Chapter 8
*Alex's POV*“I’m so happy we’re together. I’ve wanted this for a really long time,” I say smiling happily. I honestly am. I’ve thought about Stacie every day for many years. She’s so beautiful. I can’t believe she’s letting me draw her. I can’t believe she was already swimming towards my house when I found her. I wanted to swim to her house and get her. I wanted to show her I can be thoughtful.
“Are you almost done? My hands are kind of hurting. So is my tail,” Stacie says half-smiling. I can see a gleam of excitement in her eyes. I chuckle.
“I’m almost done. I just need one more minute. Then, I’m finished drawing you.” I smile. “I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I just want this to be perfect,” I say apologetically.
“It’s okay. From what I’ve seen, all your pictures are amazing. I know if I was to say they were perfect, you’d question my eye sight.” She chuckles making me laugh. God, her laugh is contagious. She sounds so cheerful when she laughs. I’m amazed, and she doesn’t even know. She thinks too poorly of herself to notice all the wonderful things about herself.
“Why would I do that?” I could never say anything like that about her or to her; I like her too much. I still can’t believe she likes me back though. I was astonished when she said so. I would have thought she would have told me she didn’t or would have laughed at me. I’m glad she didn’t.
“Usually when people say things are perfect, the other person will pick out all the mistakes and things they could have done better. They’ll reject that it’s not perfect at all. I bet you’ve already picked out a hundred of them.” I nod understandingly.
“I’ll admit I do that, but I will not say it’s not perfect. Saying that would mean you’re not perfect.” Stacie smiles. She leans in close and looks at my lips. I quickly hide my picture as I begin to figure out what she wants. I lean in. Our lips mold together as we kiss for the third time. Pure bliss.
“You’re so sweet, Alex. I don’t know why I never noticed that before.”
“People only notice the ones who are loud and outgoing. I’m neither of those things. I hate meeting new people and I‘m quiet. No one ever notices me. Nick always being noticed though. He’s Mr. Social Butterfly.” I frown unhappy.
“He might be, but I have to admit that you’re the better person. You’re sweeter, more romantic, more interesting, and very talented. What can he do? Nothing that I know about. Although I like Nick, I like you much better than he. You may be quiet, Alex, but I like quiet. It only means there’s more to you.”
“Really?” She nods.
“Besides, I think you’re sexier too,” Stacie says blushing looking down.
“Not as sexy as you,” I say gazing at her with admiration. She glances up at me shocked but smiles.
“Is my picture done?” she says putting a finger on the drawing. I hold up a finger signaling for her to wait a second. I look at the picture I drew of her checking to see if everything’s perfect. I won’t say it out loud, but I do criticize my work. I try to fix every mistake until it’s perfect.
“Alex?”
“Just let me do one thing for a second.” I glance at her for a second just to make sure. Yep, I made a mistake. I erase an eye that is a tad below the other one. I draw it back in it’s rightful place. Perfect. I begin handing her it before noticing a hair that is not as curly as the other strands of hair. I quickly take it back before she can see any of it. Stacie giggles. I love her laugh so much. Focus, Alex. Focus. I re-draw the strand of hair until it’s perfect. Making sure there’s nothing else that needs a little tweaking, I look it over. Okay, now I can show her.
“Are you sure?” she asks as I hand it to her upside around. I nod. “Okay, just know you can’t take it back now,” she says continuing to giggle.
“I know.” I smile in wonder of how amazing she is. Stacie closes her eyes. I crawl next to her slowly hoping she doesn’t notice. I hold the picture in front of her. “Open,” I whisper into her ear. She shivers but opens her beautiful eyes. She grabs the picture shocked.
“It’s amazing, Alex. You really astounded me. I didn’t know you could draw like this. You’re really a good artist. You made me look gorgeous in this picture. I love how each curl is curly in it’s own way. Nothing is out of place. You drew each of my qualities perfectly.”
“That’s because you are gorgeous.” I smile. She smirks.
“You’re supposed to say that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Boyfriends are supposed to tell their girlfriends they look gorgeous. If you didn’t, we would think you didn’t like us and find someone new who will.”
“Well, I don’t mind saying it because it’s true.” Stacie pecks me on the lips. I want more, but she pulls away. I pout. Stacie notices and starts giggling. She kisses me one more time, but I don’t let her go. I keep us together. We remain still. She smiles in the kiss making me smile in return.
