Words
For Elizabeth - You inspire me. I hope this makes you smile as much as the last one did, but I'm kind of tired, so I don't know how good it will be:D
Matt was never very good with words, but he was even worse with them when Carrie was around. Just being in her presence made him nervous. His hands would sweat, his leg would twitch, his mouth would go dry… And sure maybe he could talk to her about music, but when anything else was involved, his mind went blank. This didn’t seem to put her off, though. She still hung out with him and talked to him. He wasn’t scaring her away. And that was a good thing, right? Now he just needed to find a way to take it to the next level.
Her birthday was coming up. She didn’t want anyone to make a big deal about it, but Matt wanted to get her something nice, something that perfectly conveyed how he felt about her, but wasn’t too serious that it scared her off.
His best friends told him that girls like:
Jewelry
Perfume
Flowers--
But he just couldn’t see Carrie wanting any of those things.
The next week went by with angst-filled thoughts—what to get, what to get? Should he trust his friends and get her a teddy bear, or should he spend the last two days before her birthday worrying?
Matt procrastinated for 24 hours before the idea struck.
Of course. It was perfect! He had to get to work right away.
00000
He stayed home from school, faking sick. He didn’t have a lot of time—although the half of the work was already done. After multiple attempts recording with his acoustic, he found his favorite try and recorded percussion sounds and mixed harmonies over it. When he put the words in, it all fit so utterly perfectly that he could hardly wait to show it to her.
He had written the song about a month after realizing how he felt about her. Another he had written just a few weeks ago when he thought he was going to tell her how he felt but wondered how she would react. The final one, something he called “Blue Eyes,” he had composed when he had accidentally caught her crying behind the library. He sat with her and didn’t speak, simply letting her cry into his shoulder.
When all three were finished—to absolute perfection—it was nearly midnight. He glanced over at the purple box sitting on his desk which held a simple silver chain and pendant inside. He had already bought the darn thing and the recordings were burning onto a disk… It was too late to turn back.
Time to man up.
00000
Carrie grinned at her best friend as she handed her a brightly wrapped box.
“Parker! You shouldn’t have!”
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes, plopping down on the bench beside Carrie. “You really think I wouldn’t get you a birthday present?”
Carrie rolled her eyes, opening the wrapping paper carefully, not wanting it to tear.
Parker crossed her legs. “So…Matt wasn’t here yesterday.”
The other girl made a non-committal noise.
“You noticed.”
She shrugged.
“You think he might be here today? Maybe…remembered your birthday?”
“Would it matter?”
Parker smirked. “Um, considering the fact that you’re head-over-heels for the boy, I think it would.”
Carrie blushed and continued opening her gift. She hugged her friend, squealing appropriately when she saw the CDs she’d been meaning to buy for ages.
“I’m choosing to ignore the fact that you ignored my Matt comment, by the way,” Parker said later as they walked to first period. She grinned. “Speaking of Matt… There he is.”
“What? Where?”
“Kidding!” Parker laughed— “Hey, no hitting! Matt wouldn’t like a girl that hits— Ouch!”
00000
Matt had to literally yank his best friend, Evan, off of his girlfriend, Emily, to get his attention. “Oi, lover boy; I need your help.”
“Wait—not done kissing—”
“Yeah, you are. See you later, Em!”
Emily laughed, waving to their retreating figures.
When they were an appropriate distance away and about as alone as anybody could be during passing period, Evan ran a hand through his tousled hair and asked his friend, “Okay—what now?”
“It’s Carrie’s birthday.”
“I’m aware.”
“And I got her something…”
“Good.”
“Just tell me if you think she’ll like it.”
Evan rolled his eyes as Matt fussed with his backpack. “Honestly, Matt, maybe you should be asking Emily. Aren’t they kind of friends? Or Parker! She sits behind you in Spanish—whoa. That’s a nice necklace.”
Matt nodded. “Um. But I kind of also made her a CD.”
Evan shrugged. “Cool—girls like mix tapes.”
“No I mean… Of those songs I wrote about her.”
