Chapter 2 - A Consideration
June Wolez
I stepped out of the school bus once it stopped at the turn in my lane.
I only took the school bus only when I had no one to give me a lift home. Usually, Ella was my ride home unless she had club activity after school, which was today's case. As for going to school, if Camilla couldn't drive me to school, Michael would pick me up—which was one of the reasons I found myself wishing almost every morning that Camilla would get some urgent work, causing her to leave the house early. But that happened very rarely.
The rain had stopped by then, so I didn't have to take out my umbrella. Though I wouldn't use it, even if it was raining because I liked drenching in the rain. Camilla would scold me to hell if she found out, but she was always busy with her work and got home late at night, so there was no way she would find it out. Now, if only I had a partner to get drenched with, every rainy day would be just perfect. Sigh.
I was walking towards my house, looking at the street to avoid getting splashed with mud by cars. All of a sudden, my eyes went to the house right beside mine, a smile automatically forming on my lips.
There was my other crush, playing basketball on the basketball court of his house. The late afternoon sun reflecting on him made his messy blonde hair look more attractive than usual. It was Troy Brian, who was a junior in a different high school. He had been my neighbor for five years now, ever since I turned ten. When his family first moved in next door, and I saw him carrying one of the cartons from the rooftop, from that moment, I had a huge crush on him.
I had two crushes in real life; one was Michael, while the other one was Troy; the others were my celebrity crushes. I couldn't choose one of them over the other. I know it wasn't exactly right of me to fawn over two boys at the same time, but hey, those were my crushes. They were meant to be admired from afar, so I couldn't help myself. Besides, Camilla told me that it was okay to crush on multiple people at this age—as long as it didn't get serious.
I watched Troy as he dribbled the ball. He looked really hot while playing. He was the basketball team captain of his school. He was great at sports, whereas I was just average. I even had quite a few falls during my gym class. The scars on my knees were a testament to them.
I never used to have the courage to talk to Troy properly. Ever since the first time we met, I would literally forget my voice. That's why every time we would meet up, I would automatically become mute. It was actually a miracle he didn't actually assume I was already mute. Instead, being the charmer he was, he always tried to initiate a conversation with me. I found his gesture really heart-fluttering, but I always ended up running away from him.
That was until middle school. Now, I could make small conversations with him. It was an improvement.
Anyway, I was happy to see Troy play today. He hurt his legs when he went to the spring championship game one and a half months ago in Colorado Springs, that's why he couldn't even practice during that time. I was really glad to see he was recovering, and now he could even play basketball like before.
I wondered how one could look that handsome while playing, getting all sweaty and hair sticking messily to their forehead. Troy wasn't even the bad boy type, full of piercings with a mean look. Rather, he was a nice, cheerful guy, who was respectful to everyone he met. He always talked with an adorable smile. I only wished I had enough courage to talk to him properly, without cowering away.
But was it just me or were his movements a little slower?
Watching him from my big window almost every night made me quite precise about his movements. Heck, I could probably even predict where he was going to step foot on the court next. He was going to aim for the hoop in about three seconds and the ball would definitely go in—
The ball missed the hoop.
In these three years I have seen Troy play basketball, today was the first time the ball thrown by him missed the hoop.
Maybe it was because he was out of practice now? Or, his leg injury was bothering him?
I was too lost in my own shock to notice the look on Troy's face until his holler brought me out of it.
I looked up at him to meet his gaze briefly, to find him smiling, despite his failure a few seconds ago. The ball was lying barren on the court now as Troy didn't make a move toward it, rather he started jogging up to me.
I averted my gaze and started to walk away like a robot, but I was too late to act as Troy called out from behind me, "Hey, June, wait up!"
I stopped and sucked in a deep breath when I heard the sound of his running footsteps getting closer until his white sneakers stopped right in front of me.
"Hey, June. What's up?" the sweet, breathless voice was coming from in front of me now, and from my lowered gaze, I tried to gauge his injury. He used to wear knee-length shorts while playing, but right now, he was wearing joggers.
