Since I've decided to take it easy with the falling in love thing, it's been hard. I can't really make my mind to listen to me and to stop thinking so much about her. There are times when I'm reading something love related or when I'm listening to a song about love and my mind just keeps travelling away and starts to imagine Diana and I as the characters and then creates a perfect life where everything is just... perfect. And at those times I find myself at the end of the chapter not remembering a thing from it, having to read it again. And the worst thing is... that I can't really talk about this with anyone. Not with my sister, cause she'll make fun of me and maybe even make things worse by telling her. I don't want to burden my parents because they have a lot of work-related things to think about and they are stressed enough. I don't want to add anything more to that. But I also don't want to talk about it with my friends. It's not that I don't trust them, but it's just that I feel like they also have their own lives and they have a lot on plate with their parents and with school. And I don't want to talk about it every single time I think about her because then they could consider me a bit selfish as I am the only one talking about my problems, while they can have some problems themselves, maybe even more important, nerve-wracking and troubling as my simple crush.

Luckily, my mom comes into my room asking me if I want to join her and my sister in going shopping for groceries, to which I say that I will be down in a bit, after changing my clothes.

Going shopping was actually one of my favourite activities, as I could take a walk and take my mind off of things related to school or the small crush I developed. As the store was near our home, we walked there, then took a trolley to put the groceries in and entered the store.

My mom took out her shopping list and then we each split up so that we could finish quicker. I had to go get some eggs and milk from the refrigerators, so I headed that way.

Just when I wanted to take a cartoon of milk to check which was the date when it expired, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and saw Leo.

"Oh, hey. I didn't know you lived in this area.", I said.

"Well, you never really asked and we never actually talked about where we each stay."

"Yeah... that's true. Anyway, how far is your house from here?"

"It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes the trip from home to here."

"Oh. So we can say that we are neighbours from the same neighbourhood"

"Yeah. Oh, mom. Look who I met. Darwin."

"Hello Mrs. Engel. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, hello Darwin. I heard a bit about you. Do you also live nearby?"

"Yes, I do."

"If so, you could come visit us whenever you want and even sleep over."

"Oh, really. Thank you so much for the invitation. I would like to do that. Excuse me but I should go before my mom comes looking for me. Goodbye!"

"Oh yes, sure. Goodbye."

I left in search of my mom, not forgetting the milk and eggs, while also hearing Leo shouting "Bye Darwin."

After putting the two groceries in the trolley, I told my mom about the invitation and she was also happy that I found such a good friend.

---------

Just as we were leaving the store, I saw an old lady carrying two bags that looked really heavy while trying to cross the road. I asked my mom if she wanted to go home first while I'll help the old lady, at which she agreed.

While heading in the direction of the lady, I heard my sister scoffing "What a gentleman.". What can I say... I was raised well.

Reaching the old lady, I asked her if she needed any help, at which she answered that she did and thanked me. After taking her bags, I helped her cross the road and then carried her bags to her house that was not that far away. Then, I said my goodbyes and went home.

---------

It's already the beginning of October. My alarm goes out. Yupi! A new day of school​. I am so happy... Wait a second​. I am really happy despite the fact that today I'll have an oral test at Biology, I get to see Diana.

So, I get out of bed and go take a quick shower. After that, I take a pair of ripped blue jeans and a white T-shirt which says: "I am not available to just anyone." and then take my phone from the bedside table. I go down and eat an apple. There, I see my dear sister.

"Hey. You finally decided to come downstairs. I thought I would go alone to school."

"Hey to you too, sis."

"Come on. We have to leave. Bye Mom."

After 25 minutes​, we arrive at school. Today we had to walk to school as mom had to go to a meeting in the morning and she wouldn't have been able to arrive on time if she dropped us off at school.

As usual, with 10 minutes before the bell rings, Diana comes in our classroom and talks to Sarah. They talk about all kinds of things, such as music and movies.

Although I don't pay attention to what they are saying, I listen to Diana's voice. It is such a relaxing and calm voice that I forget what I wanted to say to the classmate I was talking to before.

When he "wakes" me up, he actually​ succeeds in scaring me. I. Who never gets scared. Right when he wanted to say that I finally got scared, luckily, the bell rang and he couldn't say anything.

After three hours, it was time for the lunch break. Every class had their tables but there were times when exceptions could be made.

This way, Diana was sitting at our table. My sister and Janin were both next to her, so that Diana was between the two of them, and I was across of her. I don't know why, but Sarah decided to introduce us.

"Diana, this is my brother, Darwin. Darwin, this is my best friend, Diana."

"Hey", I said.

"Hi."

I looked up a little and met her eyes. She had such green eyes that I instantly felt like I was in a deep forest. I don't know why but they felt a bit familiar to me, although I just shook off the feeling.

(Later that same day)

"Hey, Darwin."

"What's up, Leo?"

"About the sleepover we talked about... You could come this weekend if you're free."

"Oh, really. Sure, I' ll do that. Just text me your address and what hour should I come."

"Yeah, okay. It'll be really fun."