A slow grin spread across the shorter boy’s face. “No way, Matt. That’s awesome. So—so you’re gonna tell her how you feel and everything?”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t sound so excited about it…”
“I, uh, I guess I’m just nervous,” he said with a forced laugh on the edge.
Evan smiled warmly, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Relax, Matt. Trust me. Just…do it. You won’t be sorry. I mean, look at how things worked out with Emily and I.”
“That’s different.”
“How?” When Matt couldn’t come up with an answer, he said. “Exactly.”
00000
For what felt like the 800 millionth time in these past months, Matt was really regretting the fact that he and Carrie didn’t have any classes together. He would have to wait to see her until after school… But by then, everyone would be around and it would be so embarrassing…
Man up.
If Evan did it, so can you.
The second he saw her sitting at a table behind the library, surrounded by bags and boxes, balloons, and even a tray of brownies, his heart sped up. Grinning, he made his way towards her before Emily stopped him.
“What?” he said, not tearing his eyes off of the gorgeous blonde.
“You’re gonna tell her right?”
“What do you think I’m trying to do, Em?”
Satisfied with this answer, Emily released her hold on his arm and watched with a sense of pride as Matt sat down next to Carrie and gave her half-hug.
“Happy Birthday,” he said, smiling.
“Thanks, Matt.”
“I, uh, got you something.”
She blushed slightly. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I wanted to.” He handed her a box and Emily gripped her boyfriend’s hand as they watched Carrie’s facial expression go from happy to shocked to ecstatic.
“Oh, Matt! It’s gorgeous!”
“Hey, Carrie, what’s that at the bottom of the box?” Emily called casually.
This prompted her to pull out a CD case. “What’s this?”
“Just…a guy you should listen to.”
“You think I’ll like him?”
“I certainly hope so.”
00000
At home, Carrie took the burned CD out of its case and slid it into her computer’s disk drive. iTunes came up and asked her if she wanted to transport the CD into the library. She clicked “Yes” before flipping open what looked like a hand-made lyric booklet.
On the first page was the title: “My Unsaid Things.” Following quickly were the words “Blue Eyes.” As if on cue, a slow strumming exited the speakers of her laptop. Was that Matt’s voice? She bit her lip as she listened to the song, eyes watching the lyrics, heart pounding so loudly that she could barely hear the music over it.
The second one was called “I Found You.”
“I don’t think I can live another moment/
Without you here.
I don’t think I can take another breath/
Unless you tell me you want me.
Cuz I’ve been looking for someone to love/
And baby, I found you.”
The last song was called “Words.” In the corner of the page, next to the lyrics, Matt had written, “I’ve never been very good at using my words to tell people what I think or feel. But I hope this shows you.”
“Words will never express how in love with you I am/
But they sure as hell can try.”
With excitement making her hands shake, she pulled out her phone and began a message to Matt.
I listened to the CD.
A few anxious seconds later, he responded with: And?
She smiled as she texted back: I like him. A lot.
Good. Because he was wondering if you wanted to go out with him on Friday.
Yeah. I definitely would.
Matt was never very good with words, but he was even worse with them when Carrie was around. Just being in her presence made him nervous. His hands would sweat, his leg would twitch, his mouth would go dry… And sure maybe he could talk to her about music, but when anything else was involved, his mind went blank. This didn’t seem to put her off, though. She still hung out with him and talked to him. He wasn’t scaring her away. And that was a good thing, right? Now he just needed to find a way to take it to the next level.
Her birthday was coming up. She didn’t want anyone to make a big deal about it, but Matt wanted to get her something nice, something that perfectly conveyed how he felt about her, but wasn’t too serious that it scared her off.
His best friends told him that girls like:
Jewelry
Perfume
Flowers--
But he just couldn’t see Carrie wanting any of those things.
The next week went by with angst-filled thoughts—what to get, what to get? Should he trust his friends and get her a teddy bear, or should he spend the last two days before her birthday worrying?
Matt procrastinated for 24 hours before the idea struck.
Of course. It was perfect! He had to get to work right away.
