My Collection of Short Stories

Awkward Silence

I froze as I looked at the seating arrangement. I was supposed to sit next to him. It was pure coincidence, but it seemed as if God was on my side at this moment. Quietly, I sat in my chair and gave the boy a small smile as we both settled into our seats. Underneath the table, so no one could see, I started fidgeting with my hands. What was I feeling? Nervousness? Excitement? Maybe a little of both? What should I do? Should I say hi? We haven't spoken since I accidentally confessed my feelings to him.

My spiraling thoughts were broken by the chatter of my friends across the table. Right, I was in a public place, having a nice dinner with the other seniors. I couldn't fall apart right now. Maybe if I avoided looking at him, he wouldn't talk to me. Wait, but I wanted to talk to him. I didn't want to completely avoid him. But I knew if I spoke, I would be a stuttering mess. I couldn't let him know I still had a crush on him. He had made it very clear that he wasn't interested in me like that. Oh, the dinner rolls are being passed around. Oh no, I'm supposed to hand him a dinner roll.

It's fine, just play it cool. I'll just hand him the bowl, no big deal. When it was my turn, I took a roll and passed it over to the boy. Oh, he wasn't paying attention. His head wasn't turned to me. What should I do? With shaking hands, I tapped him on the arm and smiled. He mumbled out an 'I'm sorry' as he wasn't paying attention and took the bowl. Okay, crisis averted. Nothing bad happened. Now I can just eat my meal in peace. Wait, we were having pasta. Really? Out of all the foods, the grown ups just had to choose the messiest food. What if he thought I ate weird? Maybe I could say I wasn't hungry. No, that's stupid!

Okay, no big deal, just twist the pasta on your fork and quickly shove it in your mouth. Sneaking a glance at him, I noticed he wasn't paying attention. I put the fork in my mouth and ate the pasta. No one looked at me weird, so I just ate like normal. Mission accomplished, just don't drop anything. That would be embarrassing. Throughout the meal, I talked and ate. Sometimes he would tune in to the conversation I was having with my friends, but nothing exciting happened. The dinner was going smoothly without a hitch. Oh, one of my dad's friends is coming over. Hm, who should I talk to next? Wait, now it's just me, him, and his best friend.

Oh, my dad's friend is asking us questions. I should probably listen in. The boy is about to talk next, I definitely want to hear what he has to say. Cool, he's not going to college this year. Oh, he's interested in making things and hunting, I guess that's kinda cool. Wait, hold up, back up. Did he just say he was interested in animals? Calm down, you could've heard him wrong. Now he's saying he loves zoology and the psychology of animals?! I'm interested in the same things! My stomach was filled with bubbles. Dang, now I'm crushing on him more. 

Ugh, okay now I'm a little frustrated. Why won't he notice me? Okay, wait, stop thinking, my dad's friend is asking me the same questions. Okay, don't freak out, just tell him the truth. I told him I'm going to college soon, and that I was also interested in animals. I also told him I wanted to be an animal assisted therapist. Okay, good, the boy seems like he's listening intently. Oh, now he's asking about music. I told him I played piano, but quit when I got to high school. I also told him I almost took up the guitar. 

Oh? The boy whipped his head towards me at that. Ah, so he's also passionate about guitar. He seems to be listening with more interest now. Ha, take that! Maybe you'll notice me now. Stop, focus, my dad's friend is looking at us. WHAT?? He just joked about the boy and I getting married one day!! Great, now I'm heavily blushing. Why in God's green earth would he say that? I mean, he doesn't know the history the boy and I have, but still. No, no, no, he keeps joking about it! Stop, it's so embarrassing. The boy's looking at me with a nervous laugh. I look at him too, the same expression on my face.

Ugh, I just want to crawl into a hole and stay there forever. Okay, he apologized. Let's move on to a different subject please. I'm just going to ignore that ever happened. NO! He joked about it again, except he said he was gonna tell my dad he arranged a marriage for me?! Who is this dude? The boy and I decided to just shake it off. That's all we could do, really. Okay, just keep talking, no big deal. Ooo, yes, dessert, that's a good distraction. Oh wait, that's too many samples, I can't eat that much! Oh, the boy went to the bathroom. He ate all his dessert already. 

My dad's friend told me to just slip my plate over to the boy's. My crush's best friend is encouraging me. Why am I feeling confident? Oh well, I guess I could joke around with him. I slipped the plate over and waited for him to come back. Oh, he's walking over here. Ha, he's wondering where the extra dessert came from. Hopefully I didn't just make him sick. What if he got mad at me? Dang, my dad's friend just revealed that he was eating my leftovers. Oh, okay, the boy just looked at me and laughed. It didn't seem like a fake laugh, it seemed genuine. Jeez, he's eating it all. Why would he eat the whole thing if he was already full? That's a little strange. I feel kinda bad now. Oh well, it was meant to be a joke anyway.

The rest of the night went smoothly, and we all talked and joked normally. Hm, it was getting late. I should head home soon, but I kind of like the boy's company. I don't want to leave his side. Ugh, these stupid butterflies. I can't help but smile whenever he talks. I cling onto every word, as if I wasn't going to ever see him again. Okay, that was a little dramatic. Oh, he's leaving now. Wait, don't go, it's not that late is it? He waves to me goodbye, and I give him a small smile and wave in return. I hope we get to see each other again. I had more fun talking to him than I thought. And it wasn't awkward except for the marriage comment. Maybe I have more confidence in myself than I thought. 

As I drove home that night, I couldn't shake the smile off of my face. Well, no use trying to get rid of my feelings now. Might as well try to make friends with him. Hopefully it would work.