3

We fell into a routine, well more like I did, I couldn't tell if she enjoyed my company as much as I did hers. Everyday I would go over to Ann's house at around 6pm, if she wasn't home at that time she would tell me the day before and we would agree on another time or just postpone it to the next day.

It was almost like going on a date everyday with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Although my crush has subsided almost entirely by now I still find her perfect in every way. The positive is that I'm not as starstruck as before and we can now have decent conversations, the age gap isn't really a problem and I think we could become good friends if she got over her obsession with my age. 'You're only 17, what would you know?', 'I'm way older than you and I've got way more experience', 'Aw, little kids these days sure have a big mouth'.

By the way, I had to remind myself to tell her my real age, which wasn't that far off 17 but still... She would get mad, I was sure of it. I looked over at the alarm clock as I was lying on my bed staring at the ceiling and listening to a God-awful song on my ipod. Still 4.30pm. I felt a bit silly, waiting for 6pm to come all day. If I could I would fast forward time from the moment I woke up to 6pm when I could finally go over to see her. It's not like I did much all day anyway. Lying a bit on the couch, then lying a bit on the bed and maybe a bit on the floor. If I was feeling really adventurous, pick a book to read but these days I didn't have the attention span necessary to read even my mother's cooking books.

As 6pm came, I jumped up to change my clothes and adjust my hair as quickly as I could before storming out the door.

***

"Cam." She greeted me at the door but her eyes were fixed on her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a moment." She said and started texting whoever she was texting while we made our way to the living room.

"Who are you texting?"

"No one." Finally lifting her head up she smiled broadly. "So, what are we watching today?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and didn't reply.

"We could watch Her or... The Lego Movie. It might be more up your alley, wouldn't it?"

I almost smiled at her stupid joke but contained myself, I still wanted to know why she was being so secretive.

"Oh, come on! Aren't you going to talk to me?" She gave me her best puppy eyes but I still wasn't fazed.

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Who were you texting?" I asked and could see her going red in the span of a millisecond.

"I told you, no one."

"Right. Was it a boyfriend? A girlfriend?" I saw her getting surprised by my implication. "Oh wait, was it your mom?"

"Yep. You caught me, I was totally texting my mom. Now can we watch the movie?"

I sighed and flopped down comfortably on my spot on the couch. There was no point in insisting if she didn't want to tell me, after all it was none of my business. "The Lego Movie please and thank you, it's actually pretty good."

I could feel her looking at me for a moment as she selected the movie and played it.

After a few minutes she interrupted the silence. "I have a date." I could almost sense her holding her breath while waiting for my reaction. I couldn't say I was happy but I couldn't even be disappointed, it's not like I had any chance with her so I could as well support her in her love life.

"Oh."

"Yeah, I... We're going out tomorrow night."

"Was that who you were texting?"

"Yes. But it's nothing serious, I agreed just because." She looked nervous as if she was asking for my permission and I found it really cute.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I- I was a little shy."

"You don't have to be, I think it's amazing -" okay maybe not amazing, but still, "and even though it's not serious you never know until you try, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"And I mean, I would tell you all about my love life but since it's non-existent..." I gave her a grin and she seemed to relax.

"Aww, shut up. You're still too young to go around dating. Look at me, 28, cronically single since forever and the only dates I go on always end up badly."

She looked genuinely sad so I scooted over right next to her on the couch and wrapped my left arm around her shoulders. It was actually the first time we've touched in this sort of side hug. I could feel her burning skin under my arm and I could feel how she tensed up at first only to relax a moment later falling more comfortably into my embrace. "You know, I can't believe you have problems dating. If you're ever desperate just remember that I would date you." I meant it as a joke, but not really. I laughed and squeezed her shoulder and she kind of smiled shyly. And we actually ended up watching the entire movie that way, even though the movie was the last thing I paid attention to.

When it ended she offered me food and of course I stayed. We made some sort of sandwich with cheese and devoured it pretty quickly.

"What does your mom think of you spending so much time here?"

Where did this come from? I would have told her that my mom doesn't like her but since my mom doesn't like anyone she shouldn't be offended and I would have said that my mom didn't know where exactly I was going every night and it's not like she really cared anyway, she was just glad that I actually went out more.

"Uhm... Nothing really."

"Oh, then I guess it's fine? She didn't seem to like me much."

"She's like that with everyone, don't take it personally."

"I'm not, it was just an impression I had."

"Well, I think she's glad I'm making new friends lately." I smiled at her shyly hoping to not have misunderstood our 'relationship' and that she could accept me as her friend even though I was soooo young.

"Friends?"

"Yeah, you know I've been talking to this girl everyday and I don't know if I annoy her, and if that's the case she should just tell me, or if we are mutually enjoying spending time together."

I smiled widely. "Uhm, I think that's very good. You should spend more time with kids your age and bond over, I don't know, Math problems?"

I rolled my eyes, of course she would bring up our age. "I'm pretty good at Math though."

"Oh, then Chemistry or Physics."

I shook my head. "Those are my strongest subjects."

She widened her eyes. "You're a nerd, aren't you?"

"Yeah, totally. I sucked at English Literature though. God, I hated it so much."

"What? That was the best subject in school. How can you like Math and Physics and hate English Literature?"

"I don't know, when I was in high school I had this awful teacher who was so annoying and always picked on me for not paying attention, one time he-"

"Wait, aren't you still in school?"

Oops. I just outed myself.

"Well, nope."

She looked a bit confused. "But you're 17. Are you really that much of a nerd to have graduated early?"

I bit my lip and wondered how to say 'Nope, I'm not that much of a nerd, I'm just not 17."

"Actually... I have a confession to make."

As she didn't speek I went on. "You gueesed my age right?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I may or may not have, kind of, but just a little bit, lied about it?"

"Lied about it?"

"Well, you seemed pretty convinced when you tried to guess and I didn't want to correct you so..." I was looking down fearing what she might say.

"So you're not 17."

I shook my head.

A sigh. "How old are you then."

"A little older."

"A little? Do I have to guess again?"

"19."

Silence. I almost started to count the seconds that went by before she spoke.

"Of course!" I looked up at her suddenly confused by the reaction. "You little... You said underage so of course I guessed something under 18!"

"I'm sorry-"

"That's not fair, you deceived me! I kept telling myself 'No, she can't be a 16 year old girl, can she? She doesn't look 16'. And of course you weren't but you did say underage so 17 was the obvious answer." She paused and seemed to think for a moment. "So you're 19 and you're not underage."

"Yeah."

She smiled slyly and came nearer to me. "That means I can hit you all I want."

That means you can do whatever you want with me. "I just remembered that I had to go." I stood up from the chair as if to go, only to hear her laugh.

"You should have told me sooner that you were 19. I mean, I made you watch The Lego Movie!"

God, this wasn't the reaction I was expecting at all. It seemed like a weight was lifted off from her shoulders and she could finally skip happily like a little girl. As if she was ashamed talking to a 17 year old.

"So can we be friends now?"

"Of course! We are!"

"Cool."