Leo

I fell in love with Israel Gonzalez the second I saw him. I saw the boy with glossy black hair and mysterious deep black eyes standing in the corner of the lobby the moment I stepped into my new apartment building. When the door slammed behind me, his eyes flew towards my direction. For a brief moment, his eyes meet mine. Then he quickly looked away.

A few moments later, the boy came in my direction.

“Umm, hi”, he said nervously ,”You must be new here. My name is Israel Gonzalez. And you are?”

My face burned. My mouth got dry. I tried to speak, but my throat would not allow it. After a few moments, I was able to regain my voice and answer the question.

“Leo Astelli”, I replied, my voice giving out on me.

“Well, welcome Leo Astelli to your new home”, said Israel ,”I assume you don’t have any friends here?”

I shook my head pathetically.

“Well I can be your friend”, responded Israel, probably out of pity.

“Thanks for the offer, I guess”, I muttered.

Israel bowed, then turned to walk away. My heart did summer salts. This feeling was strange. A feeling I’d never had, not even for a girl and especially not a boy. This didn’t make any sense. But I was snapped out of my thoughts when my mom came up from behind me.

“Who were you talking to Leo?”, asked my mom, while holding hands with my little sister Stella.

“Oh, just my new friend I guess,” I replied.

“That’s terrific!” exclaimed my mother ,”What was his name?”

“Israel”, I replied

“Well he sure is a handsome boy”, my mother said in awe ,”I’m sure he’s got a girlfriend. There’s no way anyone could resist him”.

My face burned with embarrassment. Why did my mom always have to be this way about my friends (actually, never mind, I’ve never had any friends).

“Yeah, I guess so”, I responded with sadness in my voice ,”probably dating a cheerleader or something”.

My mother nodded with approval, then turned to stare in Israel’s direction. Israel turned to face my mom. Then he slowly waved at my mom. My mom furiously waved back.

My hand flew to my face, mostly trying to cover my embarrassment. Or maybe I was trying to cover my cherry complexion.

“I’m going to try and find our apartment”, I said quickly.

“Ok, but take Stella with you”, replied my mom, who had finally stopped waving at Israel ,”I’ll help Amari unpack the rest of our stuff”.

I nodded, then took Stella’s hand. Unfortunately, the way to get to the elevator was the direction Israel was in. All I could do was tell myself not to make a fool of myself as I bravely walked in his direction.

“Long time no see”, said Israel when I reached the elevator ,”What was that woman doing over there?”

“Oh, sorry. That was my mom”, I replied with embarrassment in my voice ,”I’ve never had a friend before, so she just got a little excited”.

“A little?”, questioned Israel ,”She was waving at me like I was the best thing since Justin Bieber”.

“I guess she went a little overboard”, I said ,”Actually, a lot overboard”.

Israel laughed then hit the up button on the elevator.

“What floor?”, he asked.

I consorted with the piece of paper giving our new address.

“Floor 91”, I responded confidently. But as my response, Israel gave me a puzzled look.

“There is no floor 91”, said Israel ,”This is Chicago, not NYC”.

I looked back at the paper again.

“Ohhhhh, sorry about that. I meant floor 19. I’m dyslexic”, I replied.

Israel nodded, then stepped into the elevator and hit the 19 button.

“Well, are you coming?”, he called. Until that moment, I didn’t realize I was still outside of the elevator. I sped walked towards the elevator and slipped in before the door closed.

Once we were all in the elevator, Israel turned to face Stella.

“Now who is this cutie?”, cooed Israel.

“This is my 10 year old sister, Stella”, I responded proudly. Israel turned away sadly.

“I’ve always wanted a little sister”, said Israel facing the elevator wall ,”I do have an older one, but she’s never around. She’s a cop”.

“Well that’s cool”, I reply ,”You make it sound like it’s the worst job on the planet”.

“Because it is”, Israel snapped as he turned to face me ,”She got shot once. Do you know how scary that is?”

“I…I guess I never thought about it that way before”, I said quietly.

A few moments later, the elevator door opened and we all stepped out of the elevator. Before I had the time to say goodbye, Israel bent down and gave Stella a big hug.

“Hey Stella?”, asked Israel when he released her from his warm embrace ,”Any time you don’t want Leo as your older brother, you're welcome to be my little sister”.

My heart fluttered. Israel might look mean and mysterious, but seeing this scene defies everything that you might assume from just looking at him. I barely know him but he seemed like he would be an amazing big brother to Stella. Better than I could ever be.

“Leo?”, asked Israel.

“Yes,” I replied nervously.

“See you around”, said Israel, then turned towards the elevator.

Once he stepped into the elevator, I took one more look at him before the doors closed and he was gone. It was clear that in that moment I had fallen in love with Israel.