The Poet & The Muse

3. Tell Me

"Trae, you've been staring at her for the longest now. It's so obvious that you like her. Stop being scared and go tell her how you really feel." Richard insisted.

He was right.

"Nya's totally into you, she's just waiting for you to make the first move." Irving said.

He was also right.

"Don't know how you did it, but you did. Now go! You don't want to keep her waiting for too long before it's too late." Syerra said.

If Syerra was on the same page as Richard and Irving, then that's definitely not a good thing.

Nya and I had been getting closer by the second. We've been spending so much time together that people automatically assumed that we were dating.

She sat so beautifully on the other side of the school. The sight of her alone only made me want to reconsider. I was ready to face her, but my doubts had gotten the best of me, and I immediately shied away in the other direction.

"Trae are you shaking?" Syerra asked with a concerned look.

This was a different game for me. Nya and I were doing so well as friends that I feared asking her out could risk ruining our friendship.

Richard saw how nervous I had gotten, so he did the one thing he was always good at—making things worse.

He smirked as he placed his hands by his mouth to project his voice. "AYE NYA, TRAE WANNA ASK YOU SOMETHING!"

Richard had caught the attention of everyone around us, including Nya herself. All the attention that he had brought over only made me feel worse. I looked away as I covered my face from all the unwanted stares.

"Um...Trae?" Nya appeared behind me.

Damn it.

Richard and Irving smiled at her while Syerra turned me around.

"Girl you are pretty! I see why he doesn't stop talking about you."

Syerra couldn't help but add on to my torment.

I nudged her in her arm in hopes that she'd stopped talking but she stared me down with a frightening glare. The three soon waved goodbye as they let us be.

By the look on her face, I knew she wanted to know why Richard had randomly shouted her name, but my nerves worked against me. I wanted to ask her out, but I couldn't.

I told her that Richard wanted to be annoying, nothing more.

"Okay?" She awkwardly said.

From the distance, the three of them had watched.

"She's about to walk away. Please tell me Trae ain't passing up the only girl to ever like him." Irving sighed.

Richard was skeptical as well, but Syerra reassured their faith in me.

As Nya slowly turned away, I caught a glimpse of the necklace that hung around her neck. I then remembered how happy it made her—but most notably, I remembered how happy I made her. I enjoyed being her friend, but I wanted more.

"Nya will you be my girl?" I blurted out as I squinted my eyes in hopes of ridding myself of any of the doubt that I had.

She remained frozen—almost too stunned to respond. I assumed that what I said had thrown her off, but I was wrong. She turned my way and smiled.

Nya grabbed my hand and swayed it while her eyes locked onto mine. She propped her head up with a smile. From the looks of it, it was obvious that she had been waiting for me to ask her that question for a while.