Sucking in another deep breath, I raised my gaze to face Troy with a small, polite smile on my lips. I had to stay calm and composed.
"Hey, Troy," I managed to say.
"How was school?" he asked me politely.
"It was, uh, great," I uttered and became clueless for a few seconds as to what to say next. "How... How are your legs right now?"
"As you can see, I am back at practicing basketball. So I am perfectly fine now," he said with his usual smile, which made me feel relieved that he was actually fine.
"Oh," was all I could say, forgetting any other vocabulary.
"As you know, my birthday is coming up in two days, and I don't want a flashy birthday party—"
I decided to interrupt him, asking, "Why don't you want a flashy birthday party? Everyone wants to celebrate their birthday with a blast."
"Well, I just want to celebrate my seventeenth birthday with my family and close ones. I want peace this time," he answered.
His birthday was on the third of May. He was only one year and a month older than me.
"Oh, um, nice." Again, I didn't know what else I should say.
"I already invited your aunt, so I thought to invite you personally as well. Can you come to my birthday party, June?" His words stunned me.
Didn't he just say he wanted to celebrate it only with his family and close ones? Did he include me and my aunt in his close ones' list?
"June?"
"Huh?" I snapped out of my trance, only to find Troy eagerly waiting for me to answer him. I flashed him a nervous smile and replied, "Yes, we will, uh, come for sure."
"Thank you for accepting the invitation," he said formally.
I nodded my head and asked, "What do you want as your birthday present this year?"
He arched an eyebrow. "I like whatever you bring every time. Your presents are always the unique ones." Aww, he likes my presents every year. "Oh, don't think I'm only inviting you for the nice present you might get me," he joked, and I chuckled with a shake of my head. "You can come empty-handed, and I will still be the happiest birthday boy ever."
God, stop being so darn cute.
"Well, I might actually have to come empty-handed this time around," I responded.
"Why?" he asked with interest.
"Um, maybe because I ran out of ideas?" I suggested cluelessly.
He chuckled. "For real, though," he clarified, "I don't need any presents. The presence of my close ones is enough."
My heart leaped with joy when he hinted that I was really one of his close people.
Just to be sure who else would be at the party, I swallowed my nervousness and asked him curiously, "So who else is on your close ones' list?"
He twitched his lips and responded, "Just my parents, your aunt, and you."
"What about your friends?" I asked instantly.
"I'm kind of having a fall out with my friends," he admitted, his gaze fixed on the concrete pavement below us, and my heart clenched for him.
I did notice that in the one and a half months he had been home, only rarely did his friends come by to check up on him. I couldn't understand their reason.
Troy was already the type of person who didn't make friends that easily; he would converse with people in a friendly way, but he rarely considered them friends in his heart.
Troy's gaze was back up at me, a cheerful smile on his face like he didn't just mention something sad. "Anyway, so you can say, you are the closest friend I have at the moment, which is pretty nice, considering you were the only one who didn't stab me in the back."
I hummed and asked in a soft voice, "Don't you seriously have anyone else you want to invite?"
He twitched his lips, thinking. "Maybe a few people from the acting club."
My eyes widened in surprise. "You have friends in the acting club?"
"Oh, I never told you?" He looked back at me in surprise as well. I frantically shook my head, and he smiled. "I have been in the acting club for the last four months. It's been pretty great."
I couldn't believe that Troy was in the acting club. But that wasn't what was important right now.
"Hey, then you should totally invite your club members to your party," I encouraged.
"You think?" he asked hesitantly.
I nodded. "Absolutely. And while you are at it, think about your feud with your friends from basketball. Maybe you'd like for them to come as well. Because at the end of the day, they are still your friends who love you."
He smiled warmly.
All this time, I have been too selfish to only be focusing on my crush on him. I was forgetting to see the person beneath that charming facade. I shouldn't let my crush on him affect our bond. He was going through a hard phase, and if he needed me in those four people he wanted at his seventeenth birthday party, then so be it.
