Stars in my Sky

Star 3: Don't judge people too fast

Send it, I kept telling myself but my finger just wouldn’t press the send button.

I finally sighed, scolding myself for being so stupid, and pressed the send button, watching as my message turned into a green bubble and did as ‘zoop’ sound as it was sent.

Alexia: You could’ve told me your name was Daniel, love ;)

I waited impatiently for his reply. I was never good when it came to talking to guys.

As I was worrying about what to do or say, my phone lit up.

Daniel: Why? Took you a long time to find me in your contact list?

Alexia: Didn’t really search. Just randomly found you. But I thought you wouldn’t tell me your name because it’s something geeky like Orville.

His next reply came almost instantly.

Daniel: Don’t judge people too fast, love ;)

Alexia: I don’t judge people!

Daniel: Whatever you say. Want to join me for some chocolate ice-cream?

My heart skipped a beat when I read his text. Get a grip, Alexia, I thought, it’s just ice-cream.

Alexia: I can’t say no to chocolate ice-cream.

Daniel: Hurtful. I thought you would like spending time with me :(

Alexia: Don’t flatter yourself.

Daniel: Meet me at my house?

Alexia: I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.

Daniel:  :)

I got up from my bed and changed into a pair of black shorts and a sleeveless white shirt with different drawings in neon colors on it.

I slipped on my black converse and checked my hair in the mirror once before grabbing my keys, wallet, and cell phone and leaving the house.

It was just a five minute walk from my house to his.

I remembered the cute little white house he went out from yesterday when I saw him so I knew where I was going.

Halfway there, I stopped for a minute.

I didn’t know the guy.

That thought hit me like a train. I didn’t know anything about him. I only knew his first name. What if he was a murderer or a rapist? Oh my God, I’m going to his house! What will I do if I found dead bodies in there? Or what if he opened the door with a knife in his hand and blood dripping from it?

I panicked so I did the first thing that came to my mind. I called my mom.

“Hey mom,” I said when she answered. “Daniel asked me to go with him for ice-cream and he told me to meet him at his house.”

There was a pause on the other end before my mom said, “That’s great, honey! Have a wonderful time with him!”

“So you think I should go?” I asked skeptically.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t you?”

“Uh never mind,” I said and then hung up.

She was right. No need to panic, I told myself, I’m sure he’s just a normal guy. I just watched too much movies.

I jogged towards his house because I was running late.

When I got there, I hesitantly knocked on the door, giving myself another pep talk.

A few seconds later the door flew open and I winced slightly, hoping he didn’t have a collection of arms or legs or eyeballs.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” I replied awkwardly, looking down at his hands and letting out a silent breath of relief when I didn’t see a knife there.

“Come in,” he said, moving aside and I walked into the house.

He led me to a cute living room and I looked around for a bit. The couches were black with red square pillows on them. A plasma TV was on the wall and several pictures were on the other walls and the coffee table was a dark color.

I took a seat on the couch, feeling awkward.

I’m in a stranger’s house so of course it was going to be awkward! I should’ve thought about this before.

“We’ll leave in a bit. I’m just waiting for my mom to come back because I can’t leave my little sister alone,” he said.

“You have a sister?” I asked and he nodded as he smiled.

“You want to see her?” He asked.

“Sure,” I shrugged.

I was surprised when he took me into a room with a small crib in it. I expected a teenage sister, not a baby sister.

“You’re awake,” he cooed. “You’re so silent.”

That was when I noticed the baby monitor next to the crib. I thought all babies cry when they wake up. I guess Daniel’s sister was different.

He leaned down and picked her up. The little girl had a bit of light brown hair on the top of her head and her eyes were a dark blue color. She was wearing a cute little pink dress and the matching shoes were on the bed next to the crib. She was the cutest little thing I had ever seen! And she had the chubbiest cheeks ever.

“Lucy, meet Alexia,” he told the baby as he walked closer to me. The little girl stayed quiet and just watched me.

“How old is she?” I asked Daniel.

“Ten months,” he replied. “Do you want to hold her?”

I nodded and I opened my arms. Immediately, the little girl’s hands went out as if she wanted to come to me.

“She likes you,” Daniel commented as I took the little girl in my arms.

“Hi,” I cooed as I looked at her adorable face. Her calm eyes looked at me and I smiled at her cuteness.

We went back to the living room with Lucy still in my arms. I sat down and put her in my lap, with her face to us.

I played with her hands and she grinned.

“Awww,” I cooed when I saw two tiny white teeth in her mouth.

“Lucy,” Daniel called and immediately her gaze went to Daniel when she heard his voice. He made some weird noises and she started laughing the cutest baby laugh in the world.

“She’s laughing Daniel!” I said and grinned widely.

He smiled at me and for a moment our gazes locked and I couldn’t look away.

“I’m home!” A voice called making my gaze travel back to Lucy.

“Hi mom,” Daniel said as a beautiful woman came in. She had the same hair color as Daniel but her eyes were like Lucy’s.

“Hello,” I said timidly.

“You must be Alexia,” she said and I stood up, carrying baby Lucy with me. “I’m Jenny.”

“Nice to meet you,” I told her.

I noticed how Lucy’s head snapped to her mother whenever she spoke.

“You too,” she replied. “It’s nice that Daniel is making friends here for once.”

I just smiled at her and she turned her attention back to her son.

“Did you feed Lucy?” She asked.

“Not yet,” Daniel replied. “She just woke up.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it, you guys go have fun,” She replied and went to take Lucy from my arms.

Her mom fixed her dress as she held her in her arms.

“Let’s go,” Daniel said.

“Bye Lucy,” I murmured, playing with her tiny hands.

She smiled again and I grinned.

“Bye mom,” Daniel called out as we left the house.

