Unofficially Mine

Chapter 3

8 yrs ago, India

Why on earth does this stupid clock move at a snails pace? I've been staring at that thing for the past one hour.
Just one more round and it would strike 5.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my mom twist Mason's ear (he's my 4th brother by the way), in hopes that he'll remember what 8 times 9 was.

Sadly he didn't, and mom changed the strategy, threatening to ground him for a month with no football and games. Usually, that tactic works on most of my siblings. But no one beats Mason's stubborness. He sat there like a rock, putting even Dwayne Johnson to shame.

3, 2, 1

Yes!

Its 5 and the official play time. I jumped up from my seat, practically wiping out all my books from the table, startling mom and Mason that the poor kid blurted out '72!'

Mom gave me a disapproving look and turned back to Mason.

Seeing me leave probably gave him a sense of emergency that he recited all his tables like he grew an extra brain in those few seconds.

I almost dashed outside the house without doing a very important thing.

Running to my room I stood in front of the mirror and gave myself a onceover.

My clothes - too lazy to change, besides I looked fashionable enough in my black tee and leopard print shorts.

My hair - it's hopeless...no use hoping for it to start acting more like hair and less like tied up straw bundles.

My face - the same as yesterday.

Do I look hot? - far from it

Why did I bother with the mirror. Now I don't feel like going out to face Axel.

Oh yea. My prince charming (nope not Philip anymore, because Philip is my favorite great Uncle), became my neighbor.

Last month, my family decided to move to India (best decision ever), to this new villa complex with ALL our family friends.

Best part? I see Axel everyday. Feel free to be envious.

I was grinning broadly, and searching around for my best friend, Gabby. According to my calculations, if I walk towards Axel's house, which is opposite Gabby's place (if I'm envious of anyone, it's her), I'll catch him coming out of his house in about...5 minutes. These are times I'm glad that I'm an extremely smart person.

I was on Gabby's porch and looking at the door of my boy's house when it opened and he came out.

He spotted me. And I waved a hi. Of course on the surface, I probably looked like some model waving her hand to the fans but on the inside, an entire church choir was singing Axel praises and butterfly battalions raging war in my stomach. It all intensified to so much more when he grinned back showing me his braces.

How can braces look so beautiful on someone?

I gave a small smile back, not that my mouth wasn't threathening to form a full a Joker like grin. But I didn't plan on creeping my crush out. And the hardest part, I forced my head to look at Gabby's door before finally ringing the bell to her place.

Be cool, Alisha. Be cool.

She came out, obviously happy to see me.

"Why are you giving me that weird smile? You know what? It's fine. You're weird anyway", and I immediately went back to scowling.

Gabby wasn't a social butterfly. She was introverted (but around me she's so noisy and annoying) and I was damn extroverted. I think I grew a backbone these years. I got bored being the small naive kid.

I sigh thinking back on my bullying victim days. They don't bother me anymore. Those kids be damned. I just wish I was brave enough to stand up for myself and stop being so insecure. I know I'm not pretty but I wish people would stop making fun of my looks and calling me ugly all the time. I mask it with my humor and comebacks, but they still hurt. As if they look like Kendall Jenner or Chris Hemsworth. *scoff*

"Earth, to Ali", Gabby stood in front of me with her dad's phone in her hand and snapping a stupid picture of mine.

Le sigh. Instagram is going to be flooded with the worst pictures for my birthday; some of them can even horrify Freddy Krueger.

"Thanks for that, you mean excuse of a human",

"Welcome. What are we playing today?",

"Cops and Robbers. The boys said they'll join."

I was glad that I had 5 brothers and a sister (with an extra one on the way, which I hope is a girl). I could manipulate my brothers into playing games with us instead of their football matches and somehow drag Axel with them.

We made teams and I ended up on the opposite team from Axel, and we were the cops.

Good. Now I'll chase my boy.

Axel was so fast. Is this guy bad at anything??! I chased him through the lanes between houses and suddenly got a chance for a surprise attack. And I caught him.

And then he looked at me.

And I forgot how to breathe.

He was panting with his hands on his knees and looking at me through his lashes.

Boy, was he beautiful. Even in that sweaty mess. I didn't care if he smelled like the sewer or if his hair was matted in sweat, or that his purple t-shirt and red shorts looked weirdly uncoordinated. That boy took my breath away, nevertheless.

"Where are you taking me?"

To my room

"Huh?!", he looked bewildered. Shit, did I say that out loud??

"To that fake prison room made by me, I mean."

"Okay...", the poor guy still looked at me apprehensively.

Great going Alisha. At this rate he will definitely fall for you.

I walked alongside him. I'm sure we looked like the male and female lead in some movie. I tried racking my brain for a topic for some small talk. But around him, my brain always decides to take a vacation.

Brain, you're dead.

When we reached the prison, which was a miniature kids park, I decided to be the responsible cop and guard the robber myself. I shooed the other jailer away.

While looking around for the other sneaky robbers, I caught Axel trying to jailbreak. I ran and stood before him.

"Nah uh. Where do you think you're going", I asked with a smirk.

"Running away duh."

"You're stuck here", with me, "I won't let you go", ever from my life.

"Fine!", he made a bored face and went back to the kids park bench.

That day I decided that cops and robbers was my favorite game.

_________________________________________

Hey Readers,

Sorry for any errors that may have found their way here unknowst to me.
You can point them out if you spot those traitors.

Thanks!

And...happy reading!

Love,
GJM