After sitting down in silence by the pool, we come back down to the party together and whatever mild hope I have of doing it unnoticed flies out the window when I hear Viri yelling “There they are!”, followed by several “oooooooh” from Lucas, Eva and Christian; not that I really mind though, just being there next to Cris makes it all much simpler, natural almost.
Cris and Eva share a look and Christian raises his hand so we can high-five, after that the party continues just like any other party, we dance, we sing, we (Cris and myself) watch as our friends get wasted and loud and they sing worse and worse, but more confident, with each passing song. At some point I see Nora and Amira having a conversation in one of the corners of the room, I obviously cant hear what they are saying but the way Nora is moving I can guess it’s a serious talk, after seven or eight songs I see Nora hugging Amira and they both walk to were we are. Cris is standing to my right and Amira stands next to her, she whispers something in her ear and Cris walks away, winking at me first as if to calm me down a little. Next, Amira stands next to me and I feel tension starting to build up, although the lighting isn’t the best, I can see her taking in deep breaths, building up her decision to turn and look at me.
“It’s not that I don’t like you, okay? I just don’t want Cris to get hurt again, that’s all.”
I nod without breaking eye contact.
“I assure you I would never do anything that could hurt her.”
She puts her hand on my shoulder and announces to everyone that she has to go, Cris walks with her to the stairs, where they talk for one song and then they hug goodbye, Cris walks back to where she was standing to my right.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything is okay.”
We dance and we sing for a couple more hours, up until there’s only six of us left: Cris and me, Lucas, Eva, Jorge and Christian. By then we are all tired and we decide to go up to the swimming pool and watch the sunrise, it’s pretty cold so Christian brings out some covers, he gives each of us one and Cris and I share ours; one over our shoulders and covering our backs, and one over our legs. Because of the closeness that we have, I put my arm over Cris’ shoulders and she rests her head on mine, all the others are sitting individually and, for some reason, Cris finds it funny when Jorge, somehow, ends up sitting next to Eva.
And so, we stay there, all six of us in silence as we watch the colors of the sky change from a dark purple, to dark blue, then orange and pink, and then settles into a bright, light, blue. Once the sky settles, I feel Cris yawn and I feel her breathing turn slow and rhythmic.
“Cris?”
“Sssh, lets sleep for a little while.”
I laugh softly, I would actually love to stay but I have to get home, Sunday is kind of a family day in my house and my parents would be really upset if I don’t make it.
“I have to get home, or I will be grounded for a year.”
“Can’t you stay?”
She looks at me with those big blue eyes and a pout that, without a doubt, would’ve convinced me in any other situation.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Its family day at home and it’s kinda mandatory.”
She sighs and puts her head in my shoulder once again.
“Alright.”
She stands up and stretches out her arms for me to hold on to her hands and stand up too, I tell everyone goodbye but only Christian answers, the rest has fallen asleep. Cris walks with me to the door, sleepy and tired, but I also notice she seems a little nervous too.
“Alright, let me know when you get home and everything, cool?”
“I promise.”
“Okay.”
We stare at each other for a few moments, moments that might as well have been minutes, or hours, or days, time really is relative when Cris looks at me like that, with that special glow in her eyes, and that smile that’s only hers. She starts coming closer to me, and closer until there’s virtually no space left between us, she moves her face close to mine and I stop breathing, her lops are so close that with the smallest of movements we… but in the last moment she moves away a little and gives me a kiss directly in my check, without being able to control myself I close my eyes at the feeling.
“Well, I’ll see you on Monday then.”
And I just smile at her, I smile because there’s no way on earth that I would be able to say a single word at that moment. So, I smile and I walk away to where the subway is, with her kiss still lingering in my cheek and my heart racing fast.