I cleared my throat and told him with a genuine smile, "Don't worry, Troy. Even if you decide to not invite any of your other friends in the end, that's also fine. It's your birthday, so you get to decide who will make you happy on that day. That's why I will definitely be there and bring you the best present ever."
He grinned. "Just your presence will be the best birthday present ever. See you, June." With that, he walked back to his house.
I watched him with a sense of happiness in my heart. It was high time to stop acting strange around him due to my crush.
###
I freshened up and made myself a cup of hot chocolate. Then, I sat on the desk chair, deciding to do my homework as I had nothing else to do in this empty house.
Camilla would be arriving late as usual.
I took my pencil and started preparing for the Algebra test tomorrow after completing my homework.
When I was solving a familiar math problem, immediately Michael's face popped into my mind. The way he kissed my cheek today—his soft lips over my cheek—I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks at this very moment.
One of my crushes kissed my cheek while the other crush called me one of his close ones. How could I not feel the butterflies erupting in my stomach? It was all too much to take in within a day.
All of a sudden, I heard my phone ring, making me jump at the sudden sound. It was on the table in front of me, so I checked the caller ID, only to find Ella's name appearing on the screen.
I picked it up, putting her on speaker.
"'Sup, Els?" I greeted, continuing to solve the math equation.
"Just applied a face mask because I have to audition for the new drama tomorrow. I swear if that Mist didn't give me the lead role this time, I would kill her," replied Ella. She was in the drama club because the acting was like breathing to her; it came to her naturally. She could even fake tears so easily. "What about you? Still busy admiring one of your crushes?"
I smiled and glanced at Troy practicing basketball through my window. "Yes, I am," I told her honestly.
"I don't understand. Why don't you confess that you have a crush on one of them, Junes?"
"It's not that easy." I sighed, putting down my pencil and giving her my full attention.
"Why not?" she asked me curiously.
"I have a crush on him, but I have a crush on Mike, too. So I can't tell two boys that they are my crush; it's like the law of averages or something." I pointed out.
"Are you waiting to figure out who you like more?"
"No," I answered, confused. "Why do I need to find it out?"
"So that you can ask one of them out? Come on, Junes, you can't just crush on the two of them silently. You have to make a move," she almost scolded me.
"I am just so nervous," I let out. "I can't even talk to Troy properly without getting nervous. On the other hand, Mike's a close friend of mine. I don't want to take a risk of ruining what we have."
"I don't care. You are totally asking Mike out. Have a little fun! At least until you can reduce your nervousness in front of Troy," Ella concluded.
I glanced again at Troy, only to find he was heading inside the house now. I got up from my seat and started walking to my bed.
"I will..." I trailed off, keeping my tone noncommittal. "But today at school, you were against me approaching my crushes, as they would fade away soon. Then, why are you forcing me to ask one of them out now?"
"So that you don't have any regrets in life, later on, Junes."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"You can't get over your crushes because you haven't told them what you feel for them yet. If you tell them that you have a crush on them, then your crush will fade away slowly, and then, you can solely focus on your soulmate."
"You do have a point, Els," I mumbled. "But why are you so focused on finding my soulmate?"
"Because I'm your best friend and I want the best for you," she replied confidently. "Just trust me."
"Fine. I will consider confessing my crushes to my crushes—wait, that sounded weird, but oh, well..."
"Great!" Ella chirped. "Anyway, listen to what happened today during the auditions," she started narrating the latest gossip.
We talked for a long time until I realized it was my bedtime. I had finished my math practice and dinner meanwhile, too.
"Bye, Els. See you at school," I said through the phone and ended the call.
I put my phone on the charger on the nightstand next to my bed, double-checking that my alarm was set, then I packed my bag and what clothes I would wear tomorrow. Finally, tying my hair into a fishtail braid, I laid down on the bed.
I thought about what Ella said. I had to make a move on one of my crushes before it was too late.
So if things went well with Mike, I could end up dating him. Or, end up ruining our friendship permanently. It was all or nothing—a scary prospect, indeed.