Chasing the Sun

F o u r t e e n : Spellbinding

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In the third grade, Cindy Carson skipped to my desk in a matching tie-dye shirt and short set and asked me to be her boyfriend.

Now, I didn't like Cindy Carson, not in the slightest but everybody was watching and she had doe eyes.

So with a high-five to seal the deal, I was Cindy's and she was mine.

It was bliss, I guess, she shared her snacks with me and I was ecstatic because I didn't have any.

The universe always seems to sprinkle just a bit of goodness, when you need it the most.

But like all good things, it came to an end when she left me for Bradley Cho two days later – the rumours say he had better stickers than I did.

It's comical really but after Cindy, labels fizzed for me.

I just had a lot of nothing, meaningless fun little nothings that probably did more bad than good.

Whatever the case, nothing meant that I didn't have to meet families, go on dates or worry about birthdays and deal with feelings.

I didn't have to pretend it was something more when I knew it wasn't.

It worked for me, I damn sure didn't want something more, I already have too much going on.

So imagine the disbelief when 'something more' strutted through the doors of my job with auburn hair and a different book every week and I felt the immediate need to do everything and go everywhere under the sun with her.

She's spellbinding, she must be.

Her magic holds me in place while her fingers tighten the reins, I'm ensnared in her essence and I don't think I ever want to be found. I hear her name in every song and see her smile in every face, I don't think this feeling will ever go away.

-

"GOOOALLLL" Ryan and I shout in chorus as the ball connects with the back of the net, the camera panning from left to right as FC Barcelona fans erupt in cheers and applause.

It's been a couple of days since Ryan stepped foot in Sam's coffee shop and in a show of luck, we were on track to becoming fast friends.

It's not that we have a ton in common, in fact, I think our mutual interests end at football and Alice.

It's just he's mellow, this distinct cool confident calm that I've never seen before. If the sky was falling and he told me it wasn't, I'd believe him before reality.

Slugged across the couch in Alice's living room, pizza boxes stacked high and the game at its loudest volume, I think this is what life would have been like if I had brothers instead of sisters.

"What a guy, what a play." Ryan says in star-struck awe as the number 9 jogs around the field before crashing into his teammates in a celebratory pile on. "That's his second hat-trick this season."

"He stepped his game up, they were talking about trading him last month." I point to the information at the side of the screen.

"That's what I'm talking about J-Money, the hustle never stops, you just got to keep going." Ryan exclaims as he sits up to read the Premier League Stats.

J-Money, hah.

Despite Leo and I's earlier speculation Ryan isn't a linebacker, he's actually a third-year business major with a double minor in Economics and Political science at Columbia University in Manhattan.

He thinks it's hilarious to relate everything especially nicknames back to the 'driving forces behind the human existence, money and motivation.'

It's not funny but I still find myself laughing before the sound of a series of exaggerated sighs echoes from the floor.