Pretending

Chapter 14

Phoenix POV

"Are you kidding me?! Their just gonna end it there?!" I say jumping up on my bed, popcorn flying everywhere, I just watched the ending episode of season 2 of Anne with An E, and I was very shook.

"Ughhhhh." I groan flopping back onto my bed before hearing the doorbell.

I get up and walk downstairs to get it since it kept being rung.

My parent's door is shut, so I assume they went to sleep.

I look through the window and I am confused. What is Antonio doing here at 9:30?

I open the door, and he looks flustered, he smiles when he sees me, but I can tell he is nervous.

"Hey, Antonio, what are you doing here?" I ask, letting him in.

"Sorry to come so late but I needed to talk to you." He says facing me, he is wearing a black shirt and basketball shorts. Did he come on a whim?

"Sure," I say, weirded out. We both sit on the couch, he faces me, breathing heavily like he just ran a race.

"I haven't been completely honest with you." He starts. I frown, was this about Crystal?

"Is this about Crystal?" I ask.

"Well, sort of." He admits. I cross my arms.

"Its more about me." He says, but I then space out, looking at him, his mouth moving but no words coming out, my vision goes blurry and the next thing I know I can't see anything. Everything goes black.

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I wake up feeling terrible, then remember what happened.

I must have fainted judging the oxygen tank I have next to my bed, I look around and only see one person, Antonio.

He is sitting there with his head in his hands, looking at the ground, I cough to get his attention and he looks up and quickly goes to me.

"Oh my gosh Phoenix! You scared the crap out of me! How could you never have told me you had a history of fainting?"

Oh right, I never did tell him.

"It's no big deal." I say quietly, seeing how mad he was that I never told him.

"It is a big deal! You should have told me!" He says, clearly mad.

" I'm sorry ." I say.

He sighs and sits down again, shaking his head.

My eyes keep closing, and I have to open them again and again, I've been through this process before, the doctors give me medicine to make me fall asleep before they send me home, this isn't anything serious, just fainting, it's not important to the doctors or nurses, even to me really.

It's always happened to me, when I was at the top of the diving board for summer break when I was 7, when I was presenting my frog presentation in front of my whole class when I was 11, when Franklin died and I knew he was dead, I fainted.

It's my normal.

After my parents talk to the doctors, me, Antonio, and my parents drive back to my house, me half asleep.

I feel us parking, and I feel something hard under me, only then I realize I'm laying on Antonio's shoulder, and he is rubbing my back.

I barely hear my mom say "you got her?" To I assume Antonio before I feel him move and say "yea I'll bring her in." I feel my parents car doors shut and then we are sitting in darkness.

After a minute , Antonio slowly shakes me to wake up, I mumble before slowly following him out of the car , leaning on the car to support my drowsy state.

I hear Antonio chuckle before putting my arm over his shoulders, supporting my weight.

The medicine that the doctors give me are supposed to help me not faint as often as I do, but they mostly just make me drowsy and talk like a crazy woman.

"Tonio." I say yawning.

"Yea?" He asks.

"Did I ever tell you that your really sweet and you smell like almonds?" I say, barely understanding my own words.

" no but I like this Phoenix." He says laughing.

" the half dead one?" I ask.

"No, the one who doesn't know what she is saying ." He says.

We have stopped walking and I am holding onto another car further up in the driveway , with my eyes barely open I observe Antonio. Gosh he looks so adorable , his curly hair is messy and he is wearing super lazy clothes and his hands are in his pockets, waiting for me to say something.

But I can't say anything, all I can do is observe Antonio and think about what he is doing right now. It is probably 11:30 at night and he is still here, looking out for me, caring for me, this is when I realize.

I've fallen in love with Antonio , and I am not pretending.

I quickly looks away realizing what I just admitted to myself, I then feel him support me once more and continue walking to my house, me mumbling words.

" I wonder what shampoo Barack Obama uses."

" do onions get sad when people cry because of them ?"

"Why are mountains so tall , I wanna be that tall."

" I really wanna kiss you right now."

He stops immediately after I said that and I of course don't know why he stopped, this medicine also apparently makes me Dory.

"What did you say?" He asks.

"I, really, want to *yawn* kiss you right now." I say.

He is silent before he starts leading me to the house again.

Once we get to my front door, he opens the door and he leads me to my room.

We walk into my room and he helps me get undressed, not looking of course, but guiding me.

He then helps me get into bed and pulls the covers over me, I am already asleep when he sits down.

"What did you want to tell me earlier?" I ask yawning and basically falling asleep right then and there.

Before I fully fall asleep I hear him say,

"I really want to kiss you too."