Show Me What I'm Looking For

John’s point of view

“John sweetie, wake up, I made pancakes!” I heard my mom yell from the top of the stairs.

I guess I was officially awake. I opened my eyes only to find that the room was much too bright. I looked over at the TV screen and noticed that the usual Saturday morning cartoons were playing. I finally sat up on the couch and began rubbing my eyes waiting for them to adjust to the brightness of a new day. Once everything came back into focus, I noticed Ali was still sleeping on the other side of the sofa. I hated the thought of waking her, but my mom’s pancakes were worth it!

“Ali,” I said while lightly poking her shoulder, “Get up! My mom made us pancakes.”

No response.

“Come on Ali! Wake up.” I asked this time, poking a little harder.

To this, I received a groan. I think I was annoying her more than anything. She did get to sleep late last night.

“I’m not going to stop poking you until you wake up,” I announced.

“You’re going to give me a bruise. Stop it!” She said as she turned around.

I was running out of ideas, so I decided to pull the oldest trick in the book; I removed all her covers.

“Ok. Ok. I’m awake. Happy?” She said in a somewhat cranky voice.

“Yes I am actually, good morning.”

“Good would have been at 10.” She said while she got up and reached in for a hug.

“But it’s almost 11”, I said while we hugged.

“Oh ok, fine then, I’m up. Let’s go upstairs.” She suggested.

We made our way upstairs and to the kitchen where my mom was making pancakes for everyone.

“Good morning Mrs. O’Callaghan,” Ali said as she took a seat at the table, “Do you need any help with anything?”

“No it’s fine dear. I’m almost done anyways.”

As she said that, she put the pancakes on the table and asked me to go get the maple syrup out of the fridge in the basement. Once I got it, I went back up and we started eating. Ali had 2 pancakes and I had 3. After we finished, she went to take a shower and I cleaned up the basement. I then also took my shower and got dressed. Ali came down 30 minutes later wearing skinny jeans and a grey t-shirt. She looked amazing.

“So, I called my parents and they want me home. Do you think you can drive me?” She asked.

“Yea sure, just give me a second.” I responded. I didn’t really want her to leave but she had to. I put on my shoes and went to wait in the car as she got her stuff ready and said bye and thank you to my parents. She then got into the car and we drove off.

The ride was quiet for the most part. I think we were both too tired to make conversation. There was the occasional comment and the laugh to follow, but that was pretty much it. After about 15 minutes, I pulled into the driveway of her house.

“So… Thank you, so much. Seriously, I don’t know I would have done if you didn’t come get me last night.” She said while gathering her stuff from the back seat.

“No problem Ali. I actually wish you could have stayed longer.”
Crap. Did I just say that out loud?

“Really?” She said looking at me differently, “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” I said trying to avoid the question, “Do you need help taking your stuff inside?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks again John. I’ll see you Monday at school!” She said as she reached in for a hug.

“Ok then, bye. I’ll talk to you later.” I said, hugging back.

She got out of the car and waved bye to me as she waited for her mom to open the door. After she went inside, I drove off and went back home.

Ali’s point of view

“Ali, where the hell have you been? We were worried sick,” was the first thing I heard as I entered my now familiar new home.

“Hi mom, how are you today?” I asked as I took of my shoes.

“Listen to me young lady, that’s the last time you storm out of this house. Do I make myself clear?” I heard my dad say from a distance.

I nodded just to avoid another argument and made my way upstairs. I kept thinking about John. He was one of the sweetest boys I had ever met. That past night was incredible. I had to call Anny and tell her all about this. I dialed her number and waited for her to pick up on the other end.

“Ali? Oh my god. Why haven’t you called me yet! I miss you!” I guess she must have caller ID.

“I know I miss you so much. I wish I could have stayed with you! It’s a hell hole over here.”

“Oh come on! It can’t be that bad. Why, what happened?”

“Well first of all, everyone thinks I’m from Eskimo land at school and second I had a huge fight with my parents last night.”

“Didn’t you make any friends? Why did they get mad?”

“I don’t even remember. They probably overreacted about something as usual. So I stormed out and I went to stay and this guy John’s house over night and he’s so amazing I can’t even put it into words.”

“Aw… Wait. How exactly do you know him?”

“I sat with him and his friends at lunch. They were the only ones that didn’t look at me as if I was on exhibit at some museum.”

“Is he cute?” She asked.

“He’s more than cute. He has this crooked smile that makes me melt. I think…” I said, not wanting to continue my sentence.
“You think?” She repeated.

“I think I’m falling for him.” I said as I covered my face with my pillow.

“What do you mean you’re falling for him? You barely know him.”

“I know. It’s ridiculous but I can’t help it.”

“I feel the need to remind you that your parents are crazy over boy issues. How exactly are you going to pull this off?”

“Well it’s not we are dating or anything… Anyways, I got to go. I’ll call you soon. Love you!”

As she hung up the phone, all these questions started filling my mind. I had forgotten that Anny was sort of my conscience back home. What was I thinking falling for someone I had just met? Anny was right; I had to think about this. The rest of the night went relatively well. My mom called me down for supper and we all ate together as the dysfunctional family that we were. After supper, I went back into my room and watched a movie and eventually went to sleep.

John’s point of view

Sunday is the most depressing of all days of the week. Not only was it homework day, but it also meant school started in a couple of hours. I was up at 11 this morning, but it was now 2:37 and I had done absolutely none of my homework load. Instead, I just sat in bed and wrote some lyrics whenever I felt the inspiration.

There was a new girl in town
She had it all figured out
Well I'll state something rash
She had the most amazing smile.

After a couple of minutes, I decided to close my notebook and start my Algebra homework. I was trying my hardest not to think about Ali, but everything reminded me of her. It was ridiculous to feel this way. I had only known her for a couple of days but I couldn’t help it. I heard the doorbell ring followed by the sound of my mom opening the door and I before I knew it, Kennedy and Pat were in my room.

“Hey John,” Kennedy said as he entered the room followed by Pat who was munching down on some figs.

“Doesn’t anyone knock anymore? What are you guys doing here?” I asked as I started putting my homework away.

“I don’t know. We were bored and everyone else is busy. You want to do something?” Pat announced.

“Yea, sure. I’ll get my keys.” I responded.

“So, how did it go with Ali last night?” Kennedy asked, as he sat on my bed.

“Good I guess. I don’t know. Nothing really happened. We watched a movie and fell asleep, woke up, my mom made food and she left.”

“You know what I think…” Pat said as he opened my lyric book.

“I think… Our little JohnO has a crush on Ali.”

“Shut up man! What are you talking about?”

“There was a new girl in town, She had it all figured out.
Who else could it be about?” added Kennedy.

“Stop reading! It’s not even finished.” I said as I ripped the book out of his hands.

“Come on John, just admit it.” Pat announced.

“Ok guys… fine. There’s something there but just forget about it. It won’t happen anyways. Are we going or what?” I said, hoping they would just drop this conversation.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

We got in my car and drove off. Kenny decided we should go get some ice cream and so we did. After a couple of hours of just hanging-out, we drove back to my house and they left. It was now about 10:30 and I had school tomorrow so I decided to go to bed early. Tomorrow was a new day and I couldn’t wait to see Ali.