Fish Eyes

15

I hadn't been able to put the book down.

I was on the chapter about the two female agents that had every opportunity to snake each other out but always ended up coming through. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering if this time would be the last time before their breaking point when--

My doorbell rang.

I groaned, thinking about how I'd promised Cole I'd hang out with him. I didn't want to. I wanted to read my book so I could prove that I read books and could be deep and poetic and all that other bullshit. I hated to admit it, but Love in Color was amazing.

After school had ended, I came straight home and cracked it open in my living room. Tanesia was sleeping peacefully in her living room crib, and I felt at peace. That was, until my "boyfriend" came to the door.

He hadn't officially asked me to be his girlfriend, but I assumed that anybody who was wasting my time like he was would deserve a title.

I couldn't even muster up fake enthusiasm when I shut my book and swung the door open to greet him. "Hey," is all I said before I walked away from the door and allowed him to let himself in.

"You good?"

"Yeah, I was in the middle of doing something, but I'm glad to see you," I lied.

"Cool," he shook his head despite agreeing with my statement.

I looked at him, still a tad irritated, and cocked my head to the side. "Are you my boyfriend?"

At this he scratched the back of his neck. "Do you want me to be?"

I didn't answer his question directly. "I thought we were doing everything that couples do."

"I mean," he scratched again. "Yeah. I guess I am."

"Cool," I said as I eyed my book again. "Tanesia's sleeping."

At this he lit up. "Ooh! The baby! I've been waiting to meet her. Can I see?"

I approached the crib to observe how well Tanesia was sleeping. "You should be good. Just don't make any sudden or loud noises. I don't want to deal with a screaming infant right now."

He stalked over to her crib and smiled over her before walking back towards me. "Y'all look just alike."

"She looks like uncooked pizza dough."

"You got any baby pictures?" he asked, as if trying to prove his point.

I heaved a sigh before approaching our dining room where the scrapbooks were stashed away on a shelf. After sifting through the top ones, which were just my parents' marriage scrapbooks, I found my baby book. There were a ton of pictures in there, and admittedly, my sister did look just like an infant me. I reached for the least uncanny picture and gave it to Cole.

He instantly took the picture and held it up to Tanesia as if to say, "told you so." I just rolled my eyes and went to sit down on the couch.

He seemed good with kids. That was something that was attractive in a partner, yes? That was one of the things I was sure girls swooned over. I hadn't really thought about kids like that, but I supposed it was a good thing in theory that he liked children.

Then I got the idea to see what other things made him suitable. I knew he was athletic. He'd come to my house straight from practice. He didn't smell, which was good. He was good with kids...

"What are your hobbies?" I crossed my arms over my legs and held one fist in another as I awaited his response.

"Hobbies?"