Palpitations
It was too cold to be leaning against a brick wall, waiting outside a bar that smelled of ripe fruit, and judging by the grey in the sky, it might rain as well. But I couldn’t lose this bet. I’d held up my end, the icy beer in my jacket was proof. Now I was just waiting on Josh.
I was busy staring at cars rush by when I smelled a familiar soda-like sweetness. My heart rate went up.
And there she was, walking down the sidewalk with a purple beret and blue dress.
I shoved my ashy hands in my pockets and matched steps with her. “Hey, Nira.”
She turned and did a mad wide smile, to where the mole on her cheek nearly kissed her right eye. “Hey Amari. What are you doing here? You know you ain’t old enough to drink.”
“Waiting for my brother. He’s in there.” Only half of that was true. “How was your day?”
She gave me a low-lid stare, but a hint of her smile remained. “Fine.”
“Why only fine?” I teased.
“Cause it was. How is your day?” she threw some of her curls back to look at me.
“I’m having an amazing day,” I said smugly.
“I bet you are.” We’d made it to the bus stop where she tossed her bag on the bench and sat. “Well, I’m glad you had a nice day,” she smiled at me once again before looking off into the street.
Now’s your chance man. Just ask her! My brain told me. But I cringed and shook my head. I wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t leave my mouth.
“GET OUT OF HERE!” We both looked up the street alarmed to see a guy burst out of the bar running and laughing.
I sighed. Josh was out.
I turned to see Nira looking at me expectantly. Great. She knew I was associated with him.
“I’ll catch you later,” I said behind my back. She mumbled something, but I was already jogging up the sidewalk to collide with Josh, who was laughing and out of breath.
“Brooooo,” He said, bent over clutching his stomach. “You-” He laughed. “You wouldn’t believe the look on that bartender’s face when she realised she almost sold me a Bud Light! I was at the finish line!” He laughed until he fell over.
I smiled. “But you still couldn’t get any. I told you, babyface. No one’s gonna believe you’re 21. Let alone 18. I won.” I took the beer out of my pocket and shook it in his face. He shoved me.
I started walking up the street, and eventually he caught up with me.
“I saw your brother in there too, pressed up against this chick with green eyes. They were practically eating each other.”
I cringed. “Ew, man shut up.”
Josh chuckled and shook his head. “It’s funny. your brother’s the biggest ladies man at school and you still haven’t had a girlfriend.”
“He’s a knucklehead.”
He looked around then came closer. “You could probably get Nira if you just man up and asked her out.”
I gave him a sideways look, but my mind was replaying all the times I could’ve hit her up, but I didn’t. That one time in statistics class. That time we ran into each other at the mall. Today.
I was eaten alive by regret, and it silenced me the whole way back to the dorms.
I went to my room and played video games with the boys until my eyes were stale and I could see the game with my eyes closed.
“Alright y’all, I’m signing off.” The boys said their goodbyes as I shut off my console and turned everything off. It was 12:00 a.m. I heard chatter outside and saw my brother walking up with two girls at his side. I smacked my teeth.
By the time he made it to the hall, I was there to shake my head. “Really? Where’s the shorty you had up at the bar?” I crossed my arms.
Aiden scrunched his face. “What are you, a spy? You’re just mad you don’t have any aura.”
“I’ve got more aura than you,” I countered, trailing him down the hall. “Only reason I don’t have a girlfriend yet is because I got only one in mind.”
“Oh yeah?” Aiden raised an eyebrow while unlocking his dorm room. “Bet that’s cap. And even if it’s true you won’t ask her out.”
“Yeah I will,” I stood over Aiden as he collapsed onto his bean bag and slipped off his jacket.
He kept an even stare. “No you won’t, Amari. You a punk. I bet you 25 dollars you won’t ask her out before I ask my girl out tomorrow night.”
“Deal.” I said before I could even process what I’d just agreed to.
I spent the rest of the night thinking about that. There was no way I’d find the guts to ask Nira out in one night, but there was no way I was losing a bet to my brother.
That next morning, I was shook. I could barely laugh with the guys before class. I don’t think I retained a word the English professor said.
I took some time in my dorm to think about this. I was going to ask Nira out, I just had to be smart about it.
Then came statistics, and my heart nearly dropped when Nira walked in. how’d she manage to make a sweater and boots look beautiful?
She was one of the last to leave class, so I busied myself with checking my phone until she left. My heart skipped a beat, then another. Man, I was so shook up I was giving myself palpitations! I took a deep breath. Chill out, Amari. The worst she can say is no.
“No.” Nira said sharply. “That is such an awful idea.” She walked past me and down the hall.
“What!?” I shook my head and caught up to her.
She looked at me and shook her head. “Oh, hey Amari. I wasn’t talking to you, I was just voice-to-speech texting a friend of mine.” She closed her phone, and put on a wide smile. “What ‘chu up to?”
“Waiting for lunch really,” I said, and she giggled.
Moment of truth. “Actually, I was wondering if you were doing anything saturday. I know this cool cafe by my house we could go to-if you’re down with that of course.”
She did that smile where her mole touched her right eye. “Sure, sounds nice!”
We exchanged numbers and before I knew it, I had a date this weekend with Nira.
The rest of the day went by quickly. Josh was beyond annoyed at how ‘cocky’ I was acting. Later I caught up with Aiden, who was busy scrolling his phone with his dorm window open.
He looked up at me smugly. “Did you ask her out?”
“Yep.” I took out my phone and showed him Nira’s number. “We’re going to the cafe on Saturday. What about you? Did you ask out your girl?”
“Yeah.” He looked out the window.
“And?”
“She said no,” He laughed and shook his head.
“What?” I raised my eyebrows and fell back onto his bed. I had never known Aiden to be rejected by anyone.
He shrugged. “Eh. Who cares anyway? Everyone gets rejected at some point. I used to be a lot like you, all scared to ask anyone out. Then I just went for it and never looked back.”
I thought I heard wrong. Aiden? Scared of asking someone out? How come he was just now dropping all this older brother lore?
“I’ve been in yo’ spot before, Amari. Difference is, you can’t turn down a challenge. I saw you and Josh trying to get beers the other day, and I knew if you treated this girl you’re into like a challenge, then you’d ask her out no problem.”
So he’d planned that out all along. I sat staring at the rock posters on his wall. “What the heck man. Now you’re a spy?”
Aiden laughed. I couldn’t help but laugh too.
Thanks for Reading~!
Hey there! I’m Shila! I’ve loved books since I could read, and decided I would write books I wanted to see written for others! Check my children’s book Imagination on Amazon!
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All pictures are AI generated from Microsoft Bing.