The Boy in the Castle
As a kid, I was always dreaming.
Unicorns, dragons, hidden treasures, and about the boy. That imaginary figure everyone wants not only to find someone who fits, but someone who fills the gaps. I called him The Boy in the Castle.
The thing about The Boy in the Castle was that he was a perfect reflection of me. And that’s true in life. We make soul mates who are like us, who we think might fill the void, and complete us.
We might be wrong, because first impressions aren’t always reliable, but once in a while, the universe gives you a miracle.
I was around thirteen, when I saw Callum arguing with his dad. It wasn’t a new incident, they were always fighting, the whole neighborhood knew, but Callum had no privacy from me, because the window in his room opened to mine, a few feet across. It was past midnight, and I was about to go to bed, it was a school night, when I saw Callum, sitting on the bed, looking sad. I’ll never forget the way he looked, his eyes were teary but he wasn’t crying, and I wanted badly to help him. So, when he saw me instead of ignoring him, I waved. At first, he seemed a little surprised. But then waved back and gave me a smile. He really did have a gorgeous smile.
Before I could do anything, I saw him gesturing that he wanted to come over.
It wasn’t the first time he would do it, but it was the first time he would do it that late. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, because my parents could wake up and they weren’t okay with him hanging out in my room, not even during day, and this was much worse. But I couldn’t say no after the sadness I saw in his eyes.
A moment later, Callum Matheson was grabbing a tree branch, that led straight to my room, and climbing it.
“Hey,” he said, a little loud and I gestured for him to keep his voice down. He smiled. “You’re such a wimp, Jess.”
“I’m not! I let you come, didn’t I?”
He continued to grin. “Your Dad doesn’t like me.”
“He doesn’t like boys who might jump into my room in the middle of the night.”
The look he gave me, was something that I’d never seen before. Not from Callum another from any other guy. It frightened me, and it dawned on me that he was a boy in my room and I was a girl. I realized the distinction. Suddenly, he wasn’t just some guy I hung around with since I was a kid. Is this what it felt like when Eve noticed her nakedness? I must have started to blush, and I hated it. I didn’t want things to change. Regardless how I felt inside, I didn’t have a clue what to do with his newfound interest.
“Well, then he will like me even less after tonight,” Callum said, and inched closer.
“Why’s that?” I asked, my body shaking for some ridiculous reason.
He placed his hands on both my arms, and looked right at me. “Because I’m about to do this.” He grabbed my face and started kissing me.
It felt strange.
Wet and sloppy, and not the kind of thing that should have been good, but it was. For some reason, when he broke off, I felt new feelings, new sensations hadn’t before. It felt like being woken up from a deep sleep.
“Have you ever been kissed before?” He asked. I shook my head no. He was suddenly concerned. “It was okay that I did that, right?”
I nodded, still unable to speak. My brain was overwhelmed with so many emotions. I couldn’t decide what to do. “You like me, don’t you, Jess?”
I didn’t know how to answer. And before I could, Callum noticed that a light in his house was turned on. One of his parents must be awake. Suddenly, he was in a hurry to leave.
I wished he would stay. I didn’t know why, or what I wanted from him, but I did.
“You know how he gets,” Callum said, talking about his father.
I nodded again. What the hell was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I muster up a few words? Was my brain not working or something? I knew this wasn’t how you react to a kiss.
Before I knew it, before I could do something about it, Callum was gone.
My stupid useless brain still hadn’t uttered a word. I saw him climb back into his room, and then he disappeared in the dark. And I was left wondering if the whole thing wasn’t just my imagination.
There was nothing I could do that night, so I went back to bed and tried to sleep, but my brain was a mess. I couldn’t get it to stop going around in circles. When I finally did manage to calm down, it was by conjuring up The Boy in the Castle.
I finally thought I could relax.
But instead, I was even more distracted.
Because the random looking dream figure now had a different face.
It was Callum Matheson’s.