Amore Mio

III. Number One Girl

Six Months Later

Neilson: 18 years old

Alice: 10 years old

❋

Alice’s POV:

Skipping my way home, I saw a silver car zooming by and parked in front of Neilson’s house. The car door opens and three guys plus two girls jump out.

A smile crossed my face when I saw Neilson hopping out of the car. He is in his usual basketball clothes, indicating that he just got back from practice. Grabbing my backpack’s strap, I got ready to rush towards him until a black hair girl wearing skinny blue jeans and a tight top with two big balloons on her chest leaped on him.

I looked down at my own, seeing my shoes, and a sigh left my mouth.

Glancing back up, the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed their lips together. The two guys around them went: “Woooooah.”

“Lay a good one on her, Neilson!” One of them shouts. The other guy did this weird thing with his hips causing everyone to burst into a loud laugh.

I didn’t understand.

Biting my lips, I rush into my house. I hear someone shouting my name, but I ignore it and slam the door shut. I throw my shoes on the ground and lean against the wall, sliding down until my bottom meets the floor.

“Another girlfriend, of course,” I mumble.

After some time of self-pitying, I grab my backpack and drag it upstairs. “Daddy, I’m home!” I shouted, but there wasn’t a response. He must be working late again.

One by one, I step up the stairs, looking down at my feet again. “Why are you taking so long?” I whine, stomping my foot, then resume my feet dragging.

When I got inside the bedroom, I threw my backpack in the corner and stump down in bed. Closing my eyes, I can picture them kissing. “She isn’t even that pretty,” I mumble, knowing it’s a lie. Every single one of Neilson’s girlfriends is pretty.

Soon, I fell asleep, but a tapping noise appeared. I ignore it, but the tapping continues. When I realize the source is from the window, I drag my leg towards it. Scrunching my hand into a fist, I open my eyes. Instantly, it widens, seeing Neilson’s tapping a rock by my window. He saw me and smiled. If I didn’t know him for nearly two years, this would’ve been very creepy or...romantic? No, definitely creepy.

I slide my window up. “Why are you here?” I peek down to see him on a ladder.

“I rang your doorbell a few times, but you didn’t answer, so I got worried and threw some rocks at your window. You didn’t reply, so here I am,” he said, leaning his head against the window frame.

“O-kay, I’m fine?”

He throws a shirt at me. “Wear this to my game tomorrow.”

Unwrapping the white shirt, I saw his sport’s number - 16 - on it. “Why do I have to wear it?”

He smiles at me, “Every member of the team has to give someone special their shirt, and you’re my Angel. So, of course, you have to wear it. For good luck, of course.”

“Neilson!” His mom calls.

“Wear it tomorrow. I already told momma. So drop by early, and she will help you fix it.” He smiles again and slides down the ladder.

When I hear an: “Ouch!” I rush towards the edge to see him on top of a bush. “I’m fine! Just some burns.” He reveals his red palms, then stands up, limping back towards his house. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” He shouts, giving me a thumb up, stating that he is okay.

I sat there with Neilson’s parents, younger step-brother name Sheng, and to my sadness girlfriend cheering him on.

“Go, babe!” Neilson’s girlfriend cheers for him, very loudly, catching a lot of attention.

She sat down with her friends behind us, “I can’t believe you’re dating Neilson! He is so hot!” One of her friends said.

“I bet he is good in bed, too,” another said, giving her a wink.

She giggled and I got annoyed. I slept with Neilson since I was eight. What makes you so special?

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to wear his shirt?” A girl whispers. I saw her glancing at me.

Earlier this morning, I went to the Yi’s house, and Neilson’s mom helped me cup the shirt a little bit since Neilson is a giant. She did some magic, and somehow the shirt fits me. Since the shirt is white, I decided to wear a large white ribbon and a cute red skirt with long white socks. Neilson says, I look adorable.

“He told me he wants to give it to his little sister,” she said.

I frown at her sentence. I’m not Neilson’s younger sister. Why does she keep telling everyone that?

“Alice, dear, something wrong?” Mrs.Yi asks.

I shake my head. “I’m thirsty; I’m going to go get a soda.”

“Would you like me to go with you, dear?” She asks, and I shake my head again.

