Brown Girl

What Is and What Should Never Be.

"Hey, Colin, can I talk to you for a second?" Alisha went up to him at his locker on Friday morning.

"Yeah, sure." He nodded. He looked worse than usual. There were dark circles under his eyes, his hair was messy like he just got out of bed and his eyes were blood shot red.

"You okay?" She asked, a bit anxious.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He smiled.

"Um, it is just that you have not been around since we had that fight and you do look like hell." She breathed.

"Yeah, I...its my grand mom." He lied. "She's in the hospital."

Alisha hugged him. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! How are you holding up?"

He put his arms around her, thinking about the way Alex did, tightening his grip.

"I'm just fine." He breathed out, ragged.

She pulled away, and he let her go reluctantly. "Listen, about the other day I want to say that I'm sorry. It got out a bit out of hand."

He smiled. "Yeah, it's okay. I'm sorry too."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! Glad we got that cleared up."

"Yeah." He nodded and they headed towards Chemistry together.

~

"Chica!" Alex screamed stopping Alisha and Christina in the hallway as they headed to class together.

"Alejandro!" She faked the enthusiasm as he reached them.

He gave her a flat stare. "Where you heading?"

"Oh, nothing. To kill and bury few people. Wanna join?" Christina muttered sarcastically.

He gave her a glare. "As tempting as that sounds, I will have to decline."

"Best news I heard all day." Christina rolled her eyes making Alisha chuckle.

"I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Alisha smiled at Christina.

"Fine, ditch me for lover boy here." She muttered and walked away with a smirk.

"So pleasant." Alex sighed.

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Um, listen...." He started off awkwardly.

"Wait, is this the part where you tell me you're actually gay and I realise that I've been right all along!?" Alisha cut in with fake enthusiasm.

He gave her a flat stare. "Shut up and listen to me. My mother kind of wanted to meet you..."

"Did you tell her that I pick on you, Alejandro? Did you go complaining to mama?" Alisha teased with a straight face crossing her arms over her chest for added effect.

He scoffed. "No. She just wants to get to know you better. So, she invited you over for dinner....tonight."

"Pucca?" She asked in hindi.

"Yeah, that." He nodded. By now he understood that that meant 'sure?'

"Okay, I'll be there." She smiled.

"Great! By eight." He smiled.

"Can't believe your mom got the balls to ask me out on a date before you did." Alisha said slyly and walked away leaving a shell-shocked Alex.

~

"So we're meeting the family of lover boy tonight, huh?" Christina teased Alisha as they hung out at her house.

"Please don't be your sarcastic self at dinner. She'll probably throw you out if you do." Mira gave advice.

"Thanks, Mira. That really boosts up my self-esteem." Alisha rolled her eyes.

"This is what I'm talking about!" Mira exclaimed.

Alisha grumbled. "Yeah, okay."

"Chill, dude. Just be yourself." Christine shrugged. "We know Aurora and she's pretty chill."

"Really? You think she'll like me?" Alisha perked up.

"And then she denies that she has a crush." Christina sighed dramatically making Alisha throw a pillow at her face.

"Forget about me. How was your day, Mira?" Alisha smirked.

"Very eventful, actually. We're going out tomorrow night!" She squealed.

"Gee, who got the hormones out?" Christina grumbled at all the squealing.

"You know, I think it's time Christina gets a boyfriend." Mira mused.

Alisha's grin perked up. "I think you're right."

"Who might it be?" Mira pretended to wonder.

Christina gave them weird looks. "Guys, listen I know you're on crack but let's keep that crack focused on you guys."

"I think she's going to need an escort service." Alisha sighed making Mira chuckle and Christina throw the pillow back at her.

~

"Hey, Colin!" Alisha opened the door, surprised to see him.

"Hey, Alisha. May I come in?" She was just about to go get ready for the dinner tonight.

"Sure." She smiled, stepping aside.

They went to living room, sitting on the couch. "What's up?"

"Um, listen. I needed to talk to you...about something." Colin started nervously.

"Yeah, sure." Alisha smiled softly.

"You really look beautiful tonight." He whispered looking at her.

"Colin, I'm in my sweatpants."

"That doesn't make a difference." He shrugged, still looking at her.

He was starting to weird her out. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Um, yeah....look. The thing is...I needed to c-confess something." He stuttered. Alisha listened patiently. "Wait, your parents aren't at home, right?"

"No, they're at work." Alisha answered slowly, a bit worried at his behaviour.

