Crushes and Cousins

It wasn't me who told my cousins who my crush is.

It was my sister.

My family filed into the church pew. "Look!" said my little sister Paisley slyly. "It's Blake."

Of course, I had noticed. The moment I walked in, I had seen him. His signature swept-up black hair and aqua paisley tie were hard to miss.

Not to mention... well, he's cute, with coppery skin, chocolate eyes, and that wavy hair swept off his forehead.

I resisted the urge to look at him and shoved down the betraying finger pointed like a missile toward the poor, shy boy.

"Don't point," I begged through gritted teeth, holding her wrist down until the resistance left the arm.

My cousins arrived. Kyla sat down beside me, her brown eyes eager as she asked, "Who is it?"

Paisley's finger shot back up to point at where the two young men sat. I shoved the refractable finger back down, but he had already seen it. His eyes lingered on us, I discovered through intermittent glances.

"Which one?" she asked. I sealed my lips. "Black or blond hair?"

"Black," Elora whispered.

"No, shush!" I whispered fervidly, glancing back at him to see that his chocolatey eyes were still on me. Heat rushed to my face. I hoped he couldn't see it was turning red under my makeup.

They giggled, jokingly plotting to pick me up by my arms and legs to drop me in his arms. I flashed my eyes up towards the now three young men, grateful to see that he had looked away.

The bishop got up to open the meetings with announcements. No! I thought as he announced that all the youth would be together in the Relief Society room. Kyla shot me a sly glance as my face mirrored my dismay.

Oh dear, I thought, barely maintaining a decent posture. This is NOT going to turn out well.

Sacrament meeting ended. All the youth headed to the Relief Society while Elora dragged Kyla downstairs to primary. I went down to get her for Sunday School. She laughed as she recounted how she had gone down the stairs on her knees to amuse Elora.

"Look, I'm five years old!" she joked, demonstrating it for me.

I laughed, though still filled with bitter anxiety.

We went into the Relief Society room and seated ourselves at the back. Three out of five of my cousins were old enough to be in Young Women's. Dear me, I thought as Kyla brought up the plot to pick me up by my arms and legs and drop me into Blake's arms. I do believe they would be able to accomplish it!

"Save a seat for him!" Kyla said, laughing as she sat on the other side of my friend Kairi.

"No!" I begged. "Don't do a thing!"

I foiled their plans by having Darcy sit beside me. Kyla let out a defeated groan.

"Don't do a thing," I pleaded as he walked into the room and sat down three rows in front of us.

Luckily, they managed to restrain themselves until the end of the lesson, when brownies were served. They had butterscotch chips and nuts inside. One of the leaders told us that the brownies were from a lady whose yard we had raked for Mutual.

We all stood around in a group. Kyla remarked, "Hey, why don't we go over to the boys?" she asked with a devious grin.

"Yeah, why don't the young women and men mingle?" asked Jacelyn, her grin twin to Kyla's (which wasn't surprising at all. They're identical twins, after all).

"I think I'm gravitating toward this side of the room," said Kyla, her cunning grin widening more with every passing second.

"No, please!" I cried with a laugh. "You guys are making me snort brownies!" I complained.

We all dissolved into giggles. The young men left. "We need to follow them!" Kyla declared.

"No!" I cried.

"What's his name?" asked Jacelyn as my two other cousins scurried out.

"I'll tell you after church," I breathed. "Please don't follow him!" I begged.

"Kairi!" Kyla said, running back into the Relief Society room. "What is the name of that young man?" she asked.

"Which one?" Kairi asked, confused. "There are a lot of young men out there!"

Kyla gave a huff of disappointment and rushed after the young men.

"Which one was she asking about?" Kairi asked.

"Blake," I breathed.

"Oh," she said, understanding dawning in her eyes.

"Don't tell them," I added.

"I won't," she promised.

Kyla rushed back inside. "Hurry!" she said, grabbing my arm with her wiry fingers. "We've been stalking him so we can tell you where he is!"

"No!" I pleaded.

Paisley wrapped her arms around my waist and tugged me out into the hall.

I looked up to see Blake, holding a tray, his brown eyes wide as they looked at me, my sister and cousins pushing me toward him. Oh, gosh, no! I thought. His face was red as a cherry with a sheen of sweat.

"Yes," I said, resisting their efforts to shove me into him as subtly as possible. I wrapped my arms around my sister and Kyla. "I love cousin hugs!" I proclaimed, digging my heels into the carpet.

My mom and Blake's mom were chatting in the hallway. My other three sibling's gazes bounced between Blake and me.

Boyd looked amused.

Darcy looked at me like it was the most awkward thing in the world.

Which it was.

And Elora grinned like a little demon.

Finally, we left. Blake was in the hallway ahead of us, the sheen of sweat still present on his forehead. My sister and cousin still had a tight grip on me, and didn't let go until we were out of the church doors.

I kept my head pointed rigidly ahead. I don't know if he was still looking at me, but I had the distinct impression that he was.

This is hands-down the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me so far in my short fifteen years.

Please let me know in the comments if you enjoyed my little confession and if anyone knows Blake VanOrden in Blackfoot, Idaho, direct him to this story and my poems Dear Lover and Pareidolia. He should know who this is😉.

Tell me if you manage to do it.

Please like and subscribe!! 🥰