“What? Neither!” His allegation irritated me.
“Oh really? Then why didn’t you just give me a straight answer? I didn’t ask what you thought of him. I asked if you were happy with him. That only requires a simple yes or no response,” he reasoned. His declaration made me think. I had completely evaded his question. But the truth was that I didn’t know how to answer it. Antonio was a good catch. What girl in her right mind wouldn’t be completely happy with him? But I would be lying if I didn’t admit that these past few days had me questioning my certitude. Antonio was all those things I’d rattled off to AJ, but for some reason I still wasn’t content to just say yes. If I was in fact completely happy, would there have been room for AJ to step in the way I’d allowed him to? Was it possible for a good guy as perfect as Antonio to still not be enough?
“It’s not like it means that he’s not a good person or anything,” AJ reasoned. “Sometimes someone can be quite literally perfect in every way, but they just aren’t perfect for you,” he added, unaware that he was answering the question I’d just asked in my head. He must’ve noticed the intense flare of emotion that filled my face, so he quickly changed the subject. “Can I see your room?” He asked.
Having him here without my parent’s permission was bad enough, but having him in my room was definitely a no-no. I was hesitant, but as I said before, my mind and body are operating on different wavelengths these days, so of course I said, “Sure”.
We climbed the steps silently. I don’t know what was running through his head. My own thoughts were flashing back and forth between how bad it would be if my parents just happened to return at this exact moment and calculating how much time I had left with him before he had to leave. When we reached my door I opened it and we walked in, but I just stood there – too nervous to go any further. AJ looked around and a smile crossed his face. Seconds later it turned into a quiet laugh.
“What’s funny now?” I asked with a slight trace of worry in my voice.
“Nothing, it’s…..nice. Very pink,” he replied.
“What’s wrong with pink?”
“Nothing is wrong with pink. I said it was nice. It’s just that it looks exactly the way I’d imagined it would. It fits you.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked and stared at him waiting for a response, but he ignored the question and walked over to my desk to pick up one of my magazines before plopping down on the bed. It didn’t seem like he noticed the tension emanating from me. I’d never had a boy on my bed, or in my room for that matter. Even Antonio had never made it past the living room.
“You really read these things?” He asked.
“Yeah, they’re informative.”
He smiled. “Informative. What exactly have you ever learned from a magazine like this?”
“Well…..lots of things. For instance, I keep up with who’s dating who in Hollywood and you can get some really good make-up tips too.”
He shook his head and turned the page again. “That’s hardly useful. You’re beautiful without make-up,” AJ replied.
He certainly had a way with words that left me speechless. “Thank you,” was all I could say. Our eyes locked on one another, neither of us able to break our gaze. My heart began to race as I watched him lick his lips subconsciously. I’d never met anyone like him before. He’s a compilation of every woman’s fantasy and the only thing that could’ve distracted anyone from his perfect face was his equally perfect physique. And here he was, sitting in this very room.
“Beautiful,” he uttered once more under his breath and then beckoned for me to come sit with him. My resolve had weakened a little more and I didn’t bother to keep him waiting; who would I be fooling anyway with a phony hesitation? I walked over and sat Indian-style beside him on the bed, wishing that I could get so much closer.