In His Eyes

When my parents shared a kiss in front of me, I looked away, face flushing. It reminded me of when I first met Davin. A few days passed since then and I could not help but be reminded of him every single day. I crossed my arms in front of me before slamming my head down on them in annoyance. A loud groan parted my lips, both at the pain from hurting myself and how guy made me feel stupid. I pulled away from the counter, glancing out the window to my left at a view of my hometown.

"You met a boy." My mom stated with narrowed blue eyes, shifting to plant her head on her fist propped up by her elbow on the kitchen island. "Honey, get the camera."

"No! No, don't! He's just a stupid guy." I started, but my dad frowned at this. "But I don't like-like him. I don't not like him either. Ugh, boys are stupid."

"This is why you were in private school. Boys will make you stupid. You should be focused on your studies and…" my dad started, but my mom jokingly smacked him on the back of the head with her hand. "What?"

"So, should I have never married you and focused on my studies, Honey?" She questioned with an edge to her voice, making my jaw drop. "Because as I recall it, you were crazy in love with me first. Remember?"

I wasn't in love. There was no way I was in love. Dad was right. I needed to focus on school and my future, not some flimsy thing like love. My heart was in a full race by now, no matter how much I rejected it. I am too young for something like this. That was what mom and dad would tell me. Should tell me. But when I looked up at the two of them, they had understanding smiles on their faces, their gazes on each other.

"He looks at me like that." I said, startling my parents from each other and my mom's gaze turned questioning. "The boy from school. Davin Robertson. He looks at me like you do my mom, Dad."

I could feel their hard stares on my face, but kept it averted, embarrassed to even look at them. My parents were a genuine love story brought to life. Maybe they could help me figure out what to do. But talking to them about this stuff was embarrassing. Would they even understand it? Could they? Being unsure of things was not like me. I didn't like being confused or daydreaming when there were more important things to do.

"He's the one. There's only so long you can reject him." My mom stated with a small smile, and my dad winced. "Honey, she can't stay a child forever. She was old enough to bring socialization to the dinner table as a topic of conversation. Perhaps we should trust her to make the right decisions for now. We can always step in if she needs guidance."

"She's my daughter. She will make the right decision for her." My father stated with a firm nod. "But I want to meet him first."

"Dad!" I yelled; eyes wide in shock. "I don't even know him that well. Why would I bring him to meet you?!"

"Honey? Usually, kids introduce their boyfriends or girlfriends before marriage." Mom stated with a smirk, watching as his face paled in shock. "Do you think he's already planning the proposal?"

As my parents began arguing over that, I thought back to Davin again. I may be in love. Maybe. I didn't notice their gaze as I considered this, and lifted a teacup to my lips as I thought this over. Even if I was in love with him, it would never happen. A guy like him probably had a girlfriend. Especially if he was super kind. I sighed as I thought about his cute smile before shaking the memory from my mind.

Without saying another word to my parents, I stood and walked towards the kitchen to rinse my cup. Despite being the daughter of a wealthy family, my parents were not born into money. My mother made a name for herself as a model, and my father was the chosen lawyer for several wealthy clients from Hollywood. Because of this, I had a more normal childhood than most people in my circle.

"Did you see that?" I heard my mom wandering in behind me. "She's completely into him."

"She's still too little to have a boyfriend." My dad returned, and I shot a glare over my shoulder as I dried my hands. "But I suppose if she's that serious…"

"It's NOT THAT SERIOUS!" I yelled out, embarrassed my father would think my focus wavered like that. "I told you! I don't like-like him like that!"

Instead of hanging around waiting for more teasing from them, I ran to my room, locking the door behind me. Even if I did like him, it's not like he would like me back. Ugh, just thinking about it is annoying. I took a seat at my computer desk, hoping to chat with some friends while playing my favorite game. This was much easier than talking in person with someone. Especially Davin.

I shook my head again, hating how confused he made me feel. Deep breath. As I loaded into the game, I noticed Amber get online, too, and smiled. Maybe a girl's gaming night would be fun. I sent her a video call invite while putting my headset on. The game we were into right now was an online roleplaying game with open-world cooperative play, so I really wanted to complete some side quests with her while we had the chance.

