"Craig. I like you, but– Uh! No, that won't work! Umm… Craig, I really, really like– No! That'll sound too weird! Ugh! Why does confessing your feelings to someone you like have to be so difficult?" Omar said with frustration in his tone. Omar was sitting alone, waiting for his friend, Craig, to come over after sending him a text yesterday to hang out when their quest to find another puzzle cube of Kenneth's cube was completed. But Craig seemed to be taking so long so it left Omar just enough time to practice his confession to the mapmaker, although it was hard for him to come up with a good one to show his true feelings. Omar took another deep breath and spoke out "Craig. I wanna say that I've really liked you since that day we met, and-" But before Omar could finish, he heard bushes rustling behind him and as he turned, Omar was face to face with the boy of his dreams, Craig Williams! Omar pursed his lips together as he felt his cheeks flush. He hoped that Craig wouldn't notice but luckily his blush went away.
Craig approached Omar. "Hey Omar!" he said, sending the former Green Poncho the friendly smile that he always admired. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to get some snacks from the Trading Tree, and I even brought some of Tien's PB&J sandwiches from the King's Kitchen since I know how much you like them. Here." Omar looked down at the PB&J sandwich with shining eyes as his mouth started to water, but he cleared his throat while his face changed back to it's serious expression with a small smile. "Thanks Craig." he replied, taking the sandwich as Craig pulled out some Choco Rolls from his purse bag.
Later, as the two boys finished eating their sandwiches and other snacks while sitting together chatting about their past adventures and even joking, they watched the waters of the Creek flow serenely. Craig saw how the water sparkled in the afternoon sun. "Wow!" Craig breathed, his eyes widened with astonishment as he ran over to look down at the river, just to see his crystal clear reflection on it. "Look at that river shine! It hasn't looked this sparkly since my friends and I cleaned up this part of the Creek." Omar joined Craig and raised an eyebrow showing that he was intrigued. "Really?" he replied as Craig glanced up at Omar and nodded. "Yeah. When we came here to play, the whole place looked like a garbage dump until we saw some gold down there that we worked together to clean the river to get it. Only, it wasn't gold, it was just a bar of chocolate in a gold wrapper." Omar could hear the disappointment in his friend's voice, but it went away when Craig continued. "But on the brighter side, the Creek looks cleaner and even more beautiful now that the King is gone," he added. "You were right to call me over to hang out here with you." Craig looked back down at the river as Omar blushed again and chuckled lightly. "Yeah, thanks. It does."
Craig looked back up at him. "Hey Omar. You haven't said anything else since I showed up. Is everything okay?" asked Craig, raising an eyebrow. With a quiet sigh, Omar looked away but he was able to respond with a stammer, "Yeah. I-I'm okay Craig." But Craig could see now that Omar didn't look like he was okay, just that his cheeks looked unusually red and his hands were clutching at the grass below him. "Omar. If there's something on your mind, you can tell me. I'm listening." Craig encouraged, placing his hand on Omar's shoulder that caused his blush to deepen as he saw the comforting smile on the mapmaker's face.
Omar gulped a lump forming in his throat. He knew it was finally that time– to tell Craig how he really felt about him. "Alright." he said with a sigh as Omar began. "I'll tell you." Craig nodded. "Craig. I just wanna say that I– " but just when Omar had the chance, he felt a pang of nervousness scratch at his throat as the words were caught at the bottom. So he tried again. "Craig I–" Again, Omar couldn't say it, and he tried again for the third time. "Craig… I really like-" He took a deep breath, but all that came out was a small cough. Finally, Omar gave up and hung his head solemnly. "I can't do this." he whispered to himself in defeat. He was just too nervous. "I'm sorry Craig, it's nothing." He turned away from Craig to avoid any eye contact while the blush faded from his face, when Craig patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, Omar. It's okay. You don't have to tell me now." he reassured him. "You can tell me tomorrow, and maybe the day before that. But if you still don't feel like it, I won't try to figure it out or force it out of you. It's your choice."
With his eyes starting to get moist, Omar turned to face Craig, hoping that he wouldn't notice that he was about to cry. "Will we… still be friends if I told you?" he asked in a quiet, worried tone that surprised his friend as Craig blinked slowly. Omar could see compassion in his friend's eyes, but there was also concern mixed in as well. "Omar. Of course we'll still be friends, and we always will be. That's why it kills me to not know what else is on your mind." The words coming from Craig gave Omar the unexpected confidence as he took a deep breath and placed his hand on his heart that was starting to beat fast. "Well anyways, it's getting late. I should head back home now." Craig got up to leave, but he stopped when Omar grabbed him by the wrist. "Craig, wait," he begged. "Please. Stay with me, just a bit longer." Omar let out a deep sigh before resuming. "You're right. I can't keep these feelings bottled up inside anymore. I can't keep everything bottled up anymore! It's building up so much pressure on me that it hurts real bad!" he turned away from Craig and felt tears fall on his knees. "You're right! Even with the king gone and the Green Poncho no more, I still keep secrets! I lie sometimes!" Omar said through sobs. "I lie to my friends, my family, and I even lie to you every time you ask me if I'm okay and I keep telling you that I am— when I'm actually not!" he finished with a sniffle after calming down.
