We sat on my bed a while longer in silence as he looked around and studied my room. I wouldn’t say that my room was a representation of who I was. The cleanliness of it did represent me, but the striped baby blue-and-white wallpaper that clashed with the light gray shag carpet would not be what I would have chosen.
I looked around my room and thought about how much I wanted to change it.This room is ugly. Why didn’t I at least try to paint this a long time ago?I thought. The fact is, I didn’t spend a lot of time in it until the end of the school year. Dana and I had hung out so often over the years at her place, and my being on the cross country, track, and swim teams…and then having to take care of my dad for the last several months of his life… All of that together contributed to never really getting to know my own room.
As I moved my eyes to the right, I noticed something that nearly made me jump. Thad was no longer studying my room. He was studying my face. I turned my head toward him and met his analytical gaze. He grinned in response to the smile that unintentionally appeared across my face. I looked further into his icy blue eyes. He had a tiny speck of brown in his left iris. Like a small eye-freckle.
I wasn’t just looking into his eyes, I was staring into his very being. And at that moment, I knew there was much more to this than friendship. I began to fall for this person, and I think he felt the same for me. He couldn’t deny it now.
He put his right hand on my knee, which immediately sent chills through my body. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to lean forward and throw my arms around him, forcing his lips to collide with mine. But I waited. I wanted him to make the move. I didn’t want to be the one to ruin this, especially if it wasn’t what he wanted. So I waited.
He moved his hand up closer to my inner thigh, stimulating my insides. This was it. He was going to move in. It was finally going to happen.
“Étienne, we’re home!” my mom yelled from the side door, causing Thad and I to jump up from the bed.
“Argh. Why? They’re not supposed to be home until later,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear as I gave him a disappointed look. “I’m sorry,” I added, looking over to him after hearing the thumping of my little brothers approaching my room.
“Étienne, you’ll never believe what happened at grandma’s. Oh,hiii.” Callum stopped at my door, studying the stranger in his older brother’s room.
Niall popped up behind him. “Hello. Who are you?”
“What happened?” I interrupted the twins.
“Mom and Riley got into a big fight about Nate. She’s staying at Grandma’s house tonight,” replied Callum.
“She said ‘I hate you’ to Mom,” Niall added.
“Well that’s not very nice,” Thad decided to chime in. “My name is Thad,” he added, extending his hand to my little brothers.
“Are you my brother’s new friend?” asked Niall.
“Yeah. The guy Riley was talking about Étienne going in the car with?” said Callum.
I looked over at him as a wave of anxiety crashed down over me. I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking after my brothers mentioned that he’d been the topic of conversation.This will probably turn him right off.
“Alright guys, that’s enough. He has to get home now.” I rushed the two of them out of the room and grabbed Thad’s hand, leading him through the front sitting room and out the front door.
“I’m sorry about that. And them.” I sighed.
“They were fine. I wish I had little brothers to boss around. But I probably should get home.” He grinned.
“Hey. I uhh…” I tilted my head toward my house, trying to bring up what we were about to do.
He understood. “It’s cool. Not like today’s the last time we’ll see each other.”
Please take me back to that moment,I thought, watching his lips as he spoke. “Yeah, you’re right. Text me later?” I suggested.Where is this boldness coming from?
“Yeah. Um. Hold on a second.” He ran up and grabbed my arm before I could turn back.
He explained that his seventeenth birthday would be on Thursday and his family was throwing a small party for him; he invited his school and hockey friends. “I wanted to tell you.” He held on to my hand. “I don’t want you to find out from Myspace and think that I didn’t want you there. I want you there, but…”
I understood why he was telling me. At this point in our friendship, or relationship if you could call it that, I presumably would have done the same thing.
“You’re only turning seventeen? I thought you were older than me.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Well then I owe you a day after Thursday.”
“I’ll look forward to that.” He winked, then let go of my arm.
So you DO like me.
“You look happy,” my mom commented as I walked in the house. “Haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time.”