From My Enemy To My Love (boyxboy) ✔

Chapter 4

Chet Watakeekul

"Chet!"

I turned around to see who called me. It was that girl that sat near me in my finance class. Melanie. Or maybe Melissa. Yes, Melissa. Her dark, wavy hair blew away from her pale face as a gust of Autumn wind brushed passed us. Trees lined the sidewalk behind us. Their leaves had yet to change, but they would soon. She adjusted her backpack over her shoulder as she walked towards me.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi." She arrived and bit her bottom lip. "So...," she said.

"So...?" I repeated, but she didn't supply anything more. Did I make her nervous? I didn't think I was intimidating. I was sure I wasn't. Was I? No. It must have been something else.

"Did you finish the finance assignment?" I asked breaking the silence.

She smiled in relief. Her brown eyes lit up happily. "Yes. Did you?"

"Yes," I said.

More silence. What did she want?

"You're on the soccer team right?" she finally asked. "I overheard some people saying you had a soccer scholarship."

"Yes." I was going to miss my bus if she talked too much longer. Normally I loved to talk, but not if it meant missing my bus. "Do you like soccer?"

"Yes," she lied. I wasn't sure why she lied, but she lied. It didn't really matter to me if she liked soccer or not.

"Do you like any other sports or just soccer?"

"I like all kinds of sports," I said. "I really only play soccer and baseball though. My build doesn't fit with football or basketball. I'm best at soccer. And it's my favorite." I stopped before I started rambling.

"When is your next game? Would you mind if I came to watch?"

And I suddenly understood what she really wanted. See, Jimmy, I wasn't that oblivious. I had told him I had been on plenty of dates which I was pretty sure he had seen through, but there was a reason I hadn't gone on any dates and it wasn't because I hadn't been asked.

I shifted slightly away from her. Not enough for her to really notice, but to give me some space so I could feel comfortable again.

"Tomorrow at 3. You can come if you want. I can introduce you to the guys on the team. There are a lot of great guys."

"Oh." That didn't go in the direction she had wanted it to and I had done it that way on purpose.

"I'm going to go," I said. "I'll miss my bus if I don't hurry." But I didn't want her to feel too bad so I added, "Hope to see you tomorrow." I immediately regretted it when she smiled.

"See you tomorrow," she said cheerfully.

I turned and rushed to the bus stop. The bus arrived just as I did. I found a spot near the back and sat. The problem wasn't with Melissa. She was pretty. They were always pretty - or the few times I was asked out by guys they were handsome. The problem wasn't with any of them. The problem was with me. I had never, not once in my life, actually been attracted to someone. I didn't want to force something that wasn't there. It wasn't fair to them. I could be holding them back from the true loves of their lives for something that wasn't going to work out in the end. I mean, how long could you date someone when you had no desire to kiss them.

Hopefully nothing would happen with Melissa and if she tried to pursue it, that was a problem for the future. I turned my thoughts to soccer, the game tomorrow, possible strategies for future games, how I thought the coach might direct us in certain scenarios.