Tyler and Alexa

The alarm blared, startling him from his restless slumber. This was a typical morning for Tyler. He never was very adept at getting a good night’s sleep. He climbs out of bed taking half of the sheets with him in the process, his fingers scrape the ceiling as he stretches, it is one of the minor annoyances of being over six feet tall. He shuffles through the assortment of clothes and junk on his bedroom floor as he makes his way to the bathroom. Tyler finishes his morning routine and heads downstairs to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

As he eats his breakfast he reaches for his cell phone to check for any new emails and/or texts that he may have received during the night. A smile cracks his face when he notices a new text from his crush, Alexa. It reads: “Morning! Hope your day goes well!! :)” He has maintained an unrequited love for her for nearly two years now, despite how happy the mere thought of her makes him he is afraid to bring up the subject of evolving their relationship into something more. He is petrified of rejection as well as being fearful of missing the opportunity to potentially be with his dream girl. With his day off to a good start he finishes his breakfast, puts on some clothes, and heads off to school.

His first class always seemed to drag on because he was never fully awake for it. The fact that it was math, his weakest subject, did not help the situation. All he could think of was lunch, the point in his day at which he could text Alexa. He was somewhat nervous because today he decided he was going to "man up" and ask her to be more than just friends.

Tyler plants himself down at a table in the corner of the school cafeteria in a vain attempt to find a quiet spot in the bustling building. After setting up his laptop so he can ultimately procrastinate on his homework, he pulls out his cell phone and nervously types a message to Alexa.

“Hey.” He sends as his opening statement. Her reply comes only a few seconds later.

“Hiya! How’s your day going so far???” Alexa replies eagerly.

Tyler can see her smiling face in his mind’s eye as he reads her texts on his phone’s screen. He loves that she is one of the few people in his life who don’t overuse abbreviations for words when they text or email from their phone. Excessive “text speak” is a maddening issue for him.

“It’s goin’. I could barely stay awake in Math this morning but that’s nothin’ new. How boutchu?” he replies coyly, trying to work up the nerve to ask her what is really on his mind.

“boutchu’?? Sounds like the name of a rejected Pokemon! LMAO!” Alexa replied wittily.

“Lol. Guess I walked into that one. I’ve always loved your sense of humor.” he hesitantly replied. He subtly threw the world love in there to gauge her reaction.

“Ooooo… You LOVE me do ya??? :P”

“Well… Yeah, I do. And I’d like to be more than friends. I want you to be my girlfriend…” Tyler’s heart was racing. The following minutes felt like an eternity. He finally laid his heart on the line and could only hope that she wouldn’t stomp on it.

“Ty… I don’t know. You’re a great guy and I would hate to complicate things between us.”

“If I’m such a great guy then this decision should be easy.” He replied swiftly, having been down this road before.

Tyler has been a long time resident of the “friend zone” and he hoped that by asserting himself he would finally be able to escape. Fifteen agonizing minutes go by, Tyler checks the clock and realizes he only has five minutes to make it across campus to his last class of the day. Suddenly his phone beeps with Alexa’s reply. He goes through the process of unlocking his phone as quickly as possible in the hopes of getting some closure before his next class, he makes it to the home screen, touches the message icon, and his phone goes black. The battery is dead and his charger is at home on his desk.

“DAMN IT!!” Tyler growls as he shoves his dead phone in his jacket pocket. Exceedingly anxious he stalked silently out of the building and onward to his final task of the day. He would have to sit in emotional anguish until he could finally return home. By then it could be too late or could be just the right amount of time.

Tyler races home, mentally praying that he doesn't get pulled over for speeding. When he arrives at his home he grabs his backpack and sprints through the front door making a B-line for the charger in his bedroom. He hastily plugs it into his phone and opens his inbox, he is surprised and concerned to find that Alexa sent multiple replies. He proceeded to cautiously read them one by one.

“You're right, it should be an easy decision.”

Tyler's heart was pumping so hard he thought it would pop out of his chest.

“I've developed feelings for you since we became friends a couple of years ago.”

Tyler's heart sinks slightly, he knows where this is going...

“I really wish you hadn't put me in this difficult situation... :/”

Tyler hangs his head dejectedly. That was the last message in his inbox. He heaves a heavy sigh and falls back onto his bed.

“Why does this always hap-” The beeping of his phone interrupts his moaning. It's a new message from Alexa! He sits up to read it:

“Fuck it! Let’s give us a shot! :D #YOLO”

“HOLY SHIT!!! She said yes!!!” An elated Tyler bellows. He frantically types a reply.

“I'm going to make you so happy you'll never want to leave my side! :) But could you please never say 'YOLO' again...lol.” Tyler sent in response.

“I make no promises. :P Other than the promise that I will not go all Taylor Swift on you if things go south!” Alexa joked.

“Thank you.” Tyler responded.

“For what?”

“For being you.”

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