MIDSUMMER CRUSH

Chapter 17

Giselle hadn’t completely absorbed the compliments given by Aariz  that he surprised her again the following week. “OMG! A follow request,” she gasped and felt her heart  racing as she held her cell phone in the bathroom.

“He sent me a follow request!” she jumped in excitement and stepped on the bar of soap before slipping down.

“Giselle, are you alright in there?” her mother enquired from out after hearing her fall. “I’m fine, no worries,” Giselle cringed and stood up with a limp. “Okay big deal, why should I be excited, it’s just a follow request not a marriage proposal,” She relaxed and tried to act cool about it, but the butterflies in her stomach were clearly fluttering like they were on drugs.

Coming out of the shower, instead of accepting the request, Giselle turned pensive and wondered if it was right to accept it immediately. “He sent it 40 seconds ago, what will he think if I accept it so quick….nope I’ll accept it later or he’ll think I was waiting all along for this day.”

With that said, Giselle reluctantly ignored the request. Hours passed, she engaged herself in other activities but her mind was occupied thinking about Aariz. It wasn’t long before she got paranoid and decided to accept it.”Damn, what if he cancels the request. Sheesh I’m such a dope,” she cussed herself and hurriedly logged in. She heaved a sigh of relief on seeing the pending request and without thinking further accepted it. Little did she know that accepting his follow request was a start to a wonderful journey that would unfortunately end in heartbreak for her.

“So what’s the deal?” Reece asked in class as they settled in their seats the next day.

“What deal?” Giselle scratched her head in confusion.

“Come’ on your update was all over my wall last night. The vampire befriended you on i********: , didn’t he?” Reece smirked mischievously.

“Ya, big deal! And why do you keep calling him a vampire?” Giselle made a face.

“Babe he chose to be friends with you , not us. If this isn’t a big deal then what is? Haven’t you realized your update has irked half of the felines prowling near him,” Reece informed and gestured her to look at all the girls staring in envy at Giselle.

“And about the name calling, he continues to stare at you every freaking day just like in the movie,” Reece added.

“So you mean it won’t be long before you start calling me Bella?” Giselle sighed.

“Yup, the oversized geeky version I must say,” Reece quoted and laughed.

“Thanks for the self esteem…” Giselle frowned as the lectures commenced for the day.

As usual Giselle caught Aariz staring at her throughout the day. It was fun to see him turn and look elsewhere, Giselle was liking the attention, but couldn’t conjure why he wouldn’t show any acknowledgement on campus.

That day he surprised her yet again by coming online and chatting with her for the first time.  Giselle was swept off her feet when he again complimented her voice. They spoke for hours before realizing it was time to call it quits for the night. Gisele could think nothing but the conversation they had that night. Though it was nothing out of the blue, she was overwhelmed that he had noticed her limping on campus and had enquired if she was alright.

However the next day Giselle realized she was in deep trouble when she found that she hadn’t studied for Prof. Byron’s oral test. Aariz saved the day by helping her with the answers he shared secretly. “Thanks for helping me in class today,” she wrote when he came online that evening.

“You’re my friend, why wouldn’t I help you,” he wrote back and excited her. “If you’ve noticed I don’t socialise much, I like to keep my friend circle small,” he added and made her feel all the more special.

Giselle  was tempted to ask him why he shied away from her on campus every time they happened to cross each other’s path,  but thought it best to act ignorant about it. “At least he talks to me online…”she would  sigh and be satisfied at that.

As the days passed, Giselle cared less about him not acknowledging her on campus and eagerly waited for the evenings when he would come online. They would chat often without realising how hours flew by. Every evening Giselle would rush back home in relentless eagerness. Her days felt incomplete when Aariz wouldn’t talk to her and so was the same when he skipped class and wasn’t to be seen on campus.

“The day was so boring… I regret attending class today,” she once complained when Aariz didn’t show up for a whole week.

“Ahem, really? Or is it because he didn’t attend class today as well, coz honestly today’s class was quite interesting and fun,” Reece commented.

“What do you mean?” Giselle raised her brows.

“I mean someone’s developed a crush on him…” Reece stated and caught her off guard.

“What! That’s not true, I’m not crushing on him,” Giselle got defensive.

“Really, then why do you blush every time you hear his name….like right now,” Reece smirked.

