A Whole New World

Chapter Six

I loved hanging out at Lotus' house. 

Lotus' parents loved me. Like they actually loved me. They called me son. And they kept hinting at Lotus to marry me. It all made Lotus want to gag. 

"Mama!" Lotus groaned for the fiftieth time since she had dragged me through the door. "We have work to do."

Lotus' mom who had taken over the dragging and dragged me to the couch to sit by her, suddenly stopped patting my arm like she had been doing the past five minutes and turned to her daughter. 

"Shitsureide wa arimasen. Kare wa anata no shōrai no otto ni naru kamo shiremasen." She said quickly to her. I didn't know exactly what she said. Lotus said it was usually something along the lines of don't be rude to your future husband.

"Eww Mama. No. That's definitely never going to happen." Lotus said before coming to drag me from her mother's vice grip. She pulled me towards her room upstairs. "Next time, we're definitely hanging out at your house."

I laughed before shouting over my shoulder for Callie to stay downstairs, which I knew she would gladly do. They had cool floors. 

"That woman, I swear." Lotus sighed. "Thank God my dad wasn't home."

It's true. His dad was way worse. He would have made sure I had eaten a feast before we got a word in for our project.

"Why do they want to marry you off so soon. You're sixteen." I asked.

"Well, my aunt is thirty three and she doesn't have a husband, fiance, or boyfriend, and my parents think she's cursed or something. So they want me to get a headstart? I don't know, it's some weird family drama." Lotus responded pulling out her stuff from her backpack. I pulled out my brailler.

"I still don't know how you carry that thing everywhere." She commented.

"It's a necessary evil my dear." I responded.

We started working. With a good playlist going we managed to get a great portion of it done. Of course once Lotus' dad got home, we were interrupted with the aforementioned feast which was always SO good. He even made a little dog food side dish for Callie and their dog Momo. 

"You know we only ever eat this good when you're around." Lotus told me when we were back in her room. 

"You're welcome." I replied with a grin.

"Just to let you know, I'm shaking my head at you right now." 

I laid down on her bed and stretched. "Thanks for the audio descriptions."

She came and laid down beside me. We were pretty much done for today. 

"So if not me, who would you marry?" I asked her, turning over on my back.

She seemed to turn that way too. "Hmm... lets see. Celebrities in the game?"

"Nope. Too obvious. Pick someone I know." I told her.

"Okay." She drummed on her stomach. "Alex White."

"Really? The guy who drives the moped to school everyday?"

"Yeah, you don't know this but he is fine as hell!" She laughed and I joined her too.

"What about you?"

I let out a soft breathe. "To be honest, I don't know. I've never really 'liked' anyone."

"It's a shame." Lotus replied. "You're wasting all those good looks."

"And I thought I wasn't your distraction." I smirked at her.

She chuckled. "You're not mine, but you're definitely someone else's."

I turned over, resting on my side to face her. "Wait, what? Who?"

"Shit." She cursed.

"Tell me Lotus." I pushed her shoulder back and forth, trying to get her to speak.

"Ugh. Fine. You're so nosy."

"I got to work with the senses I got left." I joked, which was always my reply to something like that. "Now tell me."

She took a deep breath. "It's... Colby."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach when she said it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. "What?"

"He made me promise not to say anything, but I know you're just going to try to get it out of me anyways, so... he likes you Jessie. He really does. I won't go into details, but, he has practically been in love with you for the past four years."

I got up from the bed completely. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean... this was colby. Quirky, smart, Colby, who was my best friend. But all this time, he's been wanting to be more?

"How do you know?" I said, pacing in a small circle, "Did he tell you, or are you just guessing?"

She came to the foot of her bed and pulled me down gently to sit beside her. "He told me, but honestly, he didn't have to."

She grabbed her phone. "He sent me this list yesterday. Things to Show Jessie when he gets his sight. 1. The top of the ferris wheel at the Popworld fair, because that where he told me I was his best friend. 2. The photo album of all our birthdays so far. 3. Ellis Beach, because he secretly loves 50 first dates. He said there must be something about the beach that makes someone want to try that hard. I want to try that hard for him..."

"He wrote this?" I asked dumbfounded, interrupting her. I still couldn't believe this.

"I wish you could see the way he looks at you Jessie." She responded simply.

Before I could say anything--which, I didn't really have much to say anyways--Lotus' mom knocked on the door and came in.

"Jessie, your mom's here." She said softly.

"Thank you." I replied to her, to which she took as her cue to exit.

I got off from the bed and found my backpack to start putting my stuff in.

"Are you okay?" Lotus asked like she was afraid of saying something, which was also something rare for her.

"Yeah... I'm fine." I zipped up my bag. "I just don't know what to think about it. I don't want to hurt him you know. I just don't know how I feel yet."

"Yeah, I get that." She responded.

"Do you think you could take me down." I asked her, sticking my arm out.

"Of course." She took my arm and began leading me down.

Once down, I called for Callie and let her lead me to the door.

"Bye Jessie." Lotus called from behind. Then in a lower voice she whispered. "I know you'll figure it out."

I smiled at her encouragement, even if I wasn't so sure myself.