Tʀᴜʟʏ? - ᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴏᴛʜᴇ̀ᴇ ᴄʜᴀʟᴀᴍᴇᴛ ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛᴏɴ

13

It took me a while to relax that night, my head swarming with thoughts. After me and Timothèe departed, I spent the rest of the day burying myself in schoolwork. But as the night approached and there wasn't much left for me to do, my mind wandered back to him. I suddenly became aware of the fact that I had barely seen any of his films. My curious mind got the better of me as I opened my laptop, searching up his name. The results were what I expected. Call me by your name at the top, with Little Women next to it, featuring a blank cover as we weren't even done filming yet. Beautiful boy, Ladybird, Interstellar, Hot Summer Nights, the list went on. I sighed and pulled up Call me by Your Name, probably his most popular movie. I opened it, my laptop humming.

I realized I was still in my jeans from earlier and groaned, getting up. I might as well take a shower now, it wasn't like I was going out later.

I took a quick rinse, throwing on fuzzy white pajama pants and a tight tank top. I put my wet hair up in a towel and fell back into bed, my laptop still open to the movie title. I settled in a clicked play, watching as my screen lit up with the opening credits. I felt a warm feeling expand in my chest as Timothèe came on screen. His hair was shorter in this movie than it was today, and he looked a bit younger. I watched with eagerness, taking in the movie.

A tear fell down my cheek and I quickly brushed it away. The movie was beautiful, and although some of the messages were a bit weird, you couldn't deny that it was truly an experience. I closed my laptop slowly, trying to process. After a couple minutes, my brain started to function again. I knew this guy? There was no denying that he was unbelievably attractive, especially in this movie. My heart pounded as my mind went back to the roof. The way I had studied his features in the winter sunlight, shielded through clouds. The way the wind had carefully ruffled his hair, and how his eyes gleamed when he laughed. I remembered how it felt with him behind me, the warmth of his chest and the deep notes of his laughter. My brain went fuzzy as I fell into a trance, a knock on my door the only thing pulling me back to reality. I got up, confused. I glanced over at the analog clock, it's glowing red numbers displaying 7:38. I yawned and opened the door, the light from the hallway spilling in. I peered out and was met with a familiar face.

"Oh hey Lilia! What's up?" I asked, opening my door up all the way. She seemed a bit gloomy, a fake smile painted across her lips.

"Hey Cleo, sorry to intrude," she said, running a hand through her shiny dark hair.

"Not at all! Everything okay?" I asked her. I bit down at my lip, worried for what she needed.

"I was wondering..would you want to hang out? You're like, the only other person I know who's staying for the holidays and I dunno. This was stupid," she said, about to leave. I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Not at all! To be honest, I'm pretty lonely here too. I was just watching some movies," I gestured to my open laptop and darkened room,  "If you want to join me." She perked up.

"I would love to," she said, smiling. I opened the door for her to come in and smiled widely. I was glad to have Lilia. Obviously I'd made many friends this school year, but she seemed like someone I could really trust. I turned on some of my fairy lights and a small lamp, hopping on my bed. Lilia sat beside me in sweats and an oversized graphic tee. She noticed my search and gave me suspicious eyes.

"Doing your research, hm?" She asked, laughing. I covered my face with one hand in embarrassment, the other clicking out of the search bar.

"I hung out with him today and realized I've never watched like, any of his movies. I just felt bad, alright?" I countered, laughing as I said it. She threw her head back, laughing. I could help but giggle with her, the situation was stupid. As our laughs died down, she suddenly gasped.

"Wait. Backtrack. You hung out with him today?" She asked. I felt myself blush.

"We just had coffee. Then he showed me the roof he goes to to chill, and he gave me an apartment tour," I explained. Her eyes were wide.

"You guys didn't-"

"NO. No," my face was red as I rejected her question. She was smirking but didn't press it further.

"So he gave you an apartment tour? Was the toilet paper gold?" She asked. I laughed at her question.

"No. Surprisingly his place was very..average? Like, kind of extremely normal to be honest. It wasn't what I expected of him I guess," I shrugged. She seemed surprised.

"Were you guys flirting? Or was it more of a friend thing," she asked. I thought about it.

"I mean we didn't kiss or anything, but I'd like to think we were kind of flirting. I may be imagining it though," I admitted. She looked thoughtful.

"But he asked me to go to dinner with him sometime," I added. A smile grew on her face at this.

"Okay, he definitely likes you." I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I mean, he's..him!" I gestured to my screen where call me by your name sat in my recently watched. Lilia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but you're a smoking hot college girl who every guy wishes he had. You guys are a perfect match," she said. I bit the inside of my cheek, still conflicted.

"Thanks Lilia. I really hope he likes me, because I really do like him," I admitted. It felt weird saying it out loud but it was nice to get it off my chest. Lilia slung an arm around my shoulder.

"Anytime. That's what friends are for," she said. I laughed and leaned in to her shoulder for a second, before pulling away and trying to find another movie.

"Can we watch another Timothèe movie? He's cute," she said. I playfully hit her and we both laughed loudly, but I gave in and pulled up Ladybird.

It was around 12 am now, and me and Lilia both had tears streaming down our faces. We had finished Ladybird a while ago and now finished Beautiful Boy. It was safe to say this was probably the saddest movie I'd ever seen. Timothèes acting was incredible though, and I was once again in awe that this was the same man I had insulted a man's mustache with just this morning. I closed my laptop and looked over to see that Lilia was dead asleep next to me. I chuckled quietly and closed the laptop, pulling up my phone. My curiosity got the better of me and soon I found myself searching up Timothèes instagram. I scrolled through it slowly, reading the thousands of comments from teenage girls and fans all around. Huh. I went to his tagged and stumbled on several edits of him. I watched on awe as his face flashed across my screen.

Only around ten minutes later and I found myself deep into the Timothèe Chalamet fan side of social media. If I didn't realize how famous he was before, I did now. Several times I had to catch myself and wipe the smile off my face. It was kind of weird seeing someone you know in person being talked about on social media all over the world. My eyes began to get heavy and I shut my phone off. I pulled the blanket under my arms and bit my lip, still thinking about him. Did he really like me, or was I making this all up in my mind? I felt uneasy as I drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.