truly, madly, deeply // Joel Pimentel

chapter 2

   The school day seemed to go on forever. I couldn't stop thinking about how excited I was for tonight, and for the rest of my summer with Joel.

   During my last period in school, one of my close friends, Claire, was asking me what I planned to do this summer.

I had a few close friends that were girls, but really, Joel was my very best friend. Claire and I had a quick conversation about making plans, and then the bell rung, signaling that school had ended for the year. We jumped up with excitement and began making our way out of the classroom doors.

  Just as I was making my way into the hallway to leave, I received a text from Joel.

from Joelito😜:   hey, meet me at my locker?

    I was walking down the hall to meet Joel at his locker, but as I got closer, I saw another girl also approaching. Her long, silky black hair swished across her back as she walked up to him confidently and began to talk to him very flirtatiously. She was touching his chest as she was carrying on a conversation with him.

A lump in my throat suddenly formed. My chest tightened up quickly and I felt a deep burning in my chest, right where my heart is. The feeling in my chest only got worse as the girl began to get closer to Joel.

I was jealous, but I didn't know why. Joel had been with a girl before a while ago, but it never seemed to bother me this much.

    I walked up to his locker and awkwardly cleared my throat.

      "Um, h-hey Joel. You asked me to meet you at your locker?" I tried to ask in the most calm and sweet manner possible.

   Joel suddenly blushed, looking at the dark-haired girl by his locker. He stepped away from her and said goodbye to her. The dark haired girl glared at me, her hips sashaying as she walked away from us.

     "Oh, y-yeah.. I was wondering if you just wanted to ride home with me?" Joel asked, stuttering a little. He stared at me, waiting for a few seconds before I finally replied.

     "Yeah, sure," I said, trying not to say to much because of the lump that still remained in my throat. I was afraid that if I said anything more Joel would notice my voice breaking.

   When did I suddenly become so emotional? I thought. This isn't like me, I have to pull myself together.

      I decided remain calm and seem normal, so I flashed him a smile and asked, "Should we get going?"

     "Yeah, let's go," Joel continued with a smirk, "tonight is going to be awesome." He smiled at me with his million-dollar smile that could make any girl blush.

   I laughed, trying to forget what I just saw a few minutes ago. I gave him a sweet smile as we walked out the school doors for the last time of that year.

-

  As we were on our way home in Joel's car, I couldn't stop thinking about that girl that got so close to him. I couldn't help but be jealous of her, and I didn't know why. Sure, she was very pretty, but I didn't think I was jealous of her like that. Did I think that she was going to take away Joel from me?

The sound of Joel's voice broke me from my thoughts: "You okay, Amara?"

    "Y-yeah, I'm totally fine," I replied as I composed myself and gave him a fake smile. I couldn't let him find out about how I felt about that girl, but at the same I wanted to know who she was and why she was flirting with him.

"No, seriously. I know something's up with you, Amara. You've barely said anything to me since we've gotten in the car," Joel said, looking at me intently.

Thankfully, we live close to our school, so before I could reply, we were already turning into Joel's driveway.

"Well, it looks like we're here," I said, avoiding his question. "Are you ready to watch your favorite movie?" I tried to distract him the best that I could because I didn't want him to ask why I was being so silent in the car.

He smiled as he opened his door and got out of the car. I moved my hand to the car door handle so that I could get out, but Joel stopped me.

"Wait!" He exclaimed excitedly, "I'll open it for you." He was grinning so wide that I could see his dimples, and my heart jumped inside of my chest.

When it came to kind gestures like these, Joel wouldn't hesitate to do them for me. I could always count on him to comfort me and protect me all the time.

Joel walked around the car and opened my door for me. I could just tell that I was blushing a deep shade of red, so I tried to hide my face as best as I could.

He held out his hand so that he could help me out of the car. He did a little bow, pretending I was royalty.

As I took took his hand, I jokingly said, "Thank you, kind sir."

At this point, I couldn't hold back from laughing at him.

"Anything for you, your highness," Joel joked, while grinning innocently.

As we both erupted into laughter, one of Joel's little brothers, Gabriel opened the front door and stuck his head out.

"Come on guys, stop drooling over each other and come inside, Mom fixed us food," Gabriel yelled while smiling mischievously.

I didn't understand why Gabriel had said that. I understood that it was only a joke, but Joel and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember, and Gabriel has never made fun of us like that before. Gabriel has always known that we were nothing more than friends. I looked up at Joel, since he's much taller than me. I could see a deep color of red arise on his cheeks as he was smiling shyly. Was he blushing?

"Gabo, be quiet," Joel said and chuckled nervously, looking down. "Let's go eat," Joel said, trying to hide his smile.

   He turned around and grabbed both of our bags so that we could head inside. I, on the other hand, was still standing outside of his car, still a little shocked about what Gabriel had said.

When Joel noticed I wasn't following him inside, he stopped. He turned around, looking at me quizzically, with a faint shade of red still on display on his cheeks.

"Come on, Amara," he said, taking steps closer to the door, "or the food is going to get cold."

I smiled knowingly and muttered, "Y-yeah, be right there."

After I composed myself, I followed his footsteps into the Pimentel house. As I walked in the door, the warmth of their home and the usual smell of good food enveloped me.

    I couldn't help but smile; I felt at home.

- (AUTHORS NOTE) YAYYY! If you're reading this and you like it, please leave a comment! I want to know if there is any interest in this story. Thank you!❤️