"let me tell you something, darling. you've unlocked a side of me, even I fear. but since you want to keep me up all night, challenging me, he's gonna show up at some point." Mateo whispers, huskily into my ear, gripping my neck.
"what are you talki...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I've been awake for a bit, but hearing Nyla talks about me to her friends is the best thing in the world. she just got off a group call, but now she's talking to Briana.
"I need to know everything. how he treats you, how he got you. everything." I hear Briana say. Nyla's now on her back, I can feel her hand in my hair playing with my curls.
"Well, first we're partners for a school project. or more a social experiment our school likes to do. we don't get to pick partners so It was very random. the first day we barely talked, but he was still nice to me. after school, I went to a meeting with my dad and it turned out to be with Mateo's family was there. my dad and his parents ended up talking for a bit after the meeting and so did we. we got to know each other and it was nice." she starts
"was it weird at school the next day?" Briana asks
"no. we barely talked at school, surprisingly. we're both top of our class so we focus on our work a lot. plus he doesn't really talk at school. but that weekend y'all called me, I was at his house. his parents and my dad had to do work and I spent time with him and his brother." she continues.
"So during that time, you didn't think anything?" Briana asks
"no. I knew he liked someone, but he wasn't saying who and he said he wasn't gonna ask her to hoco." Nyla answers
"so how did he ask you to homecoming?"
"It started the Monday. i got a letter and a gift in my locker. it was signed A.G. which I didn't know anyone with those initials. i got three that day, I didn't suspect it was him cause he was with me all day. Tuesday was the same thing, but that's also realized I liked him." Nyla tells, her hand rubbing my back. I might actually fall back asleep.
"what made you realize?" Briana asks. same thing I was thinking.
"I always thought he was attractive. his hair, the tattoos, the eyes. his eyes are my weakness. but then I noticed how happy he made me. he's always interested in me, asking me if I'm ok, hugging me when I'm stressed, letting me draw on him, subtle compliments. he was making me feel special in subtle ways. plus the gifts. he knows I don't like when he buys me things but he still bought me gifts. then I started looking forward to seeing him every day. wanting to feel his touch. talk to him. . . the Tuesday he told me through letters that he liked me since freshman year."
"freshman year?" Briana exclaims.
"Yeah. when I had braces, I was wearing my glasses a lot more. I wasn't attractive freshman year." Nyla says.
the lies.
she's always been beautiful. her braces, her glasses. all of her.
"anyways. the Wednesday I was just getting gifts. no letters. until the game. I got a text saying to go to my locker. I did and I found a letter. when I got to the end of the letter he was behind me and asked me to be his date. and that same night he asked me on a date and we went back to his house. he cooked for me, we talked, we danced, it was nice." she shrugs.
