Part 5

The next big thing I remember doing with Gaby actually came as a surprise. It wasn’t planned like the dinner or the Botanical Gardens. I was at home, a normal night there at the house. Then the phone rang. It was Gaby, which surprised me. She wanted to know if I could come over to Karah’s house because they were watching a movie. I talked to Karah and she said yeah it was cool so I got dressed and made my mad dash for her house. I got there and they had already started the movie. “Family Man” was the feature film I believe. Gaby was sitting in the back, up against a wall and I made my way over to her and sat next to her. We sat and watched the movie, I don’t even think we had held hands yet. I was nervous to have her that close, it was so strange. This was the girl that I was supposed to have no chance with? This was the girl that all the guys wanted to know. What the hell was I of all men on the planet doing next to her? I didn’t give a crap. I was happy. You would have been too if you next to her. Too bad you weren’t. Suckers. The movie ended and we sat around and talked some more. Two other guys were there too with the girls and they were trying to be slick. Well one was dating Karah at the time, so I didn’t give a crap about him. But the other I watched closely, to see how he acted around Gaby and her cousin. He didn’t try to compete, and I wondered if it looked like I was the boyfriend. After all Gaby had asked Karah if I could come over, she wanted me there. That boosted my pride. What guy doesn’t like it when a beautiful girl wants him somewhere they're going to be? It started getting late, the guys left and I was getting hungry. I asked Karah if she had anything to eat. She had some cold chicken so I took some of that and started to eat it. Mind you, cold fried chicken does not, and never will count as a meal. We were standing in the kitchen as Karah said goodnight and went upstairs. She went to sleep and Gaby’s cousin was already asleep, or was acting asleep, I couldn’t tell. Now it was just Gaby and I, alone in the kitchen. We talked some more about some things, her and me. She gave me a hug and I held her for a while. I tried to wash my hands because I didn’t want her smelling like chicken, but she didn’t care. Then we kissed. I can’t say who initiated it, because I honestly don’t remember, but it happened. Simple as that. It got even later and I left. I drove home calm on the outside but exploding in the inside.

NOTE:
Like I’ve said before, these things remain a blur in my memory. I’ve thought long and hard to get the right progression of time down, but with Gaby everything was so obscured. By me, or just by the passing of time. I’ts amazing to me how something back then that seemed so important and life altering, now seems so trivial. I guess that’s how I know I’m over it. Sometimes I even feel ashamed for writing this, because it seems like I’m still dwelling on the past. I don’t think it’s for healing purposes, it’s just because it’s part of my life I like to share. Besides that I think it’s a pretty good story. To show that even though life looks like it doesn’t go your way, sometimes it does. And then again, sometimes it doesn’t. The irony so far is by no means even close to how it felt in real life. I cannot possibly express the level of feelings I've had since this all. These years have been the most confusing, frustrating, most awakening years of my life. Me and Gaby had kissed. And it only gets crazier from there.

The next day I couldn’t believe it. I had kissed her. Or she had kissed me. Didn’t matter, wasn’t important. I told Matt. He was surprised and yet kind of pissed at the same time. I laughed at him, I was so proud of myself. Time went on, and the next time I saw her was at the meeting. I was up doing micrphones and Karah walked in alone. Where was she? I didn’t see her walk in? I stood there nervous, she was always with Karah? Even her cousin wasn’t there. Maybe she was sick. A thousand possibilities went through my mind. I had to calm down and concentrate on the mics, so I stood there and waited. After a while I saw her cousin come in. Then I saw her. I breathed a sigh of relief. But as fast and the relief came, it instantly evaporated. Along came another guy, one I didn’t know, one that didn't live in my galaxy, and he sat right next to Gaby. The Foreign Enemy. I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know where he was from. I didn’t know his personality or his humor. And already I hated him. The whole meeting I watched him like a hawk, his every move, his every blink and breath, imagining that I could swoop down and crush him with my talons. The meeting ended and I met him. His name was Kaliff, and he was from Mexico also. Gaby seemed eager for me to meet him, which made me wonder even more. Could this be the guy I heard she was dating? All this time was she lying? Did the kiss mean nothing to her? My mind jumped to so many conclusions, made so many jealous judgements and assumed more then I had dreamed possible. I let it go. I didn’t want to think of it like that, so I had to let it go. We went to eat after the meeting and I got to know him better. Turned out he was the boyfriend of a good friend of Gaby’s. Him and his girlfriend were very much in love and he was excited because soon he would see her. I guess he didn’t see her very often, or as often as he would like too. I felt so stupid. Stupid for judging him before I got to know him, stupid for thinking all those jealous thoughts. He actually was a cool guy, and I thought we got along pretty well. I took it was a good sign that me and him got along, like I was meeting and getting along with the friends she had. She said that if I ever went to Guadalajara that she would introduce me to her many of her friends. I said that was cool, and that I would have to go down there sometime. We had another party at our house, and we ate and played Taboo. It was cool, Gaby was by my side the entire time. We kind of didn’t want to make it too obvious we liked each other, because we thought everyone didn’t need to know. I remember we had talked about music a lot. I wanted to show her some songs that were my favorites, so we went to Matt’s room (the garage apartment) to listen to some on the computer. Her and Me were sitting on Matt’s bed and he had his back turned to me using the computer. I was showing her pictures of Me and Matt’s roadtrip to Washington. "Here's New Mexico, and then Arizona, and of course Cali!" I was explaining the pictures when I looked up at her, and she gave me a kiss. A simple kiss, but one I didn’t expect. In my history of kissing, I can say those are the best ones. Matt didn’t see us, or if he did he didn’t acknowledge us. It didn’t freak me out though, I was starting to get accustomed with her being more physical around me. I knew I liked her, and she liked me. I could see us turning into a couple. It wasn’t that official, but everyone knew we liked each other. Things looked optimistic for once, and I was very excited about the future.