Perfectly Imperfect

16

Sun rays sipped through the curtains in fine lines, when my eyes fluttered open. By the intensity of the light, I could tell that it was pretty late for my parent's standard. I stirred my arms while a yawn made its way. My lips curved up as I recalled last night. We'd gotten home and when Chris leaned closer to kiss me good night, I placed both palms on his chest. "Wait." He stopped completely, looking bemused. "What sort of pictures are you taking? I mean, there are so many people disguised as a Jedi."

He grinned, his eyes lightning up like a kid on Christmas morning. "I'm trying to find the things that might have been Lucas' inspiration for the movies." My frown creased right before he added, "Take Yoda for example. I'm pretty sure he created it after a Chihuahua. It's small and has huge, pointy ears like that breed." Nodding, I though it through. There was a resemblance. He might be on to something. "In the aquarium, I thought the seals looked like Jabba The Hut."

My brows furrowed. "I always thought Jabba came after an ugly toad."

"Probably," he shrugged. "I work with the things I have in front of me."

I licked my lips, patting his chest. "You are not such a dummy yourself, Chris." He chuckled before flicking my nose.

I swatted him away, pulling back. Then, a thought popped into my head. A sly smile played in my lips as I paced my hands on my hips. "Good luck finding a Darth Vader, dude."

He cracked up at that. "Yeah, I clearly didn't think it through." He shook his head entertained. His eyes looked down, focusing on my lips for a moment before glancing up. My stomach flipped, excitement washing over me.

This time, I didn't let him lean on me. I stood up on the tip of my toes and kissed him. "Goodnight, geek."

He swallowed hard, his eyes roaming all over my face. "Good night Farah," his tone was soft and he stared at me having some sort of internal fight, before bobbing his head and walking away. My brows furrowed as I recalled the look on his face right before he left.

He seemed conflicted. Was it about us? A defeated sight left my lips while I closed the door behind me.

Why couldn't we be completely straightforward?

***

We played board games, I caught up on the reading list I had on my tablet and my sisters got to watch the rest of the Star Wars installment that Dad got from a rental video-store.

I didn't hear from Chris. Not a text or a call or anything. Zero. Nada.

Not having much to do, didn't help. I tried not to think about it. But at the end of the weekend, my dark mood was pretty evident. I spent most Sunday afternoon locked in my room, pretending to read and not over-think it all.

It was clear that whatever we were going through, wasn't anything official.

I didn't know how to feel about it. In a way, I knew that I was going back to California in a couple of weeks but on the other hand, I kind of wanted to see where this could go. I was sort of hoping to try out the long-distance relationship if Chris was up to it.

I just wasn't sure he'd go for it.

After dinner, we were settling to watch a movie, when my phone rang in my room. I didn't want to bring it with me everywhere, but I had set it up on the highest volume and left my door open, so I would hear it.

Mom's blue eyes turned to me. She hadn't said anything, but I knew she knew where my moodiness came from. Actually, everyone in the house knew. They'd been letting me be for the most part. Biting my lip, a ray of hope washed over me.