“Where do you want to go?” Daniel asked. “I usually go to that small ice-cream place around the corner. It’s nice and quiet but if you want you can pick somewhere else.”

“No, it sounds good,” I replied, shrugging. I really didn’t mind going to that place because they had good ice-cream.

We ordered our ice-creams and sat in the right corner of the shop. It was almost empty with only a couple of girls eating strawberry ice-cream on the other end of the shop.

It was extremely awkward at first because no one said anything but I couldn’t take the silence anymore so I started talking.

“You’re not from here?” I asked and he shook his head.

“No, I’m from Italy but I come here with my mom every summer because it’s where she grew up and we have several relatives here,” He replied.

“Do you like it here?” I asked.

“It’s usually okay,” he answered, shrugging.

“Usually?”

“Yeah. I met you this time so it’s better than the other years.”

Was he flirting with me?

I grinned. “That’s right!”

He laughed. “Arrogant much?”

I gasped, faking shock. “Me? Arrogant? How could you say such a thing?”

He chuckled. “You’re cute.”

“Now that’s much better,” I replied, smirking at him but I could feel the tiny blush on my cheeks.

“So Alexia, do you mind telling me the reason behind your PMSing that day we first met,” Daniel said, making me laugh quietly.

“It’s nothing,” I replied. “Just had a fight with my friend.”

“It didn’t seem like nothing or you get mad easily,” he commented and I rolled my eyes at him.

“She was being a real bitch,” I said honestly, feeling a bit of anger again because of what happened that day.

“Why? What did she do?” He asked curiously.

“She calls herself my best friend and I caught her flirting with the guy I’ve been crushing on for years,” I said then blushed slightly. I shouldn’t have told him that. He was still a stranger!

“Hmm that is a bitchy move,” his voice stopped my train of thoughts.

“Yeah, but I don’t care anymore. All those people at my school are the same,” I said.

“It’s okay, Alexia,” He said then grinned. “I’ll be your best friend!”

“Who said I wanted you to be my best friend?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Everyone wants to be my best friend,” he replied arrogantly.

“That’s why you have so many friends here,” I said sarcastically and he shrugged.

“Never really cared about making friends here. I have tons of friends back home,” he said.

“So I’m guessing you’re in the popular clique,” I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah,” he replied, getting slightly uncomfortable. “Is that a bad thing?”

I shrugged. “So far, you’re okay.”

“I think that’s the closest thing to a compliment I will ever get from you,” he said and I laughed.

“You don’t need any more compliments to boost your ego,” I said.

“I’m just confident,” he said and I gave him an incredulous look.

“You’re arrogant, Daniel, not confident.”

“The girls love it,” he replied, shooting me a smirk.

“Don’t generalize,” I said and he chuckled.

We finished our ice-creams and left the shop soon.

“I’ll walk you home,” Daniel said but I shook my head.

“No, it’s okay. My house is after yours anyway.”

“I’m too much of a gentleman to let you walk home alone,” he said.

“I don’t remember you being such a gentleman and picking me up,” I replied and he paused for a second.

“Okay, I’m caught. It’s just an excuse to spend more time with you,” he said so bluntly that I blushed.

“I like your honesty,”

“And I like your blush.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and he smirked.

“Nice house,” he commented when we reached the front door.

“Want to come in?” I asked him as I took out my keys.

“Can’t get enough of me, huh?” He teased.

“You’re the one who wanted to spend more time with me,” I pointed out.

“Touché,” he said as he followed me inside.

I was surprised when I saw Adrian sitting in the living room with his phone in his hands.

“Hey,” I said and he looked up at me.

“There you are,” he said, putting his phone away. “I was just about to call you. I expected you to be here.”

“I went out with a friend for ice-cream,” I replied and that’s when my big brother noticed Daniel standing a little behind me.

“Who’s that?” He asked, his eyes narrowing at Daniel.

“Daniel, the friend I had ice-cream with,” I replied.

“And why is he coming home with you?” Adrian asked, glaring at the poor guy.

“Adrian!” I hissed. “Don’t be so rude! Apologize.”

“I won’t apologize,” he said. “You’re my little sister and he’s a guy so he’s leaving.”

“Stop being overprotective,” I told him with a glare.

“My little sister will not be bringing guys home,” he said.

“How would you know? You’re never here,” I replied.

“Oh so that’s it. You want me to come home more often?” He said, glaring at me. “I’m nineteen, Alexia; I’m not supposed to be home the whole time.”

“I didn’t say that! I just think that you should mind your own business. Go back to your parties and friends.”

“Why are you being like that?!”

“Because I finally get a friend that I can spend with three minutes without wanting to shoot him and you’re acting ‘overprotective’!”

“What are you talking about? You have tons of friends!”

“Oh really?” I said sarcastically. “Who? Claire? Or maybe Josh?”

My brother finally sighed and spoke calmly, “I know you’re having trouble with your friends but I’m just worried about you.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized to my brother. “I just miss you. I barely see you and now you were acting overprotective. I mean come on Adrian, even dad isn’t overprotective.”

“That’s cause he knows that I’ll always watch out for you,” Adrian replied. “And I’m sorry for not being around as much as before but—”

“I know, I know, you have to live your life, right?”

He smiled and pulled me into a bear hug.

“Hey dude, I’m sorry about that,” Adrian then told Daniel.

“It’s okay, I understand,” Daniel replied.

“Good. Hurt her and you’re dead.”

“Adrian!” I scolded my brother. He just gave me an innocent smile before going upstairs.

I blushed, embarrassed about what just happened. Daniel had to witness it all.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“No need to apologize. I would probably do the same thing when Lucy’s older,” he said.

I smiled at the mention of the little girl.

Daniel stayed for another hour. I got to know him better and I was glad I ran into him that day because he was an amazing guy and soon I started to fall in love with him.