Blackbird (ON HOLD)

I Wanna Be Your Friend

Aryl's eyes traced on the book she was holding in he hands, but she just couldn't understand the words. All she did was stare at the book page. She couldn't concentrate. Finally giving up, she closed the book and threw it onto the bed. 

She was still thinking about the previous day, and the day before that. Since the moment she had met Dustin, strange things were constantly happening to her. The way Dustin talked about Aryl and called her beautiful, the way Jimmie lost his temper, and the way Dustin almost hit Jimmie in order to protect her kept running though her mind. She blamed herself for the fight, she was the problem after all.

After locking her door, she had decided not to see Dustin again. So that she wouldn't ruin any more friendships. And she had decided to start doing her master's degree at the Columbia University. She was planning to stay at home that day, and go to the Columbia University campus tomorrow.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her doorbell rang. It was 4 PM, and she was definitely not waiting for anybody. Quickly getting to the door, she made a mistake by opening the door without looking at who it was. 

"Hey," said a blonde man with blue eyes. She couldn't recognize him first, then panicked when she did. Dustin was shaved, and looked completely different. He looked even better in her eyes, she could now see his lips, jawline and cheekbones more clearly. She backed off and tried to close the door, without getting him in. But he blocked it with his foot. "I just need to talk to you..." she heard him say.

She sighed and opened the door, relieving him with a grin on his face. He was holding a small box in his hand. "Listen..." he started, finally looking more serious and his grin disappearing. "I'm sorry, for what happened yesterday..." he said, without breaking eye contact. "Can you please let me explain everything?" 

She nodded without thinking, but she didn't let him come inside. She knew him for 2 days after all, and the event she witnessed the previous day had caused her to stop trusting him. He was just a homeless street musician. He was just a homeless street musician who was maybe a little interested in her.  He was just a homeless street musician who bought her a gift to say thank you. 

"Jimmie is a weird guy, you know..." he started. "He is a junkie, and he was probably high yesterday too. I shouldn't have let you stay in the same environment with him, but he is my friend and I thought he wouldn't do anything stupid. But he did..." He started fiddling with the box in his hand and lowered his head, breaking eye contact with her. "I'm really sorry. He said a lot of things he shouldn't have said, he was being rude to you. And when he told you to... You know..." He raised his head again and looked into her eyes. She knew what he was talking about. "I couldn't hold myself and lost it. I'm so sorry, for everything..."

When he was done speaking, Aryl realized that it was her turn to speak. There was a question that had been running though her mind, and she felt the need to ask it:"Do you think I'm beautiful?" Dustin's eyes widened when he heard her, and he froze. That was when she realized that it was a stupid thing to ask, now he was going to find out that she had secretly listened to their conversation. "Um... W-well... I-I don't kno-" he mumbled, then he took a deep breathe. "Yes, I do."

This time it was Aryl's time to widen her eyes. "What is this about?" he asked curiously. Damn, she thought. "Well, yesterday I heard you talking to Jimmie, and..." she muttered, and winced slightly when Dustin suddenly yelled: "Holy shit!" He quickly covered his mouth. "Sorry." So, he did find her beautiful. Weird.

"What else did you hear?" he asked. "That's all I heard." she lied. It wasn't a complete lie after all. "Oh, okay..." he mumbled, and started gazing at the floor. They stood silent for a moment, and Aryl thought it was awkward. She leaned onto the door: "Dustin, I don't wanna be a part of this." Dustin raised his head and faced her with a confused expression on his face. "You will never be a part of this, I promise. I will never make you a part of it."