“I’m ten, Mrs.Yi, I can go by myself,” I said, going down the bleachers.

“Be careful, dear!”

I nodded and gave her a thumb up.

I walk out and wait in line, digging into my skirt to grab a five-dollar bill. I start singing to myself, twirling my skirt, but stop when I feel someone poke me. I turn around, seeing a guy whistling, then turn back. I feel the poke again and glare at him. “Stop poking me!”

He’s a bit taller than me with green eyes and blonde hair. I wanted to punch his face. He shrugs, “I didn’t do it.”

I puff my cheeks, feeling another poke but ignore it. That’s how it was the whole time, he keeps poking me, and I slap his hand away, knowing it’s him. “One coke, please,” I said and paid the lady then walked back towards the game, feeling the poke again.

We reach inside, and by that time, I explode. I whip my head towards him, seeing his finger still in the air, getting ready to poke me again. “Stop poking me!”

He shoves his half-eaten chocolate bar in front of my face. “Want some chocolate?” he asks, swallowing the rest in his mouth.

I narrow my eyes, “What?”

“Chocolate. Want some?”

“Why do you keep poking me?”

He stands there, silently putting the chocolate bar down. I can see him glancing at someone, and I turn to see a few guys from my school waving at him. They sat down when they saw me staring at them, looking at their shoes, and I turned my attention back to him, seeing his face red. “Y-You look c-cute,” he mumbles.

“What?”

“Y-You’re cute.”

“What?” I said a bit louder because I couldn’t hear him

The buzzer rings, and the crowd stops chanting.

“You’re cute!” He shouts, voice echoing inside the auditorium.

Suddenly, everyone turned their heads towards us, and my face color a deep shade of red. I can hear the crowd go: “Awwww.” I bit my lower lips and rushed back to my seat.

“Now wasn’t that just cute, but remember everyone, we got a game to finish,” the announcer said.

The second half of the game arrives, and I sneak peek at the guy from earlier who continues staring at me. I play with Neilson’s shirt and glance at him once more. He smiles at me, and I smile back. Slowly, he lifted his hand and wave, and then I did the same. His friends looked at me and grinned then starts pushing him, causing him to turn redder.

“What’s up with Neilson? His game is off,” one of the girls behind me said, and I turned to see Neilson missing a shot. I sat there watching him as he continued missing one shot after another. He pushes his sweaty hair back and throws his face up the ceiling then mumble some words. He turns and looks in my direction, then quickly averts his eyes, giving his head a quick shake.

That’s weird. Neilson is a terrific basketball player. He rarely misses shots. He is so good; college coaches came to recruit him! I can see him talking with the coach and bending his head in apology. He glanced up, meeting my eyes, then sat down on the bench.

“Go talk to him, Carmen! You’re his girlfriend,” a girl hiss. Carmen nods and walks towards the bench.

Oh yeah, that’s her name, Carmen. I nod my head, taking a sip of my soda. After several words of exchange, Neilson places his face in his palms, and she walks back. “He is probably just having a bad day,” she giggles. I watch as she takes a sniff and walks out the door with her friends right behind her.

“Mrs. Yi, can you hold my soda?” I ask. Mrs.Yi held my soda.

I hop down the bench, standing next to Neilson, and poke his arm. He releases a deep sigh. “Carmen, for the f*****g last time. I’m just having-” he stops when he sees me.

“Is everything okay?” I whisper, feeling slightly shook by his aggressive tone.

He smiles, “Yeah,” he chuckles. “Just having an off day.”

I wave my hand, telling him to scoot over, and he did. I take a seat on the bench and hold his large fingers with my small hand. I wish my hands were bigger so I can hold his hand like those girls.

He laughs, “You’re not here to comfort me? Tell me, I can do it?”

I shake my head, dangling my feet in the air. “I’m here until your bad day is over,” I grin. “Is it over yet?”

He bit his upper lips and nodded. “Definitely.” He messes up my hair before standing up. “Coach, I’m ready to go back.”

I sat on the bench, dangling my legs, staring at Neilson as he ran back and forth on the court. The sweats were drizzling down his face, hitting his shirt, hair dampening. He gave his friends high fives when he shot the basketball inside the hoop. Soon, Carmen returns and starts cheering again. Everyone cheered very loudly, but I just sat there, staring at him. He smiles proudly with each shot and each passing. Neilson turned towards us and gave a wave.