“Alex, you have to let me go to breathe.” I frown.
“Fine.” I say sighing. Stacie giggles.
“We have all day to kiss. Now that I’ve seen my wonderful picture from my sweet boyfriend, I think he deserves a little kiss here and there.” I grin instantly.
“That was hard work. I think I deserve it too.” Stacie smirks.
“I bet you do.” I shrug. Stacie smiles and suddenly, I’m being hugged. I hug back inhaling her wonderful scent. I can’t put my name on it, but whatever it is makes her smell really good. “Thanks for the picture.”
“No problem. It was fun drawing you for most of the day.”
“Also, thanks for saying all of those wonderful things about me last night. I couldn’t stop replaying them over and over in my head. They made my day. You made my day.”
“It was no biggie.”
“It was a huge biggie. I never thought someone could think of me like that, but then you told me all of those things. It made me rethink everything I thought about myself. Maybe I’m not all alone in this endless ocean after all. Maybe I am beautiful. Maybe someone really could love me. Most of all that I thought was erased after you said that. You probably don’t think what you said mattered, but it mattered to me. Thank you, Alex.”
“You’re welcome. Can I say something? I don’t know how you might react, but I think I should say it.” She gets a look of worry.
“Sure…” she stammers pulling away from our hug that crave so much.
“I’m an observer, and I’ve watched you in school ever since I began liking you. I’ve noticed how you feel about yourself and your appearance, but I want to tell you that I plan to change all of that. I want you to see what I see. I want you to know what I think of you, even though I won’t be able to have a big enough dictionary to say all of the wonderful things about you. I’ll tell you everyday you’re beautiful, the object my world rotates around, my sun, my moon, my day, my night, my everything. You’re the only girl for me, Stacie. I love you, and I have loved you all my life. I’ve been waiting for you to be mine. I’ve waited a long time for our destinies to intertwine. I’m happy my words made such an impact on you, and I’m happy you’re finally my girlfriend,” I admit proudly. Stacie smiles while blushing a pink hue.
“And I’m glad you’re my boyfriend, Alex. I can’t wait to go to bed thinking of you and wake up thinking of you. My life is magnificent with you in it. Without you, I don’t know what I would be. I know it’s only been a day since we started dating, but it’s been such a wonderful day. I wish it would never end.”
I grab her and pull her back to me. Our bodies molding together. She gladly hugs me. I press her up against my body holding her tightly enjoying her sweet touch. My arms wrap almost entirely around her. She rests her chin on my shoulder. I can feel her inhaling my scent. I rub her back soothingly. We remain still enjoying each other’s warmth for several minutes.
“How long do we have until you have to go home?” I ask still hugging my beautiful Stacie.
“About an hour.”
“Oh, okay. I’m going to miss you when you leave,” I say frowning.
“You’re not swimming me home?” Stacie asks surprised pulling away from our hug finally. Even though we’ve been hugging for several minutes, I still crave her touch. In a way, it makes me feel special inside like I’m the only person in her world.
“I don’t know. I would, but-” I begin to say hesitantly. Stacie cuts me off.
“My mom… You don’t want her to catch us again. I get it. I’m sorry about that. I can’t believe she swam out like she did. I don’t know if she was telling the truth, or if she wasn’t. But, she’s never done it before,” Stacie says pouting.
“Okay, yeah. That could work.” “Yeah, I didn’t expect that. It-”
“Was really embarrassing? Yeah, I know. I was so embarrassed after you left. I thought you would have swam away right when you saw her, but you kept cool instead. You didn’t freak out, which you probably were bursting to do.”
“No, I-” I try to come up with a good excuse.
“It’s okay. I understand if you wanted to. I wanted to.” Stacie shrugs. All of a sudden I hear a door slam downstairs. I instantly jump. They can’t be home! I don’t want her to meet them yet! “Who’s that?”
“My parents.”
“Your parents? Should we go say hi? Should I meet them? What should we do?”
“Um, I don’t know. I don’t want them to meet you yet, but they’re going to end up seeing you anyways when you leave…”
“So, what are we doing then?”
“I don’t know.” I say stressed. I don’t need this now. We were having such a great time. If she meets them, she’ll never want me to see me again.
“How about we just stay here for now? Maybe they’ll leave and then I won’t have to meet them today.” I contemplate this for a second.
“Okay, yeah. That could work.”
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