we don't have anything to say to each other.

But since no one was around to witness our interaction, I figured I could show her the respect she deserved.

"Yeah?" I uttered when she didn't say a thing.

After a few more seconds of silence, I decided to turn around.

Her gray eyes were incredibly wide and innocent-looking, completely opposite from the dull sparkle in her orbs, and for a second I had to get a grip on myself because what the heck? That is not normal.

"Did you ever wonder if the sky could be yellow instead o' blue?"

Her voice was slightly higher than her usual monotone, and there was an air of naivety that surrounded her. This was too much.

Plus, she knew I didn't like yellow. Why would she bring that up?

Walking away, I answered hastily, "No. Bye."

Yes she was weird, but that was the first time she asked me something like that.

Was she hit on the head or something?

Should I be concerned?