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<06/15/2010 - 17:40 | 559 Motion Street, Austell, GA, USA>

Making my day yet again, that cute uncontrollable laughter sounded into my ear, just after telling her another random wild little moment of my school life. Long after school was out for the summer, also known to most as the best time of the year, Malica and I have still been going at it almost every night, still averaging about 2-3 hour long calls.

Most of the stories I had were not actually about me, but instead about something else I saw at random in school. Even as I witnessed them, I never found it all too funny, since my tolerance for laughter had been slowly building. But Malica certainly enjoyed every little skit I delivered, just as I did for hers.

I just got through telling her about a weird and somewhat embarrassing moment in my Geography class, which was a while ago. I mostly ignored that memory, but it did sound more interesting when I repeated it aloud. As usual, the class was kind of out of session with people doing their own thing during the study moment. It began when I accidentally stepped on some girl's toe when getting up, who was already standing beside my desk.

At first I felt pretty bad about it and apologized for stepping on her foot, but I knew just after that I was going to hear rude yelling and other BS from this girl. Her name was Faith if I recall correctly, but she was not the typical middle schooler I would ever have to deal with. Her voice was as loud as her constant negative and demeaning attitude. So when I stepped on her foot, even in the middle of apologizing, she got into it with me. Since I expected as much from her, I didn't extend my apologetic attitude much further. Nothing would satisfy her anyway.

And that's when it happened. Somebody else who was standing behind me lost their balance and bumped me forward unexpectedly. I did what anyone would do when they know they are about to fall to the floor, holding my hands far out in front of me to protect myself. Except, Faith was standing a little too close to me - for it to end the way it should have.

The moment was right out of an ecchi comedy anime, though I didn't watch enough anime before then to know that. With nowhere else to fall, both of my hands grabbed something much squishier than the floor, and I was able to push off of them to regain my balance and stop myself from falling. Sure, it was just an accident, but try telling that to someone with her volatile temper.

Faith shifted her tone and expression so quickly to an aggressive kind of disgust. I was a little surprised at my bad luck too. I've never grabbed a girl's boobs before now, not that I could be proud of the way that went down. Before I even continue, it's worth mentioning at least that even as I understand why this would embarrass her, I managed to keep a level head with no difficulty. This is because unlike most men, I honestly do not have any hormonal reaction to breasts, big or small. I just don't care one way or the other. My attraction for boobs is essentially zero, though I can't say that about the rest of the body.

So it wasn't a stretch that I managed to keep previous attitude even after apologizing for touching her accidentally. Faith on the other hand was not of the same mind. She only got louder, yelling and screaming at me after giving me one good slap to the face, finally getting the teacher involved. When all was said and done, nothing really came of it. I told my truth, that I stepping on her toe accidentally, and Faith ended up with ISS. I didn't mention to anyone else about the boob thing, but it didn't really matter anyway. She made a big deal out of anything and everything no matter the reality of intention of the situation, and her treatment towards students she didn't care for was always the same.

So when Malica was laughing over the phone, it was mainly about the absurdity of the situation and the slap to the face that got her laughing. Not that the theme was the same every time, but there were always wild stories to tell to each other, so that's what we did, and when it seemed like we got bored or ran out of something to talk about, we got a little more involved in what we were doing. If she was drawing something, I would ask her to send me a picture of it. Then she would encourage me to draw something, even with both of us knowing I was terrible at drawing. I was in fact so bad at drawing that it was sometimes funny. I usually draw cats anyway, but I'm sure I don't have to go beyond that to express how bad I am at visual art.

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Don't believe me? Here. Look at this older drawing I made and tell me to my face that I'm a good artist. Better yet, I'll add a bit of a theme to this one. Stare into this creature's eyes for twelve seconds without laughing. If you laugh, you lose.

[https://i.postimg.cc/Ssw0NSg0/test-cat.png]

This is why I stick to writing. I'll let the professionals deal with true art. Still, when I sent it to her, it did make her crack up pretty easily. Oh, I wonder why?

Then, I added another subject, something I normally wouldn't have told anyone at all. It further filled gaps in our conversation, plus it was strange enough by the end. This time, it was my story, about the dream I had last night. It was one of those more abstract dreams that didn't make any sense, but just as well did it add more allure to it all.

In the dream, I was walking along with Malica at some kind of Carnival when we got briefly separated. Then, I suddenly ran into some creepy old man in a clown costume, who handed a red balloon to an even stranger old man beside him. The balloon flew out of his hands a moment later. Next thing I knew, the old man crouched beside me, looked me dead in the eyes, and let out something I couldn't forget if I tried. "Baaaah-looooooooon!" His voice wasn't loud, but he was serious. It was the weirdest moment I've ever faced so far, so weird that it woke me up point blank with the inability to make sense of it.

Not all dreams make any sense. The scenes and random data going through our head can be random enough to destroy any immersion a dream should have. Of course, if that man had done this in real life, I probably would have ran for it. Malica was again laughing hysterically from that little story, now mocking me by imitating the old man voice I used while telling her that story. I can only pray one day that she never does that to me in public.

It didn't take much longer for the two of us to gradually begin asking more personal questions to each other. It soon went a little beyond what were my favorite TV shows and hobbies, but as much as I did try to flirt, I wasn't too great at it. Plus, ever since school let out, the two of us have not really been together again in person. It wasn't that easy for me to get out even when I wanted to. More recently, I've been passively listening to her over the phone while trying to play some video games at the same time, not that it went too well. I'm not just a bad artist, but a bad multi-tasker too.

She made every one of my summer days better, and on plenty of levels, I made her days better too. She called me just as often as I called her, so there was evidence that I was doing the right things. But was I doing everything that I was supposed to? When I asked myself that question, I quickly discovered that I wasn't. As I further tried to imagine it, all I've ever done since summer started was staying home and playing games. It's not that I ever did too much different before, but with me dating Malica, the both of us should have been trying to do more.

I felt just as dreary about the premise too, because there is really only one way for a teenager my age to go anywhere; which is to ask my parents. They already knew by now that I had a girlfriend. Apparently talking on the phone with a girl for 3 hours every night was a dead giveaway, but it was still annoying that I was forced to ask them to give me a ride to anywhere. For Malica, I did it anyway. I ended up asking her point blank something that would break the mold a little better.

"Hey Malica? We've been going out for a while now, but I just realized that we've never actually been on a real date before. I was thinking, if it's okay with you..." Come on dude, just stay it already! "Would you like to go to the movies with me?"

"You serious?!" she nervously replied. "I would love to go to the movies with you! Hurry up and pick something so that we can go."

With a slight chuckle, I reminded her that tonight was too soon. "Easy now. It's best to plan ahead so that we can both be at the movie theater at the same time. Let's pick a day and a movie, and we'll make it for real."

"Now you're talking! That will be so awesome!"

I could hear all of the excitement and energy in her voice, and it charged me up in return. It's not like I was expecting her to say no, but I was still scared to ask. Despite that, I was getting the hang of this now, getting the hang of talking to someone about anything and the whole dating experience too. Soon enough, I get to go to the movies with her now! Can this summer love get any better?