SHYLA

Attraction. The action or power of evoking interest, pleasure, or liking for someone or something.

For some people, feeling attracted to someone was completely normal. Just a crush. For me, on the other hand, it could be heaven or hell.

When I was younger, I thought boys were absolutely disgusting. Monsters. Animals. For me, they were only another type of mysterious creature that I tried to avoid.

My house was always full of girls. My mother, my three older sisters, my aunt and my two cousins. I had gotten used to female role models, and female friends. But when I started high school, I started talking to boys. No one caught my attention, and I eventually got used to dealing with those strange human beings, until one day he came into my life.

Aiden Byers. Tall, chestnut skin, dark curls with some blonde highlights, honey eyes, and his white, bright smile. From the first moment, he made me feel something I had never felt before. His hair moving when he ran. His fingers playing with a pen when he was bored in class. I knew I liked him, but I thought of it as some sort of magic, and at one point, I even thought I was going crazy.

When we talked, I felt as if fire was slowly burning my heart, making my whole body feel like it was out of control. His voice could echo in my ears for hours. The impact that boy had on me was amazing, almost like a fairytale. The problem was, that he didn't know it.

After a few months of getting to know each other, we had become good friends. Our conversations became a deeper and we even told each other our secrets.

One day, he asked the question I wanted to avoid the most.

-So, who do you like? -The words escaped his mouth meaning almost nothing to him, but everything to me.

I wasn't planning on telling him. I didn't want to ruin that friendship we had built, and the thought of him not liking me back made me anxious.

-No one. -I lied. I had always hated lying, but sometimes it's the best option. It was hard to keep myself from asking him the same question, but maybe I didn't want to know the answer.

No one really knew about my crush on him. I didn't want to tell my friends, not even my sisters. It was a mixture of fear, distrust and embarrassment. Love had numbed me. It was like a drug, maybe even like anesthesia. I wasn't thinking properly, so I decided to keep it a secret. After all, it was just a crush, right?