7What You See
Prologue
...June 4, 2009...
"What do you see in him?"
I simply stood there, speechless. What do I see in him? He was hilarious, a jokester. A clown. He was an idiot.
"He's an idiot," I proclaimed, my eyes shifty.
The usually polite and well-behaved boy could do nothing but glare rudely.
"He's an idiot," I repeated, "that's what I see."
"You admire his idiocy? His stupidity?" He obviously had trouble keeping his voice down.
His idiocy and stupidity. Sure, sounds about right. I shrugged off his comments and turned around, ready to leave.
Unfortunately, he caught my shoulders. I grimaced at his touch. A strong grip. I made no attempt to escape. No reason to, anyway. "Tell me, is he a genius or something? Is that why you like him? Does he get good grades?"
"I… honestly don't know," was my answer. I didn't turn around. All I did was breathe, blink, and live.
"What would you guess, though?" he pried.
"Most likely not. I don't think his idiocy stops at his personality."
He exhaled loudly, his breath blowing at my back. I blinked. Blinking hydrates your eyes. If your eyes become dehydrated, that's bad. Very bad. In fact, if you're sitting in front of a computer, you must make an attempt to blink more because…
With a powerful force, he spun me around to face him. I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine. Gosh, he was making a big deal about this. I wouldn't be surprised if he started yelling in my face right about now.
"You… You're a smart person. You shouldn't be falling in… well, just falling for a stinkin' idiot!" Oh look. Yelling.
"I'm not that smart. In fact, I think I'm an idiot, all the same. Here's a math equation for you: Idiot plus Idiot equals Super Idiot. Together we shall conquer the world," I replied with a sarcastic smile.
His eyes narrowed, squinting. "I'm serious." Perhaps his eyebrows even slanted downwards, as if in pity. Pity for him or for me, that's unknown.
I pondered his previous words for a few seconds before smiling and him and saying, "Ah, so you think I should like you instead."
Interesting. A newfound discovery had come to my mind. His hands were still placed firmly on my shoulders. Very interesting.
When I received no answer, my flow of words continued. "You think, because he's an idiot – a complete and total idiot, I might add – I shouldn't like him at all. He's a stupid person to fall for, yes?"
As he swallowed, I could see a lump traveling down his throat. I'll take that as confirmed.
"So," I carried on rather calmly, "you are both academically intelligent and even, let's say, more sincere personality-wise. As you implied."
At my pause, he loosened his grip on me. One by one, his hands retreated to his pockets. His head lowered, eyes cast down to the floor. Still nothing to say. On with my obnoxious impassivity and droning.
"Therefore, I should be falling for you, not for that brainless, dim-witted person I have currently come to have an affection for."
The flustered boy, so intent on keeping me from leaving, raised his head as if about nod. In fact, he did nod. Very slowly. Intriguing, that. Never knew he had such a prideful ego.
"Yes, but… well… no."
I sincerely wished I could simply leave. My entire day's schedule was clear as day, but I didn't want to waste an hour just standing there.
"I… I don't mean… I don't mean to boast or anything of that sort. I just…" Oh great. Now he was stuttering. Hmm, I wondered if my thoughts were too cruel. Perhaps they were. Ah well, he was making a big deal out of something that couldn't be helped.
He swallowed again.
Silence prevailed for a few minutes, which gave me time to think. Why do I really like that other guy? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no reason. He was just always there, in my brain. How odd. I questioned myself whether that wasn't enough. Couldn't answer my question.
At that moment, he decided to speak, butting into my thoughts. Good timing, though, I have to admit.
"Look, you probably know already that…" Oh boy. Confession. How dreadful. "Well, I mean, it's probably totally obvious from my actions and from… the conversation we just had…"
He scratched the back of his head, and left one of his hands clinging to his neck. As if in deep thought, he closed his eyes for a moment. He anxiously used one foot to rub the other and made the tsk noise with his mouth. What else could he do, smack his forehead and pinch his nose? Oh wait. He just did. Exciting.
Tired of his fidgeting, I almost opened my mouth to announce my departure. Too bad he beat me to it – opening his mouth, that is. Who knew how long it would take then…
"Okay, so you know of… the fact that I like you. A lot," he blurted, closing his eyes. Gosh, it was like he expected me to slap him or something. "But you don't know of the extent."
Say what? I really should slap him. Punch him in the stomach.
Nevermind. That would be awfully mean. Wow, he was blowing his mind out, confessing, and all I could think of was violence. What kind of person am I?
"In my opinion," he started up again, "you're… it just makes me… happy, I guess… whenever I see you… It's like… if you're really hungry and you see a watermelon… you'd want to eat it." He had started making gestures with his hands, demonstrating the shape of a watermelon.
And he winced, painfully. No, I didn't hurt him yet. I could see him mentally punching himself in the nose though. Watermelon?
"So uh… yeah…" he looked insanely scared. Scared of my reaction, most likely. How would I react? I had been completely emotionless the entire time.
I swallowed and looked at him sympathetically. What the heck would I say now?
And to tell the truth, he didn't look like he knew what to do either.
So he kissed me.
A/N: Hopefully I will have the perserverance and time to complete this story.. Please review, whether you like it or not. Constructive criticism is good for me. Thanks muchly!