He breathed out. "Okay, okay. Anyway, the thing is, Alisha, that I-" He held her hand. "I think you're amazing. You're really, really, beautiful a-and you're just too good to be true. And the thing is that I really, really, really like you."

Realisation dawned on her. "Colin, buddy, I like you too!" She chuckled awkwardly.

"No, Alisha. Like as in attraction type of like." He said seriously.

She shifted in her seat, retracting her hand from him, uncomfortably. "Colin...wow! See, Colin, you're an amazing guy and you're really, really, great and I'm sure any girl would be lucky to be with you-"

"Just not you. Yeah, I get it." He muttered, cutting her off.

"I'm so sorry, Colin. I really am." She said sincerely. "Please don't break our friendship because of this."

He shook his head, hurting from the inside. "Yeah, never. You're the only one I got, Alisha. I would never."

She smiled, giving him a side hug. "It's going to be alright. You will find a much better girl than me. I promise."

"You really do?" He whispered.

"I really do."

They stayed in silence for a minute.

"I should probably go." He said, getting up.

"Oh, okay." Alisha followed him, leading him out.

He turned around to face her. "Just forget about all this, okay? This never happened."

Alisha chuckled. "Yeah, okay."

"Goodbye, Alisha." He said giving her one last hurting look.

"Bye, Colin." She whispered, feeling like her heart split into two pieces. It broke her heart to do this.

~

Alisha took a deep breath before ringing the bell. Standing on Alex's front porch in high waist black jeans with a dark tucked in purple top, she was nervous as hell.

The door opened to reveal a stunning, petite lady. She had the same eyes as Alex but had fiery red hair with high cheekbones and thin, soft lips. She was gorgeous. Well, now Alisha knew where Alex got his good looks from.

"You must be Alisha!" Aurora exclaimed with a huge smile making her look even more beautiful.

"You must be Ms.Valdez!" Alisha smiled back.

"Oh, it's just Aurora. It keeps me young." She winked and moved aside to let Alisha in.

"You have got a lovely home, Aurora." Alisha looked around the cozy home.

"Oh, thank you." Aurora beamed, leading them to the living room.

"Would you like something to drink? Lemonade? Soda?" Aurora offered.

"No, mama. She's not much of a drinker." Alex came in, smirking in a pair of faded jeans and white rolled up shirt, giving Alisha a good view of his perfectly toned chest.

She gave him a mock smile in acknowledgment.

"I think she can answer for herself, Alejandro." Aurora gave a mock glare.

"Mama, it's Alex." He whined.

"Honey, I already know who you are." Aurora smiled sarcastically making Alisha laugh as they high-fived each other.

"We're going to get along well." Alisha smiled at Aurora.

"I think so too." She beamed back. "Now let me go check on the food, I'll be right back."

With that, she left them alone.

"You can sit, you know?" Alex smirked as he plonked on the couch.

Glaring at him, she sat down beside him.

"So, tell me something," she began. "Why did your mom want to meet me?"

"Oh, you know, getting to know the neighbours and all." He shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Oh, that explains why my mother and she have already had lunches and dinners together." Alisha nodded.

He gave her a flat stare. "She just wanted to meet you because she wanted to get to know the girl I hang out with all the time."

"And the girl that he keeps talking about all the time." Aurora added as she entered the living room.

Alisha gave him a look of mock disbelief. "Really? Aw, that is so not lovesick at all."

Aurora and Alisha laughed while Alex pouted.

~

"So, how you liking Ortown, Alisha?" Aurora asked as they sat on the dinner table.

"Since I already did get a very, very thorough tour of this town," she looked at a sly Alex. "I can't say that I hate it."

"That's nice." Aurora chuckled. "It must've been hard on you, moving to an entirely different country. Not even country, an entire different continent!"

Alisha nodded. "It was hard. I mean, I still do miss my friends and even though I'm in touch with them...it's not the same. But over time, I have accepted it and I do like it here a lot."

"It is a magical town." Aurora said wistfully making Alisha smile. Alex looked at her with a slow smile of his own.

~

"So he was about four years old and he had this habit of running around naked, okay? Then one day he insists on going to school naked. He just wouldn't budge with clothes on! But then I refused to send him to school naked and without any warning he runs out to the street completely naked, running around the neighbourhood screaming like a hooligan." Aurora completes the story making Alisha burst into fits of laughter.

"C'mon! I was four!" Alex defended himself.

"Very plausible defence." Alisha nodded sarcastically.

Aurora ruffled her son's hair. "Aw, honey. You were adorable."