"Omar." whispered Craig as he felt sympathetic towards his friend and felt a wave of shame wash over him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" But before Craig could continue, Omar raised a hand at him and shook his head. "No. Don't apologize, Craig." he responded. "It's not your fault that I'm crying." After taking a few breaths, Omar resumed talking.
"Listen. You wanna know why I agreed to join your crew? Not because you asked me to or that I want to help you guys find the rest of the puzzle cubes, it's because… because…" The words caught in Omar's throat again, but he managed to release them for a second as he lifted his head up to look Craig straight in the eyes. "Because I like hanging out with you." explained Omar with his eyes shining as he said those words. "You've made my life in the Creek more fun since the Capture the Flag war was over after you defeated Xavier. Plus you've been the first kid in the Creek to be my friend since I was still the Green Poncho, even when no one else could." he explained, and unexpectedly took Craig by the hands. "And most of all, you've made me feel like a part of something big. Bigger than anything in the world."
Now it was Craig's turn to blush when he felt his cheeks warming up after hearing what Omar said to him. "But it's not just all that." Omar continued. "It's that you're an amazing kid, Craig! You're smart, kind, brave, funny, make friends so easily, stand up to bullies when no one else could, and you come up with the best ideas for any cool invention you build! Even your drawing skills are amazing, like how you drew me as the Green Poncho in your map. Those are the things I admire about you Craig," He winced, feeling embarrassed when he said that. The blush on his cheeks came back again, in a deeper red this time, but Omar gathered up his courage while he tightened his grasp on Craig's hands and resumed, "Because I… I…" Omar stopped as he closed his eyes shut, clenched his teeth together, and finally shouted out his confession "I really like you!"
Eyes widened, Craig gasped in surprise. "Like me?" he echoed as Omar looked down. "Like, like you actually. I always have." he admitted. "I've wanted to tell you that ever since the war ended, but I never had the guts to tell you until now." resumed Omar, feeling a slowly smile forming on his face. "And I owe that to you because you always inspire other kids to say what's on their minds, even when you're afraid to say what's on your mind too. So… would you consider being my… you know, my 'more than just a friend' friend? I mean, it'd be really cool if we hang out more. You know, just the two of us." he hoped.
Craig looked at Omar straight in the eyes, seeing the strange emotion in them that he'd never noticed before as the atmosphere around them became silent again only with the sound of the wind blowing. "Omar, I…" Craig began, then stopped. Finally, after some minutes passed, Craig looked down at the ground and responded back "I'm sorry. I don't know… yet." he frowned as he looked back at Omar, who had a slightly shocked expression. "I mean, it'd be a dang honor to be your, ya know your 'more than just a friend' friend and hang out with you some more. But I'd rather like you as a friend and just be your 'just a friend' friend." said Craig, feeling unsure. "Because if people saw us as more than just friends, they would think that I'm weird and that you're weird." He shook his head. "No. They would think that we're both weird, and maybe even Kelsey and JP would think that too."
He looked away from Omar and rubbed the side of his arm, looking shamefaced. "I'm sorry Omar, but I don't want that to happen. I don't know if I-" Before Craig could finish, Omar interrupted him again. "Hey, it's okay Craig." he said with a sigh and scratched the back of his head. "I understand if you don't want to and just like me as a friend." he sniffled as if he was about to cry again, and Craig could tell from Omar's shaky voice that he was. "I can dig it. I can dig it. Really I can." Omar turned away from Craig and hung his head, while feeling the urge to have another meltdown. Craig quickly took notice and placed his hand on Omar's shoulder once again to comfort him. "Hey Omar. If it makes you feel better, I'll think about it. And maybe tomorrow, I'll change my mind. Sounds cool?"
After recovering, Omar looked over his shoulder and dried his tears with his sleeve. "Yeah. Sounds cool I guess." He replied sending Craig a smile, but Craig could see from the look in his eyes that he was heart-broken. Then he turned to face the sky to see that it was colored peachy pink with a hint of dark purple, meaning that it was getting really late. "Okay well, see you tomorrow then." said Craig, walking away from Omar.
Omar got up and stopped to look over his shoulder and wave at Craig. "Yeah. See ya tomorrow." he responded in a solemn tone, then turned away with a sad look as Craig looked over his shoulder at Omar and looked down in a guilty way, feeling like he might've hurt his feelings, before walking back home.
