Friday school was a chaos. The girls that talked about Austin Mahone being missing were talking about him all day. Apparently his mom had announced that Austin was fine. That’s what I heard during the morning. And Austin was still at my house. My mom managed to get some tests done and took them to work with her. Austin was healthy and thankfully they didn’t give him anything to damage his body.
“Loca!” I turned away from locker to see Tori and Marcus running towards my direction. They stopped in front of me, taking deep breaths. “We got a problem.”
“Is this about the project?” They nodded. I sighed in relief. “What’s wrong?”
“We didn’t get the pictures.” I shook my head and shut my locker.
“I have a video. I think we can use it.” They both sighed. I laughed at them.
My friends were an essential part in my life. Victoria was the friend I could talk to about anything and everything. She was the next sister I wanted to have although my mom said once that my father started his own family and there were possibly kids. Marcus on the other side was the friend I could go to if I needed to smile. Those were my friends.
“So Victoria mentioned you called Austin’s family?” I turned to look at Marcus and nodded. Victoria had left us. Like always.
“Yes. Tori and I are heading to some Starbucks tomorrow to meet up with his mom.” Marcus stayed silent as if knowing what I was going to say next. “I’m really scared.”
“Why?” I looked down at my feet.
“What if he doesn’t want to go back? I don’t want his family thinking that I brainwashed him so he didn’t want to go back.” I looked up at Marcus. He sighed before opening his arms. As if I knew what he was doing I stepped into his embrace and wrapped my arms around his torso.
“None of that will happen. You said so yourself, Austin is worried about what that girl might do.” I nodded my head against his chest.
“He’s very nice Marcus. How could someone go crazy when you’re trying to get back with them?” I pulled away from Marcus and looked up at him.
“I have no idea but come on. We have to get lunch.” I wrapped my arm around his torso and followed him to the cafeteria.
*
Later after school, I found myself in the kitchen with my mom. Ale was at the living room studying while we made dinner. Austin was in the shower. He wanted to be clean for dinner so he asked for a towel. Mom found him some clothes he could wear and he gladly took them.
“Are you sure about tomorrow Calli?” I looked up from the rice I’d been cooking. My mom stared at me as she placed a knife on the counter.
“I guess so. His mom really misses him.” She nodded. “I think I’m going to miss him too. I’ve gotten used to having him here.”
“He’s very nice.” We turned to look at Alejandra. She walked over to the counter and grabbed the silvery to set up the table.
“He’s a very good kid. Let’s hope he continues his career.” Ale and I smiled at each other. Mom and Austin had gotten really close. They were like the best of friends.
We finished dinner and I headed upstairs to get Austin. He took a while to shower. I knocked on the bathroom door and it opened after a few seconds. Austin’s head peeked through the door with a worried look on his face.
“Are you okay?” He looked down at the tile floor before looking up at me again.
“I’m trying to find myself.” I tilted my head to side as I was confused. “I can’t remember being famous.”
“Don’t force yourself.” He nodded. He opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. His hair was damp and his eyes were on me most of the time.
“I want to remember Calli.” I took a step back once he took a step toward me. “What’s wrong?”
“Dinner’s ready.” My voice was blank. At the moment I had blocked all feelings towards Austin. I couldn’t feel sad, happy, mad or anything. It would’ve been worse.
I headed back downstairs leaving Austin by himself in the hallway. Once I entered the kitchen I noticed mom and Ale sitting at our small dining table. I took the seat beside Ale, leaving the seat next to mom empty for Austin. He joined us a few minutes after I sat down. I knew my mom would talk about the next day. She knew what was going on. She knew Austin was going back home. I didn’t dare to look at him. It would make things awkward at that point. Those mixed feeling inside me told me to do something or do nothing at all. I decided to not do anything.
“Are you ready for tomorrow Austin?” I kept my eyes on my food. I tried my best pretending the rice and chicken in front of me were more interesting than the conversation at the table.
“I guess so.” I winced at the sound of his voice. I didn’t show any emotions.
“Please don’t forget us Austin.” Ale’s voice was filled with some sort of sadness. She really liked Austin.
“I won’t Ale. Thanks to you guys for letting me stay here and feeding me in the meanwhile.” I heard mom chuckle. I looked up from my plate and met Austin’s gaze. He stared back at me intently as he moved his fork closer to his mouth.
“Are you ever coming back?” Ale asked after taking a sip of her juice.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” He shrugged. I looked down at my plate and continued eating.
My mom and Ale spent the rest of dinner talking with Austin. I kept quiet as I didn’t know what to say. I was feeling my stomach toss and turn. What the heck was happening? Why did I turn into a mess? We eventually finished dinner and I decided I would help my mom do the dishes.
