Ambush & Love

From the moment I saw his gaze land on me, I knew automatically that I was damn.

He was standing, leaning against a post, looking very comfortable, about five meters from me. At his shoulder swayed a half-open black sports bag and he chewed a chewing gum loudly, revealing gorgeous white teeth without any fault. He wore a blue and black sport suit with a touch of white on the jacket, in the genre “I make everyone believe that I do sports, but I just want to impress the girls so that they want to date me”.

He was tall, very tall - he had to measure in the one meter seventy-five, maybe, even eighty (while I was just throwing in the one meter seventy) - his eyes in almond were of a very light brown, almost hazelnut, and his black, curly and short-cut hair was distributed unevenly on each side of his skull, forming a sort of crest, which was perfectly suited to him. His well-drawn hollow cheekbones highlighted the brilliance of his eyes and the tanning of his skin, as well as the length and fineness of his nose, which looked much like a knife blade than a nose.

This mysterious - and very handsome - boy (whose name I knew but did not want to utter it out loud, lest he heard her) was surrounded by ten noisy girls older than me, all of them as pretty as each other, who, just by looking at them, gave me the impression of being an evil jug in my skin, and he had his eyes on me.

He watched me, scrutinized with his beautiful piercing eyes my face to detect the slightest sign betraying my emotions, but it was not - at least physically. When he realized that I was also looking at him , a slight (and magnificent) smile stretched on his lips. The atmosphere became, at one stroke, tense. I began to have a stomach ache and wanted to run away without being able to stop, but I held back and remained wisely in my place.

Without looking away from me for a moment, he turned and addressed a few words to one of the girls on his right, a tall brunette with generous curves whose name I did not know, and pointed at me. The girl immediately turned her head to look at me too, and I felt like I was getting a punch right in my stomach.

I could do nothing, say nothing, I was paralyzed from the inside. It seemed as if my heart, feeling my fear and the danger which threatened me, had suddenly ceased to fulfill its principal function, that is to say beat, and that it could no longer operate for a period of time.

I would have liked to call all my friends for help and warn them of the threat I was running, but I didn’t know where they were at that time and I was unable to react. My whole body had become numb, the slight headache I had since this morning was intensifying and I now had a very bad stomach. Electric current ran through my fingers tetanized by fear.

But I knew that if I stayed there without moving or doing anything, sooner or later he would attack me and I did not know what he would do to me if he ever caught me.

So I decided to take my courage with both hands - at my own risk - and got up (I was sitting on a bench in the backyard of my middle school). The air was strangely muddy and I felt like wading in extremely sticky molasses. My backpack weighed heavily on me, as if someone had stuffed ten bowling balls of five kilos each inside. I felt staring at me - the boy and the girl - as I walked, giving me goose bumps all over my arms and chills in the back, although it was 25 ° C. It was Friday afternoon and the sun was loud.

Suddenly, without warning, I began to run at full speed, dismissing all those who were on my way. I had to at least touch the 100 km / h so I ran fast, while the race was not really my favorite activity. I went immediately to the main building, in the opposite direction to my “admirer” who “admired me” and the girls.

I heard one of them cry “It’s the little girl running!” and sank into the dark corridor of the building, in which I remained for about five minutes. My heart beat so hard that I thought he wanted to escape from my chest.

Breathless, distraught, I let myself slide against the wall and fell to the ground weeping all the tears of my body. Then it was total black.

A few moments later, I felt someone shake me gently. A pleasant spicy smell floated in the air, bringing me back to me, and I abruptly opened my eyes. I was still in the corridor, lying on the floor, but, crouched in front of me, looking very worried, there was the boy who was looking at me just now - alias Josh (I told you I knew his name).

When he saw that I was awake, another of his beautiful smiles - of which I never tire - appeared again on his lips and he enthusiastically pressed me in his arms. It had the effect of waking me up completely, even though I was still too dazed to react.

Finally releasing me, he looked up at me, looked at me and said:

- Hey, are you okay? When I came to see you with the girls to ask you why you were running away, I saw that you had fainted. I stayed near you, but you were unconscious for ten minutes. I thought you were ...

He doesn’t finish his sentence. He was very pale, a sign that he had really done bad blood for me, which touched me deeply.

- Yes, that’s all right, I answered in a weak voice, quite stunned.

- Say, it would not be you Lexie, the fifth girl who is in love with me, by chance? he asked in a rather charming tone.

I swallowed hard. I had been afraid of this question since I knew he was aware of my feelings about him, that is for five months. I tried to disengage myself to avoid answering, but he detained me immediately.

- Hey, don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything to you.

His voice was so soft and his face so beautiful that I calmed down a bit. The beat rhythms of my heart resumed their usual frequency and my breathing became more assured. Then I remembered that he had asked me a question.

- Yes, it’s indeed I, the fifth daughter who... who loves you very well, I confessed feebly, as a guilty man confessing his crime under torture.

Josh smiled at me and I felt my heart flinch in shock.

