Her head rested against his shoulder unknowingly, and his heart jumped into his throat.
As the train reached their stop, he dreaded having to shake her awake.
“We’re here,” he whispered, and she jolted, surprised at their closeness.
“God, I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she laughed.
The two of them walked side by side at a steady pace, but Seth noticed that Nina wasn’t trying to rush home. He wasn’t sure if that could be a sign, but he was taking every little win he could get.
“So, I had fun today,” Nina said.
Seth contemplated on whether he should drop the hint now. It seemed like the perfect timing. Walking with Nina under the street light, with no one around them. As if the scene were written just for them.
Do it. Just - ask her out.
“Me too,” Seth glanced down at Nina with a smile, “We should do it more often.”
“We so should!” Nina said, enthusiastically. “I really enjoyed meeting your friends as well. They were really fun. Even if we kind of separated at the end.”
Seth tried to ignore the way his heart dropped. He hoped Nina also wanted to hang out withjusthim.
They were slowly approaching the street where they’d part ways. If he was going to put the idea out there, he needed to do it now.
“I - uh,” taking a deep breath, he decided he’d just dive, “I meant just the both of us. Going out. Together.”
And…
Silence.
Their paces slowed, as they reached Seth’s street. He genuinely could not tell whether only three seconds had passed,or whether it was three minutes. He peered down, at the sidewalk, suddenly interested in the crevices of the cement.
“I’d love that.”
Then, before Seth could react, Nina turned down the pathway, glancing over her shoulder at him.
“Goodnight, Seth Roman Moore.”
“Goodnight, Nina Mendez.”
And he watched her, as he did every night they walked home, until she was out of view. Her words echoed in a ricochet around his mind, all the way up the driveway to his front door. He decided then and there that, yes, crushes are great, they’re beautiful.
They’re the best feeling ever.
15
Then
— An excerpt from Nina’s Diary, October 1, 2015
The latter half of Year 9 blurred all together for Seth.
His parents’ separation was being finalised, if that was even a thing. It wasn’t like they were even getting divorced. Mum was just moving out.“Just”.
She moved out in June, and the moment she left their space, marked the moment everything blurred together for him.
A robotic routine sprung from him. School. Homework. Sleep. Repeat.
The late night gaming too. You couldn’t forget the late night gaming.
