Chapter 7

After Grayson's flirty comment and my extreme blushing, Grayson left to go pick up Axel and Cooper from the coffee shop. I got an insane amount of questions from my mom about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome, to which I told her the events of the day. I told my mom everything, so I explain about Cooper inviting me to Java to meet Axel and Grayson. She was very interested in Grayson and she wouldn't stop giving me the mom grin when I said his name. She scares me sometimes. Once she left for work, I spent the rest of the night taking care of Evie. We played dolls, ate dinner, colored, and then I got her ready for bed. By nine she was asleep, and since I didn't have any homework yet, I decided to read a book. As I'm reading my book, I just got to the part where the guy was confessing his undying love for the girl when I got a text alert from Cooper. Cooper: THEEE! HELP ME! Me: Lol hey. What's up? Cooper: I need your help he's KILLING ME Me: Who? The next thing I know, I'm getting a FaceTime call from Cooper. He really is the most dramatic person I've ever met. Even though my bun looks like a rat's nest on my head, I shrug and accept the call. “THANK GOD you answered. Thee, he's driving me crazy!" Cooper screams. I jump at first, then lower the volume on my phone to halfway so that Cooper doesn't accidentally wake up Evie. "Who is driving you crazy?" I ask him. He has a pair of glasses on, which I didn't even know he wore, and his hair was curly and unruly. At my question he let out a loud sigh and dramatically dropped down on his bed, causing him to bounce up and down as the mattress supported him. “Grayson! He keeps bugging me about you. He's like 'dude can I have her number' and I'm like 'sure here you go' and he's like 'no bro! I don't want to seem like a creepy stalker' and I'm like 'okay, so I won't give you her number' and he's like 'but I wanna talk to her.' What am I supposed to do with that?" Cooper’s complaint shocks me. Grayson is thinking about me? And wants to talk to me? I can't help the smile that spreads across my face, which doesn't go unnoticed by Cooper. "Aww! Look at you and your little smile!" I hide my face behind one of my hands so Cooper can't see the blush that is forming just thinking about Grayson. In an unnatural fake tenor voice, Cooper says "Don't hide from me, Thea" as he mocks what Grayson said to me in the coffee house, which only makes my mumble 'oh my gosh' as I close my eyes and pray that Cooper will stop teasing me. He really knows how to humiliate me. I can't believe he brought that up! It seems that my prayers were answered when I hear Axel's voice-over on FaceTime. "Coop, stop teasing her." "What are you going to do about it?" Cooper mocks, to which I see Axel whisper something in Cooper's ear. Cooper's eyes fly out of their sockets as he listens to Axel, and I honestly have no desire to know what it is he says. Cooper now seems to be the one flustered as he quickly says he has to go and he'll send me Grayson's number. Twenty seconds later Cooper sends Grayson's number to me, and I'm staring at the contact that I've now added as "Grumpy" into my phone. Should I call him? No, that's too forward, and what would I say? Cooper seems to think that Grayson wants to talk to me, but he could just be lying to make me feel better. It would be like Cooper to prank me into thinking Grayson is interested in me. But what if he's being serious? Okay, I'm just going to text him. Nothing special, just a simple 'hey.' I type a text to Grayson, then delete it, then type it again. This repeats for a full minute until I decide that I need to do this for myself. I need to act like a normal teenage girl and text the boy already! Me: Hey Grayson, it's Thea. Cooper gave me your number I did it! Oh my gosh... I did it. What if he thinks I'm- I stop whatever negative thought that popped into my head because I see the three dots indicating that he's texting back. My heart is racing and my palms become sweaty in anticipation. My eyes don't move from the screen, and once his text comes in I immediately smile. Grumpy: Hey, love. How was the rest of your day? Me: It was pretty good! I just hung out with Evie. What about you? Grumpy: I just ended up going home afterward. Nothing as exciting as that 6 years old! Me: Yep. She's a handful haha After I send that text, I wait for the next text from Grayson. I become disappointed when after five minutes he hasn't responded. When has this become me? The girl who is upset when a guy doesn't immediately text her back? I'm not going to sit around and wait for his response, so I take a quick shower, keeping the door to the bathroom slightly ajar to listen out for Evie if she needs me. Then I brush my teeth, comb my hair, and pull out The Great Gatsby- my classic of the day. I've read this book at least 4 times and can probably quote some passages already. After reading for 20 minutes, I checked my phone to see the time and my eyes bugged out when I saw I had three texts from Grayson from thirty minutes ago. Grumpy: Sorry, I had to take care of something. Grumpy: I wasn't ignoring you. Grumpy: What are you up to now? I quickly unlock my phone and open my messages. My eyes are slightly blurred from fatigue from the day but I can't go to sleep knowing I could be texting him. Me: I'm just reading The Great Gatsby again haha He responded immediately. Grumpy: Never read it. Is it really that good that you're reading it again? Me: OMG are you kidding me?? YES! On the surface, it comes across as a love story but underneath it all there is passion and longing and love and it's incredible! Me: Sorry for the rant... Grumpy: Lol doesn't be sorry. It's cute. I’m extremely grateful that he's not here right now to see me blush. I also can't stop smiling. I've never been this attracted to a guy before. Sure, I've seen attractive guys before- none like Grayson and none that have given me a second glance- but also Grayson is so sweet and flirty with me. Just thinking about him gives me butterflies and I only met him today! As I'm thinking this, I yawn and use my hand to cover my mouth. I check my phone and see that it's 12:45 a.m. How did it get to be so late? As if reading my thoughts, I get an incoming text from Grayson. Grumpy: You probably have class tomorrow so I'll let you go. Talk tomorrow? Me: I'd love that Grumpy: Goodnight, Angel Me: Night :) I shut off my phone and set it to charge, then walk over to my window to close the curtains. Before I do, I look outside and see the rustling of the bushes from the wind on the opposite side of the street-facing my house. For a split second, I think I see an animal, but in a flash, it's gone with only foliage in my sight. I close my curtains, then set my alarm for the morning. I have to wake up early to take Evie to school because my mom has an overnight job. I pull the covers over me and pull them as tight as possible until I'm wrapped up like a burrito. I'm always cold. I fall asleep with a smile on my face.