Love is a present tense

Brian Johnson

Brian observed me for a few seconds and smiled “Why? What’s wrong with me sitting with my ‘would-be-girlfriend’?”

What? He must be really crazy. I haven’t even agreed till now and he is already calling me his girlfriend.

In our school, the name “Brian Johnson” is like a brand. He is the type of boy every girl wants to be with. They say being able to date him even if it is just for once is a great luck the heaven has granted you. But honestly I think he is just overhyped.  He is a famous playboy, a womanizer everyone in the city is aware of. He changes his girlfriend every week. The longest relationship he had was with Suzy, the famous model of our school, which lasted for one month. Two-third of the girls in our class is his ex.

Brian Johnson is a tanned skin boy with shoulder length black hair which he always ties in a bun. His eyes are the most mystical one. Oceanic blue which is as deep as the ocean itself. Almost everyone knows he likes to work out and so one can already imagine his perfect body with those perfect abs, broad shoulder, hard chest muscle and full biceps.

In terms of money, he doesn’t lack any. The Johnson’s are the wealthiest and the most respected family in the city. His father is the owner of the largest hotel chains in the country. His mother is a celebrity architect. They have their business expanded in abroad too. And he being the sole heir to his family’s business empire sure attracts a lot of attention. His mother is the biggest shareholder of our school and currently holds majority of the power. Although she doesn’t interfere much in the management of the school, she does if it’s an emergency or something related to her son.

My family “The Williams” too is a shareholder of our school. We are also a well off family and have earned some reputation in the city. We might not be as rich as the Johnson’s but we are also in the list of the richest families in the city. My father deals in the trading business and my mother owns one of the best law firms in the city.

Our families are not too close but we sometimes meet at some mutual occasions and invites each other to our personal events just for. My mother sometimes also handles some legal issues for Mr. Johnson’s hotel. That’s how we know each other.

But from the past two months, he’s been acting strangely. We were never close nor did we talk much. Most of the times it was only me and Ray. I don’t know what changed but he’s been dangerously flirting with me for these two months. At one point he and Ray almost got into a heated argument. He once asked me to be his girlfriend and obviously already being in love I rejected him. But he said he would ask again and wait for me until I can see only him.

“Would-be-girlfriend? Don’t you think you are over confident?  I have already rejected you. So why do you think I will agree to be your girlfriend?” I scoffed.

“Because you were also rejected. So now we are in the same boat and it’s better to travel together, right?” he smirked.

I was shocked. How did he know about me being rejected? No one knows about it except me, Julie and Milie. And I’m hella sure they won’t tell him anything.

“How do you know about it? Did you spy on me?” I frowned.

“Ha ha… I don’t need to spy on you kitty. I just overheard it when you were describing your embarrassing moments to your dear friends. I was sitting behind you. But it’s not my fault, you were too loud.” He teased.

“You…” before I could say anything, the teacher entered. “This doesn’t end here, kitty. We will continue later.” He whispered in my ear.

After the class ended, I didn’t wait for him and went out hurriedly afraid he might catch with me. But whom am I kidding? He suddenly held my arm stopping me from going further and in a swift motion turned me to face him. “No matter how much you run away from me, you will always end up running into me. I will always be one step ahead of you to catch you. But I will let you go for now. See you on Sunday, kitty. Make sure to miss me.” He winked and left me there wondering what he meant.

Leaving all my thoughts aside for now, I decided to meet the twins. As I took a few steps, someone held my arm again. “Not again Brian. Leave me.” I snapped as I turned to face him.

“Brian huh? Open your eyes and see it’s me, Ray Miller. What were you doing with him in front of your class? Everyone was watching including me. Don’t you know he is a playboy? Don’t talk to him ever again.” he yelled at me.

“Excuse me, Mr. Ray Miller. Who are you to yell at me like this and that too in front of so many students? I don’t think the things which I do in my life concerns you in any way especially my love life. I can date whomever I want. I don’t need to consult you for the same. You better know your boundaries.” I said angrily.

He was shocked to hear me talk like that and not only him, the other students that were watching was also shocked and confused because everyone knows that we were best friend. We never had any fight before. Some even thought we were couple so this surely came as a heavy blow to them.

“Calm down Krisy. You don’t need to act like that. I was just warning you. Let’s go somewhere else and talk.” He took my hand in his and led the way to the rooftop as I silently watched the back of his head.