“See! I told you everything is fine! Neilson is waving at you!” Carmen’s friend said happily.

The last buzzer went off, and Neilson’s team won with his last shot. His teammates surround him, cheering loudly. He turns towards us, and I can hear Carmen’s shoes hitting the bench as she rushes towards him.

I know what’s going to happen next. I saw it in movies all the time. She will jump in his arms, and he will spin her around in the air then kiss her.

My eyes widen when he waves at me. Carmen and her friends were in front of him. He pats her shoulder then runs up the bench with a smile on his gorgeous, sweaty face. “Did you see me, Angel? My shot won us the game!”

He stops, furrowing his brows together. “You don’t look happy.”

My chest hurts. “N-No. I’m happy.”

“Then, where is my congratulation hug?” He bent down and spread his arms.

Instantly I rush in it, and he spins me around. I start giggling. “Thank you,” he whispers into my ear, and I hold him tighter. He smells like sweat and more sweat, but I like it.

Neilson holds me while we all walk out of the auditorium. There’s a painful glare hitting the back of my head, and I know exactly who it is. A few of Neilson’s teammates jog towards him. I can see some curious looks towards me, but I wrap my arms around his neck, hiding my face.

“Who is this cutie?” one of Neilson’s friends bent his knees and smiled at me.

Another one hit his arm, “Desperate for a girl that much?” he said. They all crack into a laugh.

I laid my head on Neilson’s neck, listening to them talk, but I didn’t understand anything. Next to Neilson is Carmen, who shot me a dirty look once in a while, but I ignore it. I’m used to Neilson’s girlfriend looking at me like that.

Eventually, we went to the parking lot to go back to Neilson’s house for a celebratory dinner. Neilson sat me down inside his parent’s car and glanced to the side when he heard his name being called: “Neilson! Come on, babe!” Carmen waves him over.

He looks at me, and I smile at him, feeling my chest tighten. “You can go,” I manage to say. He messes up my hair and walks towards his friends.

I lean my head against the chair and release a deep breath. My body leaned back when I saw a new, unopened chocolate bar smack on my face. “For you,” the boy from earlier mumbled, his cheeks still pink.

“Why?” I ask, slowly putting the chocolate bar down.

“B-Because you l-look sad,” he let go of the candy, putting it on my lap as he threw his hands behind him. “Do you not like chocolate?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I love chocolate,” I said, and he smiles at me. My head tilted when I saw Neilson behind him. His lips thin into a straight line, eyes darkening but quickly smiled. The boy turns around slowly, eyes widening as his neck bent back, far back, to see Neilson.

“Who are you?” Neilson asks, placing his hands on his knees and leaning down on the boy, a smile on his face, but it doesn’t feel nice.

The boy starts shaking, and I notice he is only a third of Neilson’s size. Neilson is a giant! “Umm, uh." The boy starts playing with his fingers. “S-She looks s-s-sad, so I gave her s-some ch-chocolate to make her feel b-better.”

Neilson nods his head and chuckles, “I see.” He takes the chocolate bar from my hands and hands it back to the boy. “That’s nice of you, but I’m pretty sure you work hard for this candy. So, you should enjoy it.”

But, I want that chocolate bar.

The boy inhales a deep breath and straightens his back, puffing out his chest. “I would like to give it to her,” he said more clearly, still shaking.

Neilson’s neck starts cracking, causing both of us to flinch at the sound, and a chuckle left. “No, I wouldn’t want you to-”

“I like her!” he yells out.

Neilson’s jaw tightens, and he inhales a deep breath then leans towards the boy, whispering something in his ear. I tried to listen, but Neilson went between us, pushing my face back, and I can taste his salty hand, ew.

Soon, he removes his hand, and I jump up, “Neilson! Why-” I stopped talking when I saw the boy running back to his parents. My mouth gape open when I saw him crying.

I turn towards Neilson, who smirks at him. He looks at me and shrugs, pushing me over. “I thought you were sitting with your friends,” I asked.

“They ran out of room.” He buckles me in, then himself as his parents and his brother jumps in.

I tilt my body to see the boy, but Neilson’s giant body covers my view. What does Mrs. Yi feed her kids?

