"Come on down for dinner kids!" I could hear mom call out. I sighed, I was so not in the mood for food right now.
"Anderson, what's the problem, you're sighing too loud " my brother, James, stretched out on his bed in his own side of the room, reading a book.
" Ughn, how can sighing be loud?"
"Well now you're talking! Which is worse! "
" Everything's always a problem with you James "
" Oh my God, you're _still_ talking! "
" Cut it out James! Some of us have real problems you know, and these problems torment us, so what if I sigh huh! As a big brother aren't you supposed to ask me what's wrong? Aren't you supposed to try to find out why I'm sighing? " I sniffled a sob and looked the other way.
Funny enough, James sighed and put down his book downwards, so he wouldn't lose the page he was reading.
" Okay, Andy, I'm sorry about that"
"Yeah, I bet you are" I said, still a little bit conflicted.
He got off his bed and sat at the chair close to our study table, with his hands on his knees, trying to find my eyes, cause I was avoiding his.
"Tell me Andy, more girl trouble?"
I laughed a little, "Why do you have to guess it's girl trouble"
"Well I know that face, it's Marie isn't it?"
I smiled, shyly, "Yes, it is"
"Alright, young man, what did you do this time? "
" Uh, okay, I was watching this YouTube video online about how to deal with crushes - "
James' laughter interrupted me, " Oh my goodness, you were watching YouTube videos! "
" Well you certainly weren't of any help, stop laughing! "
" Okay, okay, keep going" He said, still sniggering under his breath.
"Okay, so in the video, writing a love letter was a good idea - "
" Oh my God, he wrote a love letter! " He raised both arms to his head.
" Let me finish James!"
But he was still laughing,
"Did I say you should stop, go on, continue "
I gnawed my teeth and looked straight in the eye while I said, " You're not making this easy James "
" Okay, okay I promise, no more laughing, I'm all ears bro "
I took a deep breath and began my story of how I wrote Marie a love letter, including my name and hid it in her Mathematics textbook, and how she refused to make eye contact with me ever since she read it.
" Well that's expected, Andy, you scared her off "
"Oh my God, I did, didn't I!" I said in panic.
"Cool down, cool down, all you have to do is set the record straight, tell her it's no pressure "
" How would I do that? "
" Give her a call "
" She doesn't have a phone "
" Oh, that's rough, tell her tomorrow at school then "
" Tomorrow's Saturday James! Oooh I can't go two days with Marie thinking I'm a freak! "
" Geez man, calm down, we'll just go to her house and you'll tell her in person."
"Okay I guess that'll work - "
" Get your shoes "
" What? You mean now? We're gonna go now?! "
" Well of course, I can't have you ruining my mojo with your creepy love notes, her big sister's real cute and I don't want her to think I'm also a freak like you are "
" But, but - "
There was a knock on the door,
" Boys, it's time for dinner " mom called out from behind the door.
" Uh, mom, Anderson and I are gonna skip dinner, he has this big project tomorrow and I'm helping him prepare"
"Andy is that true? ". Mom asked,
I panicked for a bit, then James kicked me in the leg and I blurted out," Yes mom, we need all the time and privacy we can get "
" Alright boys, take your time, your dinner will be in the microwave "
" Thanks mom" James said, glaring at me.
After we both felt she had left, we started talking again.
"You almost blew it Andy, let's get going, we'll leave through the back door "
And we both got our shoes and crept out through the back door while mom and dad were at the dining room which was adjacent the living room.
Immediately I stepped out the door, I felt like the bravest rebel ever, which was nothing compared to how I felt when we got to Marie's house. It took us twenty minutes to walk there so I was exhausted when we finally got there.
"Are we gonna knock on the door or something? " I asked,
" what are you, stupid? Of course we're not gonna knock on the door, we're gonna go over to the window of her room and call her attention"
"But how are we gonna get through the gate without knocking? And how are you sure she's gonna be in her room?"
"She's a twelve year old girl, by eight thirty I'm pretty sure she's in her room watching One Direction music videos, oh and about the gate, we're gonna have to fly over the fence "
" Over the fence?! Are you trying to get us arrested?! " I screamed, a little too loud for comfort.
" Do you wanna prove you aren't a freak or not? " He asked with his hands akimbo.
I lowered my head when I said, " I do, I do"
"Then come over here and I'll give you a boost, over the fence" He said walking closer to the side of the fence,
"How are you gonna get over it? " I asked.
" Andy, I'm six feet tall, I don't need assistance"
And so James gave me a boost and I got over the fence and fell right into some bushes, with daffodils sprouting around, but then he also came over the fence and fell right on me. I wanted to scream but he shoved his palm right onto my mouth to prevent me from doing so. After a while, when the pain in my arm as a result of James falling on me subsided, we walked over to Marie's window. I was the one who knew where it was, many a time would I sit on my bicycle and stare at her entire house, petrified to go in.
I tapped on her window a little,
"Tap harder " James said,
And so I did,
" just so you know, this is so romeo and Juliet right here "
" What? " I asked, although, he didn't get the time to answer as Marie opened up her window, looking shocked, as though she had seen a ghost.
James immediately ducked behind the window so she wouldn't see him.
" Anderson? What are you doing here? How did you get in? "
" I - I - "
" What is it, why are you stammering? "
I could feel my brother roll his eyes from where he was hiding, so I decided to just suck it up and talk to her.
" Marie, I came to speak with you "
" But it's so late, what if my parents saw you? They'd ground me for life! " She said, hysterically.
" This won't take long I promise "
" Okay then, Out with it"
"It's concerning the letter I sent you " She immediately looked away, the shyness that was choking me, enveloping her, she started to avoid my eyes again.
" I just wanted to say I think you're really good at arithmetic and I like the way you sing in music class and your handwriting, that blows me away too - "
She laughed a little, and it felt as though all the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders.
" And I also wanted to say that I like you, cause you're a really -
"I like you too " She said but then gasped as soon as she said it, like it was some sort of secret she never wanted exposed. And I smiled, then she smiled back.
" You do? " I asked, as though for confirmation that I wasn't dreaming
" Yeah, Andy "
" Then why were you avoiding me all day? "
" Well I was kinda shy cause it was the first time someone had ever told me that before"
Then she laughed and I joined her in her enchanting laughter and it felt like the world stopped moving and we were just stuck in our own planet, but her father's voice from another room cut us off, he was calling out for her.
"Oh, gotta go Andy, I'll see you in school on Monday"
"Alright, sweet dreams Marie" I said,
"You too, Andy " she said before closing her window, James jumped out of his hiding spot immediately, frightening me, for a second I had forgotten he was there.
" Don't you feel better now Andy? You see, you should always take my advice "
" Heck yeah! "
" And mom and dad say I'm a bad influence, pssssh! " He said as we got over the fence once more. When we both got over, I hugged him and said,
" Thanks James, you're the best big brother ever "
" Don't mention, kid"
We began our twenty minutes trip back home again, but James held me on his back for most of it. And this time, it was without the heavy guilt, fear and timidity.
When we got home, the backdoor was still unlocked, lucky us! So we opened up, and got in, we were met with the biggest tragedy of all time, bigger than the anxiety of Marie thinking I'm a freak, mom and dad were standing right there in the kitchen, with the angriest look in their eyes. James was so shocked he let go of my legs which were crossed around his waist while I was on his back and I came plummeting down, my butt, hitting the hard kitchen floor.
©Maymunah Kadiri
#ANSAChildren'sLiteratureOfTheWeekContest
