Embellished: Ep. 7
“Alright Sertia, what’s the plan?”
“Main I don’t know! I’d tell you too be yourself, but you’re definitely thinking about this too much for that advice to be useful. Look, just wing it, play it by ear. I’m sure you’ll be fine as long as you keep your cool and don’t say anything stupid.”
“Gotcha, thanks.”
• • •
Salvador had been sitting in bio for the past hour in the dark, listening to the teacher’s boring lecture. All she ever did was sit there and go through powerpoint presentations and have her students take notes.
Salvador sat in the back at one of the lab tables, primarily because it was in the back near the window and it had a little fish tank on it. The fish tank contained a few guppies and some crabs, who all had names given to them by Salvador and his friends.
He found it hard to pay attention to the class sometimes, because his friends, Felix, Lucas, and Damian. Felix was a very close friend of Salvador’s, an Irish boy almost a year older than him. He was pudgy, and had always reminded Salvador of Samwise Gamgee. He had a hairy face and legs, which was known by his friends because he always wore basketball shorts. Lucas was a sporty boy, who played in futból clubs outside of the school. He was very cold, yet always funny. He simply had little to no regards for others, and even if he did, he never showed it. He had a quality about him that made everything he did inexplicably hilarious to Salvador. Damian had been present in Salvador’s groups of friends for years, but they had never become that close. He was more someone that Salvador could kinda idly laugh at, but not usually talk to. He was a known troublemaker, and Salvador would never, but he could see that deep down, Damian was a good kid who only wanted to feel the validation of his peers.
With all of his things packed and ready for home, Salvador put on his backpack, and looked at Soorja from his table in the back. She sat pretty much dead center of the three rows of tables in the front, only a bit to the right. As she made her way to the door, Salvador realized that this was his opportunity to walk out with her and get closer to her.
He quickened his pace a bit, and caught up with her right as she got out of the doorway.
“hey,” he said, coming up behind her.
She turned her head to him, as if surprised to see him.
“Oh hey, what’s up?”
“Oh nothing, I was just behind you and decided to say hi.”
“oh, well then hi,” she said, with a smile that melted his heart and shattered all the emotional armor he had forged over the years.
“So uh, where are you off to then?”
“Well, Salvador, I’m off to the Metro, where are you off to?”
“The bus, but I’m sure I could spare a moment to walk with you. How far is it?”
“Too far, trust me, you’d miss the bus. I can get home safely myself, thank you very much. I may be a princess, but I don’t need a knight in shining armor.”
Yeah, you certainly are a princess, and I’d give anything to be your knight. Though he.
“Well alright then, you get safely then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Until then, ‘Prince Charming’”
She smiled at him again, with the same power that she had just moments before. Salvador just stood there looking at her, completely dumbfounded. Had she meant it? No, the undertones of sarcasm were too strong. She was just joshing me. Salvador realized that he was just standing there bug-eyed, so he shook his head to snap out of it, smiled at her, and waved. She was standing a bit in front of him, half turned and looking at him smiling. Proud of her work, she smiled at him and turned, leaving the boy lovestruck for the first time in his life.
• • •
That night, as Salvador slowly worked his way through his math homework, his phone lit up with a message. It was from Soorja. Salvador’s heart skipped a beat. All day her had been thinking about her, but he was too afraid to message her.
The message was nothing special, she had just slid into his DMs with a meme about a dog. It was a cute dog, a good dog, so that’s what Salvador said about it.
“You know normally I despise being interrupted in my work, but this dog is worth it.”
“Oh so you like animals then?”
“Like them? I love them! Hell, I have a dog myself. HIs name’s Fenrir.”
“Fenrir... what a cool name.”
Salvador was pleased that she was showing interest, so he decided to ride the wave as far as he could.
“Yeah, he’s a 9-year-old Chihuahua/Daschund mix.”
“Oh that sounds adorable! Can I see him?”
Salvado called his dog over to him, and sent a picture of the lad to Soorja. He retook the photo at least eighteen times, because of something in the background that he was overthinking. As expected, she reacted with lots of praise for Fenrir’s adorability. Salvador realized that there was nowhere left to go with Fenrir, so he inquired as to whether Soorja had any pets.
“No, but I’ve always wanted one. It’s just that my parents won’t let me.”
“Not even a fish or something?”
“No. But besides, a fish isn’t the same as a dog.”
“Oh well that sucks.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Most people, when texting their crush, expect an answer immediately, and believe that they also have to answer within seconds of receiving a text. Although he would have done this normally, Salvador was too busy trying to do his math homework to be able to think too hard about his dying conversation with Soorja.
After about a minute and a half had passed, Salvador had the sudden realization that the conversation had died. He wasn’t sure if he had to say goodbye or something, so he came up with a plan that would either revive the conversation or give him the opportunity to say goodnight.
“So whatcha doin’,” was his genius solution.
“ah yes, a brilliant one-liner to rekindle the flame,”
“y’know Soorja, you see right through me.”
“Of course I do. Nonetheless, I’m working on that Spanish project from before”
“Oh the earthquake one?”
“that’s right.”
“Well I speak Spanish, maybe I can help you out. What’s this project of yours about?”
“Mostly vocabulary and stuff. Do you have any idea how to say ‘mall’?”
“oh for sure, that’s ‘centro comercial’”
“oh duh, thanks”
“yeah for sure”
There was a short pause as Salvador closed his books and prepared his backpack for the next day of school. Once he was finished. he messaged her once more.
“Hey man, it’s already ten o’clock, you should go to bed”
“ok DAD”
“um... what?”
“well cause that’s just such a dad thing to say.”
“fair enough, but I am honestly quite tired, and you should be too. If you need anymore help with Spanish, feel free to hit me up anytime, goodnight.”
“thanks, and I will. goodnight!”
Salvador sat there at his desk for a good fifteen seconds, considering how her face must’ve looked during their conversation. He noticed she was very sarcastic, but not in a bad way; in a cheerful, joking, light-hearted kind of way. The kind of sarcasm that requires finger guns, playful winks, stuck-out tongues, and happiness. He thought about that as he prepared for bed, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. She was already in the process of stealing his heart, and he didn’t even know that much about her. What a wild thought. He thought to himself as he got under the sheets. But I still hope it works out.