"More like embarrassing." He muttered with a smile.

"Oh!" Aurora jumped up. "You should totally see his baby pictures!"

"I would love that!" Alisha exclaimed with evil glee making Alex give both of them death glares.

"Alex, why don't you give Alisha a tour of this house, since you're so good at the tour guide thing, while I find the pictures?" Aurora commented slyly making Alisha laugh while blushing.

"Fine." He huffed like a baby. "C'mon."

Alisha got up and followed him. He led her to the backyard, where they had a pool.

"This is my second favourite part of the house." He stated.

"What's your first?" Alisha asked, as they walked beside the pool.

"The ledge." He said as if it was obvious, making Alisha blush.

"Your mother's amazing." Alisha said after a couple moments of silence.

"My mother is the devil!" He exclaimed.

She smacked him. "Of course not! She's just awesome."

"You think that because you weren't being made fun of inside." He scoffed.

"Admit it. You liked the attention."

He snorted. "Attention? It was torture!"

Alisha laughed. "Bittersweet torture?"

"Kind of." He shrugged.

"You seem very close to your mother." She observed as he led them out the pool area and upstairs.

"Yeah, it's only the both of us, so we kind of have to get close or we'd die of boredom and awkwardness." He explained making her smile. She never had that with her mother.

He led them into his bedroom. "This is where the magic truly happens."

"Yeah, right, Virgin Mary." She snorted making him roll his eyes. She scanned his room. It was pretty neat for a boy. It was dark, though. He had this rope hanging above his dressing table with pictures attached on to it.

He had pictures with his mom, none with his dad, she noticed. He had pictures with the guys, with the girls, a group picture which included Alisha too and then he had the picture of both of them that they had taken the day all the six of them had gone for a day to the beach out of the town. They both were covered in sand but were laughing their asses off. She can't remember why, but it definitely had to do something about both of them teasing Joey.

They weren't even looking at the camera. Mira had clicked it when they were looking at each other and laughing.

"It's my favourite." Alex whispered from beside her.

"Yeah, mine too." She admitted, turning towards him. Their eyes locked and in that moment Alisha realised that she was indeed falling for him. She was never one to believe in love but she could sense this thing she had for Alex was more than just a crush.

He put a hand on her cheek, stroking it softly while her hands rested on his shoulders as they leaned in. Their eyes fluttered close while their hearts hammered. But before they could crash down, Aurora called out to them, breaking the moment. Alisha's eyes flew open so did his. They looked at each other and started chuckling.

"We better get down." Alisha whispered not moving.

"Yeah."

But neither of them moved.

"No we seriously should or else she will come up here herself." Alex said making Alisha laugh and pull away.

They both headed downstairs. "I can't wait to see your baby pictures!"

"Just say you can't wait to see me naked." He smirked making her roll her eyes.

~

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Aurora." Alisha said as she hugged her, after the dinner came to an end. "Thank you."

"Oh, it was nothing. I'm surprised your mother couldn't make it." She gushed, pulling away.

"She's on call tonight." Alisha explained. "I better get going though."

"It was great having you over. Come again and I'll show you the other baby pictures I have. He's only wearing a superman cape in them." She winked making Alisha chuckle.

"Yeah, okay!" Alex clapped his hands. "Can we please end this dinner, the only intention of which was to torture me?"

"Okay, cranky pants." Aurora scolded and hugged Alisha one last time before Alex led her out.

"Thank you for tonight." She said as they exited the door and walked into the street.

"It's no problem. My torture served for your entertainment. What more could I ask for?" He sighed making her laugh.

She liked the fact that he walked till her house to drop her. "I'll see you later, then?"

"Yeah, sure." He nodded. "But listen, your parents didn't mind you coming for this dinner, did they?"

"No, they totally minded. In fact, I'm not allowed to see you anymore and plus, I'm grounded." She said dramatically.

"Shut up." He smiled.

"They're not home, anyway and I asked my mom and she didn't mind. Okay?" She chuckled.

He wondered why Alisha's parents weren't ever home. It must be tough for her to be alone all the time. "Okay."

"Bye." She gave him a hug. He wrapped his hands around her waist, breathing her in as they stood on her front porch.

She pulled away and he gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek. "Bye." He whispered.

Smiling goofily, she turned to look at him one last time before heading in.

He has to ask her out, soon, he thought as he skipped back home.

She has to ask him out, soon, because he sure will never get the balls to do it, she thought as she locked the door and went upstairs.

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