- You know, he said, sitting down beside me (and brushing my hand in passing), I was really pleased to learn that you thought me handsome. No one had ever told me that before, almost.

Surprised, I frowned.

- That is true? I thought you had a girlfriend? It’s weird!

- It’s odd for you, he corrected, but not for the others. And yes, I had a girlfriend, Anaïs, but we broke up not long ago.

I looked at him and asked :

- Why did you break up?

Josh’s face darkened. I deduced that he didn’t like to talk too much about it but he still spoke:

- She was too jealous, she was prickling for nothing, he explained, his eyes lost in vagueness. On the one hand, she was perfectly calm and on the other, she became a real plague in a second. And one day, she came to see me and plated me, like that, all at once, without explanation. And now you know the whole story now!

I nodded thoughtfully and discreetly put a lock of hair behind my ear. Turning my head, I met Josh’s gaze who watching me attentively and blushed slightly.

- At least it leaves you free, he said, giving me a teasing smile. Now everyone is talking about this story: the little fifth who likes a third and who would do anything to date him, even if he wanted to learn about him. And outside, the girls you saw earlier are spying on us to see how you would react, and I must say that you impress me.

For a long time, I had caught sight of the shadows in the large French window just in front of us. However, Josh’s last words made me jump. Astonished by this revelation, I exclaimed:

- I impress you?!? Why ?

His answer was immediate.

- Because of the reaction of the others: your friends, my friends, girls ... I thought you would run away - which was a little case earlier -, that you would not return in middle school until the case is settled. But no, you remained there and you faced your fear. Look, you talk to me there!

I was surprised and proud of what Josh had confessed to me, to hear him say that I was a sort of heroine in his eyes. Several months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to speak to him.

- It’s true that all this was difficult at first, I confessed. All those people who were looking at me, whispering whenever I approached and laughing when you arrived and I ran away. And the hardest thing, I added, conscious of his gaze on me, is that everyone thinks, especially my friends - who are supposed to support me - that it’s absurd that a fifth falls in love with a third and that you and I can never be together.

He smiled again, examined me attentively and exclaimed:

- Well, they’re wrong. I don’t think it’s absurd. As long as the two people concerned love each other, the difference in age doesn’t count.

I stretched out my eyes and looked at him, looking stunned:

- So, according to you, it doesn’t matter if I’m in love with you, even if I’m fifth and you third, and there are plenty of girls running after you?

- Not at all, he said, shaking his head, and I’m even ready to try the experiment to prove to everyone that they are wrong, but above all because I find you very beautiful and very nice. And you ?

I kept silent for a long time, not knowing what to say and especially, not knowing what to think about his question. He asked me anyway if I wanted to date him. Finally ! Yes ! Of course, I had always dreamed of that moment but it had always been only a dream, a reverie. While there, it was not a dream; on the contrary, it was indeed reality.

I realized that he was still waiting for my answer.

- You ... you really want to be with me?

- Of course, he said, as if it were self-evident. You look funny and very engaging like a girl, it could be funny.

- Despite the difference in age?

- Despite the difference in age!

- And also despite of the slight difference in size?

- And also despite of the slight difference in size!

- Since when do you want to be with me? I asked, looking a little skeptical.

- Since the girls of your class have taught you to describe you and showed you to me for the first time. I found you really pretty.

- And what do you do with the reaction of others? From your friends, my friends? I insisted. They won’t take this lightly, I warn you.

- They’ll get used to it, he whispered, shrugging his shoulders.

I made up my mind to think for a moment before giving my decision.

- Well, if you insist ... okay, I’ll try.

Josh’s face lit up suddenly.

- Perfect ! He exclaimed, still holding me in his arms and kissing my lips - I almost fainted. Let us announce it to others.

We got up and went out through the French window. A huge crowd of people, including our respective friends, was waiting behind us.

- So, what happened? What did you say? they all asked us at the same time.

The questions were one after the other in an indescribable chaos.

Josh took me by the shoulder and pulled me against him. I breathed a little more the spicy smell that emanated from him and let me go against his chest.

- Well, he announced, let us say that now we are officially together.

Everyone was silent and looked at both of us, he and I. They seemed to hesitate about what to do. I watched them turn in turn: Josh’s friends, the girls and my friends, all shocked. I was already beginning to fear the worst: the girls would criticize me and insult me, my friends would call me mad, and Josh’s friends would ridicule him and make fun of him.

But, contrary to what I imagined, they all congratulated us and Josh’s friends came to me and said they thought me very cute and wanted us to become friends. I agreed, of course - I was not crazy, anyway.

I became especially close to six of them (whose names I shall not mention). We constantly teased each other and made a lot of fun together. And it lasted for years.

As for Josh and I, our relationship worked very well despite the difference in age and the fact that we saw very little in college, and lasted a long time, longer than I would have imagined - and hoped for. This relationship taught me not to be discouraged and to struggle to realize my dreams, even the wildest ones and those that one would think impossible to achieve, but that by persevering it is no longer the case. It was the case for me.

My name is Lexie and I date with a third.