Page 20 of Clichés & Curses

‘And since no one there knew ASL, the kid pretty much glued himself to the corner. I asked one of the volunteers for a notebook with some pens and we just used the notebook to write down whatever we wanted to say and pass it to each otherto communicate,’ he continued, his face wearing a tender look, matching his soft tone. ‘Eventually, he wanted to try swinging a bat, and I ended up just spending the entirety of the event with him. When I got home that day, it got me thinking that ASL might be something I want to try and learn. So, when I saw it was being offered by the university, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to start. I know I won’t be fluent but I’m hoping I’ll at least learn a few sentences to use for future events.

‘And here I am now, stuck with you as my partner,’ he finished off with a smile, throwing my words back at me.

I gave him a smile of my own, while internally trying to calm down the chaos that had been going through my mind at that very moment.

I knew there was a chance I’d be tempting the curse, when I agreed to us being partners for this class. But I had also relied on the fact that my crush on Colton would be gone once I learned he’s nothing like the Colton my infatuation had built him up to be. Nothing like the fantasy hero version of him I thought about.

Turns out the real Colton was much better.

A small part of me had been hoping for him to say he took the ASL class for the sake of fulfilling the requirements, and that it was the only one available. This would have tremendously helped me dissolve this silly little crush that I had on him to overcome the curse.

But, instead, he was telling me he had decided to take ASL so he could talk to Deaf kids?

I think my crush on him had just grown.

The curse really is cruel.

‘That’s very thoughtful of you.’ I finally said, after a beat of silence.

‘It’s the least I can do,’ he shrugged.

‘What was his name?’

A fond smile tugged on his lips. ‘Phillip.’

‘Well, I think he deserves a toast from us. What do you say? To Phillip?’ I raised my bubble tea, which he laughed at before tapping his bubble tea with mine.

‘To Phillip,’ he replied as both of us took a sip of our drink.

As I was chewing down the boba, I couldn’t help but think whether I wanted to hug Phillip or strangle him for unintentionally being the one to bring Colton into my life.

I internally sighed at the thought.

Guess we would have to wait and see.

This area of town had always been the hub of anything and everything for the people living here—whether temporarily or permanently. Rows and rows of restaurants, small shops, boutiques, and bars filled up entire streets, with the occasional apartment buildings smacked in between. I might have lived there for the past two terms, but new shops had always been opening every time I returned after the summer break.

Once we had decided we were done with our ASL practice for the day, we finished up our drinks and left the shop. The girl working behind the cashier waved us goodbye.

Colton’s car had been parked a few shops away from the bubble tea shop, so it was quite a walk, and I took the time to admire the slow bustle of the street. It might have been a college town, but there was a certain air to it, which made you want to live in the present moment, rather than hustle at every second.

As we were walking in the direction of his car—Colton standing in the middle between the road and me—I noticed there was a grocery store across the street from where he had parked. Buckets of flowers carefully wrapped and neatly stacked covered its front.

‘Hey,’ I stopped him from opening my car door. ‘Do you mind if I go take a look at the flowers over there?’ I pointed to the grocery store.

He looked at where I was pointing. ‘I don’t mind.’

I assumed he would have waited for me in the car, while I headed over there and looked around. But he surprised me by locking his car instead, and said, ‘Let’s go.’

We made sure to look on both sides of the road before crossing. Once the roads were clear, I felt a gentle push coming from my back. I turned my head slightly to see what it was, finding Colton standing by my side, his hand at my back and guiding me while we crossed the road. I couldn’t fully feel his touch with my backpack in the way, but I could imagine how warm it would be.

I quickly shook that thought out of my head. ‘You don’t have to come with me, you know? And again, I can just walk back to my apartment. It’s not that far,’ I reminded him once again as we reached the opposite street.

‘It’s fine,’ he told me, pulling his arm back to his side once we reached the sidewalk.

‘Are you sure? I don’t want to make you late for practice or anything.’

Colton turned to me, putting both of his hands on my shoulders, and stared straight into my eyes. ‘Yes, I am sure.’

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