---------

When Saturday came I was really excited as it was going to be my first sleep-over ever. I didn't even know what we were supposed to do or if I had to bring something with me. Going down, I found my mom looking for a recipe.

"What are you looking for, mom?"

"I'm looking for those ham and cheese pinwheels recipe that are really good."

"Oh. But why?"

"Cause you'll go to Leo's and it isn't nice to show up empty-handed."

"Right right. I'll help you too."

"Okay, thanks. Take the ham and the cheese from the fridge. And please bring me some flour from the pantry."

"Sure. I so can't wait for it to be 5 o'clock to go to Leo."

(At 5pm)

It was finally 5. I took a shower before and also packed some pyjamas in a bag. With my mom giving me the box with the rolls, I was ready to head to Leo's house.

Ten minutes later, I was at Leo's house, ringing the doorbell. A few moments later, the door is opened by Mrs. Engel.

"Good evening, Mrs. Engel!"

"Hi. Come in. You can get slippers from here and then just go up the stairs and in the room with the blue door. You'll see that it also has Leo's name on it. He is still in the bathroom but I'll make him hurry up so you don't have to wait too long. Oh, and please call me Martha."

"Will do so, and I have no problem waiting, really. And here are some ham and cheese rolls that I made with my mom. They are truly tasty. I hope they are to your likings."

"Oh, thank you. There are some snacks, some soda and water upstairs but let me know if you're hungry. We'll be having sausages with potatoes and coleslaw. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, it is. I'll go up now."

"Yes, go on."

Going up the stairs, I see the blue door with the name "Leo" written on it, so I enter the room. I am amazed by what I see. A large king-sized blue bed is in a corner of the room, next to a big white wardrobe and a small nightstand. In front of the bed there is a medium-sized TV and there are also some shelves with books as well as a painting of the galaxy. Under the shelves there is a white desk. The two windows covered by a curtain are large as well and the floor is covered by a carpet.

While I was admiring the room, I didn't even notice when Leo entered.

"Hey, Darwin. You arrived safely. Sorry for being late but the shower took longer than I expected."

"Hey. No problem. I didn't wait too long and I got to admire your room."

"Haha. I like it too. Oh, you can put your bag on the chair by the desk. Do you have any plans on what we should do?"

"No. Not really. If you have any, please tell me."

"I recently got a PS4 for my birthday and I was thinking we could play on it. I have Fifa 18 and 19. Which would you like to play?"

"Let's play 19. But I never played before so you have to explain to me what I have to do and what button does what."

"Yeah, sure. Let's sit on the bed. First, let's choose the teams. Which team do you want?"

"I'll choose Real Madrid. You?"

"I'll take Borussia Dortmund. Now choose the colour of the T-shirts and before you start the tutorial, I'll explain the buttons to you: to move the player, you press the left stick; to sprint you hold R2; to shoot you press the circle button; to protect the ball you press L2 and to change the player, you press L1. Did you understand?"

"Let's say so."

"Now do the tutorial and you can ask me if you don't know what to press. We can play the two first games just as a warm-up until you get familiarized with the game."

"Okay. Let's play!"

After two hours of playing, where we each won several games, we decided to go downstairs to eat as we were both starving.

"Darwin, you can stay next to Leo. Let me know if you want more food as there is more left, but if you can't eat it all, don't force yourself to it.", said Martha.

"Okay, will do so. It looks delicious."

"I'm glad to hear that. Please enjoy it."

"Thank you. Enjoy your meal!"

"Enjoy your meal!", Jonas, Leo's dad, said. "Darwin, I heard that you weren't born here, in Germany."

"No. I was actually born in England, and we later moved here because of my dad' s work. This was 10 years ago so I have actually lived here more than I've lived there. I like both countries and I couldn't even pick which one I would support during a sports competition. "

"Oh, I see. Do you live in a house or in a flat?"

"In a house. I think it's better to live in a house as you can go and stay outside in your garden, you can have a lot of animals and there are also no neighbours living upstairs or downstairs to make noise."

"I agree. I also like it better living in a house. Before Leo was born, my wife and I lived in a flat and we didn't like it that much."

"Yes. There were a lot of neighbours that made a lot of noise, and we decided that, when we had a baby, we would get a house where it would be a bit more quiet."

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence, with a few small talks here and there.

"I enjoyed the food.", I said.

"I am happy you liked it."

"Darwin. You should go up and I'll bring some more snacks for us."

"Ok, Leo."

---------

After a while, Leo arrived with a bowl of popcorn and two bags of chips.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"How about watching a movie?"

"Yeah, okay. Good idea. I have a lot of films here so let's choose one. I will just scroll down and you tell me when to stop."

"Oh, look. 'Men in Black' . Have you watched it?"

"No. Let's watch it."

We laughed so hard at the exam scene and throughout the whole movie, that we decided to watch the second movie as well.

After the second one was finished, we decided that we watched enough and we also didn' t have any more snacks, so we agreed on getting into bed and talk until we fell asleep.

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A/N: I published another chapter. Thank you all for reading my book. ❤️
I also want to wish you a Happy and Spooky Halloween!!! 👻