Falling In Love
She would never notice him, would she? She would keep thinking that he was just “Matt’s friend,” the one who always wore the T-shirts with his favorite bands, the one who was secretly trying to impress her, even though, like previously mentioned, she would never notice. She wasn’t really spectacular looking, but she was…special. She was something different, refreshing. For once, a girl that didn’t care about things like makeup or hair or any other superficial thing he couldn’t care less about. She was pretty, but she didn’t know it. The more Matt talked about her, the more he felt like she was worth breaking his own rules for. After seeing Matt and Cameron get their hearts broken by girls, he never wanted to have to go through that, but it almost seemed worth it in her case.
He was determined to either get over her or get with her. He just wasn’t sure which one he would rather have.
~~
Emily King. Evan shook his head, frustrated. She was standing with Matt, talking about…something. They were all to the side of the public library where they normally hung out after school, and while one of his best friends, Cameron, was trying to get his attention, he was completely focused on Emily. Matt glanced at him. He said something to her and she shook her head, trying to walk away. Matt held onto her arm to stop her.
Evan turned to Cam. “This is infuriating.”
“What?”
“I’m really into her—it’s not fair.”
Cam smiled. “Dude, she’s into you. She’s totally obvious about it. Can’t you tell?”
“She doesn’t like me, Cam. She doesn’t like anybody. She doesn’t want a boyfriend.”
“And you don’t want a girlfriend.”
“Well…”
“So you’d want a girlfriend if she was your girlfriend?”
Evan glanced at her and saw Matt coming back. “Yeah, I guess I would.”
Matt crossed his arms as he confronted his best friend. His blue eyes were narrowed with frustration but his stance was casual. “Are you gonna tell her or not?”
“Not. I’m not gonna embarrass myself like that. And besides…” He glanced at Cam. “I don’t want a girlfriend.”
“Evan, you want her. Just go and get her.”
He licked his lips nervously, looking over at Emily. She was talking to a small group of girls and she smiled. Ugh, he loved her smile. He wanted to kiss it right off of her and then kiss it back because he loved it. Why was she so difficult?
“Do it.”
Summoning up courage he didn’t actually possess, he walked towards her and cleared his throat. Emily looked up at him. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked, gesturing towards the side with his head.
“Uh, yeah.”
They walked away from the building and onto the grass before he stopped.
“So, what’s up?”
He ran a hand through his hair and looked at his shoes. “I don’t really know how to say this.”
“Okay… Well how about you try moving your mouth to form words?” she teased, smiling. When he didn’t return her smile, she frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“I just wanted to know if maybe, you like wanted to, um, I don’t know… Gooutwithme?”
“What?”
“It’s just that I like you. A lot. As more than a friend. And I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me. Sometime. Like…on a date. And be my girlfriend.” He cleared his throat again. “So what do you think?”
It was a tense moment when she didn’t respond. He looked up, trying to read her face.
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, Evan,” she whispered, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. “I like you too.”
Grinning, he looking down at their fingers and, for a moment, they were the only two people in the whole world because it was love. It was new and innocent and beautifully fresh. It was just the two of them… Until Matt shouted, “Kiss her, you idiot!”
And he did.
On the cheek.
“What was that for?” she asked, blushing.
“For noticing me.”