Page 25 of The Story Of Us

She nods her head slightly, and within a few seconds, she’s fast asleep. No matter how tired I am, I always wait for her to fall asleep first. I love having this time to just look at her without worrying if she’ll catch me staring.

I’m not sure when I started paying attention to how pretty she is, but it feels like she just gets prettier every single day. Even asleep, she looks so peaceful and serene, all her features relaxed but still so distinctly her. I’ve tried drawing her a few times, thinking maybe I could give it to her on our birthday as a gift, but I can’t quite seem to capture her properly. It never matches up to how she really looks, and giving her anything less would feel like an insult.

The crazy thought pops into my head again as I look at her, maximising the window so her face takes up most of the screen now. What would happen if I told her? Would it ruin everything between us? I don’t want to risk losing her as a friend just because I have feelings for her that she probably doesn’t reciprocate. But what if she does? What if I told her and we actually tried being something more with each other?

She’s never talked to me about liking anyone else in our year, so maybe she could like me. Or maybe she just isn’t interested in anyone at all. I get the urge to say it out loud just once, to tell her even though she’s asleep and can’t hear me, so then, at least, I can say I tried.

“Violet, I like you,” I say, my heart in my throat at stringing those four words together and saying them out loud for the first time.

“Hmm?” Her eyes flutter open slightly, and I immediately slam my laptop shut. She can’t have heard me, right? She was asleep. The timing was just bad. She’s probably already asleep again.

My phone rings next to me, her name lighting up the screen, and I feel like throwing it across the room. I can’t just ignore her, though. I’ve never not answered when she calls, so I swipe my finger across the screen and bring the phone up to my ear.

“Say it again,” she whispers.

“Say what?”

“What you said.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

There’s a pause, and then I realise she’s trying to FaceTime me instead. Again, I’ve never not answered her, so I accept the change, and then her sleepy, pretty face is on my screen.

“Do you really mean it?” she asks, and she looks so nervous, her eyebrows furrowed together and her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. I have to tell her, even if it’s just so I can change that expression on her face to something else.

“I do.”

“Then say it again.”

I take a deep breath, preparing myself to say just four words that will change absolutely everything between us.

“Violet,” I say her name clearly, and she leans closer to the screen. “I really like you.”

The smile that I get in return is so beautiful I think I’m dreaming for a second.

“I really like you, too, Isaac.”

I never thought I would hear those words from her, and it feels like I’ve ascended to the highest peak and reached a point of happiness from which I’ll never be able to come down. I know I’m smiling too big, and I probably look so ridiculous, but I couldn’t stop even if I tried.

Violet likes me. The girl of my dreams, the only girl I’ve ever had a crush on, the girl who occupies my thoughts at all times, the girl I’ve liked since the moment I first met her, likes me. I feel like I could run a marathon and still have enough energy to do it again as long as I can keep replaying her words in my head.

She yawns, still looking so pretty, and I just keep smiling at her.

“I’ll call you as soon as I wake up,” I tell her, even though I probably won’t sleep at all.

“Okay,” she nods her head, the corners of her mouth still turned up as she gets comfortable again.

“Sweet dreams, Violet.”

“Goodnight, Isaac.”

She’s asleep within seconds again, and I have to use all my strength to hang up on her and not stay on the phone watching her all night like a creep.

Violet likes me.

Violet likes me.

Violet likes me.

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