“What are you thinking about?” I looked up from the sink. My mom kept her gaze on the plate she was drying. I shrugged. “Want to talk about it?”
“Would it be rude to say I don’t want to see Austin go?” My mom stared at me. She shook her head placing the cloth on the counter.
“Can you be honest with me?” I nodded slowly. “Do you, uh, do you like Austin?”
“Well, yeah. He’s my friend now. I’m supposed to like him.” My mom laughed to herself and shook her head again.
“I’m talking about more than friends Calli.” I was a bit taken aback by her doubt. Did she really think I liked Austin? Did I like Austin? “You like him, Calli.”
“I don’t.” Something inside of me began to hurt. I could feel my heart pumping faster than usual. I looked down at my chest and then back at my mom.
“Your heart is racing.” I felt guilty denying how I felt. My mom was my best friend in the whole world and we always told each other everything.
“I like Austin?” My mom gave me a childish smile and shrugged. “But he’s going back home mom.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t like him.” I sighed and went back to washing the dishes. Maybe mom was right. Maybe I was starting to develop feelings for Austin.
After making sure everything was in place, mom and I went to the living room. Austin and Ale were playing a game of chess. Mom and I sat there watching them for a while. Ale was very good at chess. That was for sure. Considering it was Friday, mom let Ale have an extra hour before going to bed. Just the clock on the coffee table hit eleven o’clock, mom stood up.
“Ale, time for bed!” My sister made her last move and stood up. A proud smile showed on her face once she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Checkmate.” Austin looked down at the board. My sister had taken three of his pieces down followed by placing her queen where his king had been.
“You can’t do that.” She shrugged and walked over to mom. “We’ll have a rematch Ale!”
“We will!” She left the living room followed by mom. I brought my legs on the couch close to my chest.
I didn’t look at Austin but I knew he was staring back at me. I hugged my legs and sighed. I know that just an hour before, my mom was kind of right. My mixed emotions and tossing and turning stomach were screaming at me. They would’ve betrayed me if they could talk. I bounced my legs up and down as I looked around the living room. My eyes landed on Austin. He was now staring at the chess board.
“Why are you quiet?” He spoke still staring at the board that seemed to catch his attention.
“I’m thinking.” He nodded and turned to look at me. “Why are you quiet?”
“I have to lot on my mind.” I nodded and placed my arms on my knees. He turned back to the board. What was so fascinating about it?
“Are you happy about tomorrow?” He shrugged. He wasn’t happy. He turned to look at me. His eyes had a sparkle in them. I never noticed it until then.
“I like you Calli.” My eyes widened at his words. Can someone please repeat what he just said?
“You what?” Something in the back of my mind was jumping of excitement while there was a part that still doubted those feelings.
“I said I like you. I just don’t like you Calli. I like like you.” He stayed quiet still staring at me. After a moment of silence he stood up and walked over the couch. He offered me his hand. I doubted taking it. What was he going to do? “Take it.”
I took his hand and he pulled me up. I stood in front of him as he still held my hand. What was he doing? I felt him squeeze my hand before lacing our fingers. I looked up at him. Our eyes met and I felt that tossing sensation again. A smile showed on Austin’s face and I couldn’t help but smile back. He had a beautiful smile. It was very contagious. Anybody could smile with him.
“I honestly don’t know how it happened but you make my stomach flip and I get nervous around you.” He leant in a bit. His free hand went up to my cheek to caress it. He sighed. “I really like you Calli. I do.”
“I,” I once heard that you can’t say something if you don’t mean it but did I feel attracted to Austin? What if I told him I didn’t know? Don’t be stupid Calli! You like him! My mind wasn’t helping at all. And my heard wasn’t an exception. It was racing like a Nascar car and that feeling of excitement was there again. “I like you too Austin.”
Austin didn’t hesitate. He smiled down at me and pulled my face closer to his. I suddenly felt warmth as his lips touched mine. I hesitated to kiss back at first but instantly gave in. I let go off his hand and placed both of mine on his chest. Our lips move in sync as I feel his arms sneak around my waist. Austin’s lips were soft and warm. They were delicate on mine. It was magic. We kissed for a few more seconds before pulling away. I looked up at Austin to notice him wearing a smile on his face and looked at me.
“I’m going to miss you.” I frowned and rested my head against his chest.
“I’m going to miss you too Austin.” He held me closer to his body as he pressed his lips on top of my head.
I instantly knew the next day wousldn’t be as easy as I thought.