"So! You never told me what you and Davin talked about in the hallway the other day." Amber said as soon as the chat connected. "Spill it."

"There's nothing to say." I replied dumbly, grabbing my controller. "Let's finish up that side quest we were working on."

"Well, he had plenty to say about you…" she teased, and I glanced at her on the screen for a second. "Like how cute you are. What your phone number is. If you have a boyfriend."

"No, he didn't!" My chair squeaked as I turned to deny her statements. "No way!"

"Yes way! And for the record? He doesn't have a girlfriend!" Amber stuck her tongue out, a wicked smile on her face. "We could be family!"

Huh? AH! I released a squeal of shock and fell back against my gaming chair overdramatically. Which hurt, but I was so focused on what she was saying, I ignored it. There was no way. He was just joking around. Teasing. No way! I covered my face with my hands, annoyed and flustered that I was right back to thinking about him. With his perfect lips, perfect eyes, perfect everything!

"Ugh! Thanks a LOT, Amber! I finally got him out of my mind and now he's right back!" I shouted, flinching when her eyes widened in shock. "Crap! Forget it!"

"Not a chance in hell. Spill!"

"Ugh. All he did in the hallway was tease me. There's no way he's serious about me, Amber!" I replied, turning back to the game to realize another player killed me. "Dang it! Now I don't want to game anymore. You're such an idiot!"

"Seriously?" Her voice turned stern, drawing my gaze to her to see a fierce expression covering her features. "You should see the way he stares at you. You're not the world to him. You're everything to him. The sun, moon, stars, ocean, world, solar system, galaxy, and universe. The very air he breathes. THAT is how that guy looks at you."

I knew. I wasn't stupid. My dad looked at my mom like that. And she looked at him the same way, right back. All consuming. But I wasn't ready. Not for something like that. A love like that could make people lose sight of themselves. Could I even trust him? There were so many questions and very few answers to be seen. Why did it feel like this was more important than anything else? Usually, I loved gaming to take my mind OFF things.

"I'm gonna go. My mom's calling." Amber continued, glancing away with a tired sigh, and a knock sounded on my door, too. "I'm not mad, just… God, I wish someone looked at me the way he does you."

"Yeah. Later." I replied, turning my computer off for the night a little earlier than normal. "Come in."

"It's locked." My mom stated after trying the knob. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah." I nodded, walking over to unlock it before falling face-first on my queen-sized bed. "What's up?"

"We went a little far with the teasing earlier, but this is why you argued so strongly with your father about going to public school, remember? You wanted a normal childhood, not one where you were thrown in the spotlight above others first." Mom smiled softly, reaching out to run her fingers gently through my hair. "You're seventeen. You have your whole life ahead of you, but you shouldn't have regrets, baby. If you really like Davin, tell him. Be his girlfriend. Find out if it's a relationship with a future or not. Don't give up without trying first."

"But… Mom, it feels like I'm in a storm right now."

"Because you are, honey. And it's perfectly normal." That smile widened when my dad appeared at the door, reminding me of the two of them once again. "Your dad and I will always be there for you, no matter what you decide. And if things get tough or scary, we'll be there too. You don't have to handle things alone."

I nodded, sinking into her arms. My mom and dad were the best. They loved each other and me. I knew I was lucky. My dad walked over and wrapped his enormous arms around my mom and me with his eyes closed. When they pulled away, I gave them a cheerful smile, more than ready to face school and Davin when I went back. We don't have to rush anything. We can go at our pace and be just as happy.

"He's really nice." I stated as my dad took a seat in my gaming chair and mom smiled from her seat on the bed. "He's got green eyes and brown hair. Oh, and he's at least six foot four! He smiles a lot and gets a really cute dimple in his cheek when he does. His hands are warm and huge. I think…"

"What?! WHAT ABOUT HIS HANDS?!" My dad panicked, startling me from my gushing.

"Oh. We shook hands when we first met." I stated, tilting my head curiously, confused. "Why is that so important?"

I watched my mom facepalm before the air rushed out of my dad. He looked even more exhausted now than he did before. Before anyone could say anything else, we sank into a fit of laughter, making me fall back against my bed with a bright smile on my face. I really was lucky. Maybe I would know what to say to him if we were alone. I'm less awkward then, I thought with a nod. I know what to do on Monday.