The Crush

Eye Contact // Chapter I

"It's that element of surprise. When you lose control, you discover new things."

-Daniel Lanois

The sun shone dimly through my window, reflecting a grey-ish light on my room's floor. I stared at it a for a little while; it seemed as though in the morning my brain and my body could not connect for about 20 seconds. It was at 5 a.m. Actually not -it was 9, but the weather implied otherwise and I couldn't manage to stay asleep. I would say the reason was my muddled thoughts but (less profoundly) the reason for this obnoxious catastrophe was my mother. She was shouting at the top of her lungs from the second floor of the house, ordering for me to wake up. Little did she know, I already was...

I couldn't manage to understand her! It was summer. Why couldn't she just shut up for at least one more hour? My mother can be an intense individual sometimes, and she had the need of treating me like her little soldier. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother more than anything in the world, but I didn't understand why every weekend she turned into the most irritating alarm clock waking my brothers and me up for breakfast.

The day before, my two older brothers arrived home from a party at 6 a.m. My older brother is 24 years old and consequently, the middle brother is 22, so I guess they have the right to arrive home at any time of the night. My mother just doesn't get that.

"Mum! Wait a minute! I'll change and go." I shouted back.

Annoyed, I stood up from my bed. I don't understand how my mother can be such a happy morning person. She always looks so over-excited, making breakfast and baking her famous delicious desserts. She is a skilled chef and sells her wonderful, finger-licking food to everyone at our beach neighborhood since she owns a little bakery around the corner.

Rapidly, I changed into a sleeveless pink shirt, black leggings, and white sneakers, ready to do some sport. I loved the healthy feeling I got every time I finished an exhausting work-out session at the gym. It was incredibly tiring and I felt every muscle on my body hurt, but I guess those are the best type of work-out sessions. Pain means gain.

After changing, I tied my hair into a tight ponytail and jogged upstairs. As soon as I reached the second floor, my nose was greeted by the amazing smell of fresh, warm bread out of the oven. It smelled delicious - instantly causing my stomach to grumble. At the table, my family sat down, eager to start eating the probably delicious food my mum had made.

My older brothers, Austin and Seth, looked pretty tired from partying their brains out yesterday night and I could see my mum cheerfully pouring cold orange juice into a small glass as a very interesting juxtaposition.

My mother felt my presence since she looked up, locking eyes with me in a relieved expression and tapped the chair beside her so we could all have breakfast together. Her hair was light brown, streaked with blond locks; which I envied and her beige nightgown was wrinkled up and stained with flour due to her baking processes.

"Morning loser. What took you so long? You still look as ugly as always." Austin said amusedly, stretching his muscular arms behind his head. The black ink of his realistic heart-shaped tattoo stretched out and I wondered how my mum felt when he came home with the first of his many tattoos.

It's a habit for him to call me a loser. It can be very annoying and irritating yet I prefer his insults than his overwhelming way of showing affection. He chokes me with love, hugs, kisses and cheesy nicknames.

"Shut up Austin. It's not as if you wake up looking like a Calvin Klein's model." I responded, sticking my tongue out at this annoying person I'm obligated to call my brother. He chuckled slightly and stuffed a piece of bread inside his mouth.