A Pinch of Memories in my Bowl of Disaster

2 Friends

<><><><><>Author's Note<><><><><><>

Dedicated to this awesome girl up there!!! ^

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I came back home that day feeling so happy. My mom tried drilling questions about the new neighbors, but all I could think about was Ayden.

"So, who were the new neighbors?" she asked impatiently. 

"There was a boy that I met in school today," I responded.

"Were the parents there?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Any siblings?" 

I sighed. "I don't know."

"Any pets?!" 

"Mom, I don't know!!" I stated in a tired tone.

She gave me a stern look. "Well, I thought you would know since you spent a long time at his house!" 

I ignored her last statement and brushed past her. I waltzed into my room feeling so light and free. I locked myself in my room and called Charlie. She continuously squealed as I explained everything that happened.

 "So do you really like him?" she asked. My mind stopped for a second. Do I like him? The answer was obvious: YES! The real question was, should I like him? I only knew him for one day, and I barely knew anything about him.

"Not exactly," was all I said. I didn't want to say yes until I knew at least five important facts about him. With that I ended the call. I gazed at the stickers on my ceiling. Am I doing the right thing? I asked myself. I decided that I was. I needed to take things slow. I ended the call and threw my phone onto the couch and tucked myself into bed. I fell asleep and dreamed happy dreams. 

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Every day Ayden and I became closer. Every day he would sit with Charlie and me at lunch. He would always listen as Charlie and I talked. He seemed more interested when I talked, so most of the time it was me doing the talking. Charlie seemed slightly irritated by this, but she dealt with it. Sometimes our conversations were interrupted when classmates challenged me with a new dare.

"Hey Daniela! We've got a new dare for you. Bet you can't do it!" a boy challenged as him and three others approached my lunch table. I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I dare you to kiss Freddie," he snickered. I looked over the kid's shoulder and saw Freddie in the corner of the cafeteria sneezing into his food and wiping the snot with his hand. He licked his lips and sniffled as he pushed up his glasses. I groaned and rubbed my temples. 

"Are you serious?" I asked in exasperation. All the boys nodded. I looked at one of them standing behind the main boy. His name was Nolan, and he seemed to be the only one that felt sympathy for me. I noticed Ayden's body tense up as he stated, "sorry, Daniela can't do that." He placed his arm on my chair as if to protect me.

One of the boy got close to Ayden. "Yes she can. She's the daredevil. I don't see the problem, unless you have a crush on her," the boy now challenged him. I watched as Ayden cooly kept his stare on the boy. When neither of them flinched, Ayden shifted his stare to me. He looked at me with almost pleading eyes. I held in the butterflies that tried to erupt in my stomach.

"The daredevil never turns down a dare," I whispered. Ayden breathed in and returned his gaze to the boy. "Then go ahead," he said in a strained voice without looking at me. The boy smiled and stepped away from Ayden. I stood up and pushed aside my chair. I brushed passed the crowd that was now beginning to form by my lunch table. "Let's get this over with," I mumbled to myself. When I was close to Freddie, he gawked at me. He's probably shocked that a girl is going up to him, I thought. Before he could say a word, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards me. He must've thought I was going to beat him up, but I surprised both of us by locking lips with him.