“I’m not blushing,” Giselle touched her cheeks and looked away.

“Yes you are, admit it you have a crush on Aariz…Aariz,Aariz…” Reece teased and kept repeating his name.

“Reece stop it!”  Giselle cringed in embarrassment and turned red  until Zehara appeared.

“Hi  there! Am I interrupting something?” she said and startled the two.

“No, you aren’t…but I guess you have lost your way,” Reece commented sarcastically.

“How cute, Aariz told me you are the outspoken one,” Zehara laughed it off and shifted her gaze on Giselle. “And you’re, Giselle , right?” she said and scrutinized Giselle from head to toe.

“Yes, that’s me…how can I help you?” Giselle seemed skeptical about Zehara’s sudden appearance.

“Well, Aariz was saying you’re quite good at economics. He suggested I should take your help for our upcoming exam…that’s only if you don’t mind….” Zehara paused and waited for her reaction.

“Aariz said that?...oh…erm…I won’t mind helping you,” Giselle hadn’t finished when Zehara squealed and thanked her.

“Group study, tomorrow evening at my dorm room, okay!” She said and sprint away leaving both the girls miffed.

“What the heck was that? Queen bee getting all excited to study! Something is really fishy, why would she agree to take your help in the first place? She’s a snobbish sorority queen after all,” Reece got suspicious.

“Let it go, one doesn’t know a person until they interact with them. Maybe Zehara isn’t that snobbish after all,” Giselle replied, unaware about the real reason why Zehara had decided to befriend her. While Aariz was convinced that Zehara would mend her ways once she began hanging out with good company, Zehara felt assured that she would squeeze information from Giselle about the girls who fancied Aariz.

“Awesome, I love your choice! I guess we’re going to be best buddies!” Zehara said one day while shopping. “Aariz was right, he said it would be fun hanging out with you,” she added while Giselle held all her bags like a chaperon.

“He did? I didn’t know he talks about me that much,” Giselle felt flattered.

Zehara felt uncomfortable and commented. “Aariz has better things to do then keep talking about people he hardly cares about,” she said and miffed Giselle. “The only person he can go on talking about is me, I’m his best friend,” she sounded assertive.

“Oh…erm..by the way He’s not to be seen on campus, is he unwell or something?” Giselle enquired.

“No silly, he’s gone back home, he’ll come soon,” Zehara replied and amused her.

“He’s gone back to his country? He didn’t tell me…” Giselle’s heart sank.

“Why should he tell you about his plans, you guys keep in touch or something?”  Zehara suddenly turned suspicious.

“Uh..no not at all, you may have noticed Aariz hardly speaks to anyone other than his friends,” Giselle hurriedly  covered up and lowered her gaze.

“Yup, I know. He has standards, he’s very picky when it comes to choosing friends,” She quoted as they left the shopping mall.

That following week Giselle grew restless, knowing that she wouldn’t be seeing Aariz for some time. Nothing seemed to interest her, all she ever thought was about Aariz. Staring blankly at the computer screen, she wished, he would come online and talk to her, but in vain. It wasn’t long before she realised she was having  a crush on him.

A month passed, Giselle kept anticipating his arrival , but he never showed up. Tired and upset, she randomly liked a page titled, “Missing you”. Within minutes Aariz liked the same page and surprised her.

Relieved to see some activity from his end, she liked another random page and got the same reaction. “I guess he’s back in town, but why isn’t he coming online?” she murmured and suddenly noticed him online.

Excited she waited for him to make the first move, but when he didn’t she got annoyed. She wondered if he was ignoring her and liked a page titled, “Knowing someone is online but not talking to you”. To her surprise, she noticed he had liked another page titled. “Waiting for that someone to talk first.”

Giselle read it and realized that he was giving her clear hints  about what he currently felt. Resisting her urge to chat with him, she resorted to communicating through pages that clearly spoke her mind.

From thereon began a game of conversing through pages that each one liked on i********:, to their hearts’ content.  It wasn’t long before he returned and resumed talking to her online like before. By now Giselle and Reece were positive, Aariz had a soft corner for her.

“Wow he’s totally dropping hints at you! Girl, I’m tell you he has a crush on you too,” Reece exclaimed in excitement while Giselle merely laughed it off.