“What did you say to him?” I ask.

He shrugs, “Guy stuff.”

I help Mrs.Yi get ready for the party. “Sweetheart, can you carry that punch out for me?” she asks.

“Of course!”

Carefully, I carry the big bowl outside, hearing many people talking in the backyard, but I concentrate on the bowl to make sure I don’t drop it. Suddenly, I feel a push on my side, and I drop the bowl. “Oh my God!” someone shouts. I look up to see Carmen and her stained dress.

My eyes turned over to see her friends laughing at each other, and I knew one of them tripped me on purpose. Neilson quickly walks towards us. “Are you okay?” he asks.

Carmen waves her hands in front of her face, eye tearing causing her mascara to drip down a little. “I’m okay ba-”

“Not you,” he said.

He went down on his knees. “Are you okay?”

I bit my lower lip and nod.

“Babe! She ruined my clothes!” Carmen whines.

Neilson helps me stand up, checking my body to ensure I didn’t get hurt. I noticed his eyes went towards my knees, at the scraps.

“Babe! My clothes!” Carmen waves her hands up and down.

There isn’t a single sound. Neilson holds me in his arms, then stands up, rolling his eyes at Carmen. “God, it’s just clothes, calm down.”

Carmen releases a scoff and rests her hands on her waist. “You!” she points at me. “It’s all your fault! Why are you hanging onto Neilson! He is my boyfriend, you little brat!”

Neilson holds his hand on my ear, attempting to block her words out, but seriously Neilson? “Don’t say those things about her.”

She crosses her arms. “I understand that you’re spending time with her because you feel sorry for her since her parents are divorced, but-”

“Stop!” he hisses.

Neilson only spent time with me because my parents are divorced?

She throws her hands to the side. “Don’t you see! She is ruining our relationship! It bothers me when you cancel our dates for her! I know you don’t want her to be lonely, and that’s sweet, but isn’t don’t you think you did enough charity?”

Does Neilson think of me as a charity case?

“Shut up!” his voice booms.

I sat there, biting my cheek: Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

He takes a step towards her, and she leans back, body trembling. “Alice is the number one girl in my life-” he pauses. “But, momma will always be the number one mother,” he shouts, and Mrs.Yi sat down, closing her mouth. He turns back towards Carmen. “If you’re going to yell at my number one girl, you can leave.” He points at the door.

She bit her lips and stomped out the side gate with her friends behind her. Eventually, the party resumed, and everyone tried their best to wave away the awkward atmosphere. Mrs. Yi treated my scratches while Neilson went back to his friends.

My tummy didn’t feel well, so I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. I sat there, wrapping my arms around my legs. “I made him break up with his girlfriend again. Maybe this is why mommy left. It’s my fault. It’s always my fault.”

I didn’t know how long I sat there, but I just did. Finally, I wash my face, then wipe off all the water and head out. I stopped walking when I saw Neilson, leaning against the hallway, hands shove inside the jean of this pocket. He looks at me and smiles. He walks toward me and kneels. “You were gone for a long time, so I got worried,” he whispers.

I start playing with my fingers. “I’m sorry you broke up with your girlfriend again because of me.”

Neilson released a huff of air then held me up, walking into his bedroom. I can hear the faint laughter of guests outside of the window. He places me in his lap, wiping away the tears from my eyes. “You okay?” He whispers.

“A-Am I a b-bother? Am I a ch-charity case?” I stutter.

He shakes his head, “Never Angel.”

“B-But you broke up with that girl b-because of m-me then she left” I take another sniff. “What if mommy left because of me too?”

“Alice looked at me,” he said in a stern voice. I complied and looked up at him only to see a blurry image. “Don’t ever think that way again. It’s not your fault. If your mom doesn’t see how precious you are, she doesn’t deserve to be your mom.”

I started wailing and hit his chest. “Don’t say that about my mommy!” I shout and continue beating him. Soon, my hits slow down, and I can feel his arms wrap around me as I hold onto him tightly.

We didn’t go back to the party. Neilson held me the whole day, rubbing my back until I felt better, and I cling onto his shirt as tightly as I can.

“Don’t worry, your big brother will always be here to protect you,” he whispers.

Yes, Neilson, that made me feel so much better.

That is sarcasm at its finest.