00000
He stayed home from school, faking sick. He didn’t have a lot of time—although the half of the work was already done. After multiple attempts recording with his acoustic, he found his favorite try and recorded percussion sounds and mixed harmonies over it. When he put the words in, it all fit so utterly perfectly that he could hardly wait to show it to her.
He had written the song about a month after realizing how he felt about her. Another he had written just a few weeks ago when he thought he was going to tell her how he felt but wondered how she would react. The final one, something he called “Blue Eyes,” he had composed when he had accidentally caught her crying behind the library. He sat with her and didn’t speak, simply letting her cry into his shoulder.
When all three were finished—to absolute perfection—it was nearly midnight. He glanced over at the purple box sitting on his desk which held a simple silver chain and pendant inside. He had already bought the darn thing and the recordings were burning onto a disk… It was too late to turn back.
Time to man up.
00000
Carrie grinned at her best friend as she handed her a brightly wrapped box.
“Parker! You shouldn’t have!”
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes, plopping down on the bench beside Carrie. “You really think I wouldn’t get you a birthday present?”
Carrie rolled her eyes, opening the wrapping paper carefully, not wanting it to tear.
Parker crossed her legs. “So…Matt wasn’t here yesterday.”
The other girl made a non-committal noise.
“You noticed.”
She shrugged.
“You think he might be here today? Maybe…remembered your birthday?”
“Would it matter?”
Parker smirked. “Um, considering the fact that you’re head-over-heels for the boy, I think it would.”
Carrie blushed and continued opening her gift. She hugged her friend, squealing appropriately when she saw the CDs she’d been meaning to buy for ages.
“I’m choosing to ignore the fact that you ignored my Matt comment, by the way,” Parker said later as they walked to first period. She grinned. “Speaking of Matt… There he is.”
“What? Where?”
“Kidding!” Parker laughed— “Hey, no hitting! Matt wouldn’t like a girl that hits— Ouch!”
00000
Matt had to literally yank his best friend, Evan, off of his girlfriend, Emily, to get his attention. “Oi, lover boy; I need your help.”
“Wait—not done kissing—”
“Yeah, you are. See you later, Em!”
Emily laughed, waving to their retreating figures.
When they were an appropriate distance away and about as alone as anybody could be during passing period, Evan ran a hand through his tousled hair and asked his friend, “Okay—what now?”
“It’s Carrie’s birthday.”
“I’m aware.”
“And I got her something…”
“Good.”
“Just tell me if you think she’ll like it.”
Evan rolled his eyes as Matt fussed with his backpack. “Honestly, Matt, maybe you should be asking Emily. Aren’t they kind of friends? Or Parker! She sits behind you in Spanish—whoa. That’s a nice necklace.”
Matt nodded. “Um. But I kind of also made her a CD.”
Evan shrugged. “Cool—girls like mix tapes.”
“No I mean… Of those songs I wrote about her.”
A slow grin spread across the shorter boy’s face. “No way, Matt. That’s awesome. So—so you’re gonna tell her how you feel and everything?”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t sound so excited about it…”
“I, uh, I guess I’m just nervous,” he said with a forced laugh on the edge.
Evan smiled warmly, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Relax, Matt. Trust me. Just…do it. You won’t be sorry. I mean, look at how things worked out with Emily and I.”
“That’s different.”
“How?” When Matt couldn’t come up with an answer, he said. “Exactly.”
00000
For what felt like the 800 millionth time in these past months, Matt was really regretting the fact that he and Carrie didn’t have any classes together. He would have to wait to see her until after school… But by then, everyone would be around and it would be so embarrassing…
Man up.
If Evan did it, so can you.
The second he saw her sitting at a table behind the library, surrounded by bags and boxes, balloons, and even a tray of brownies, his heart sped up. Grinning, he made his way towards her before Emily stopped him.
“What?” he said, not tearing his eyes off of the gorgeous blonde.
“You’re gonna tell her right?”
“What do you think I’m trying to do, Em?”
Satisfied with this answer, Emily released her hold on his arm and watched with a sense of pride as Matt sat down next to Carrie and gave her half-hug.
“Happy Birthday,” he said, smiling.
“Thanks, Matt.”
“I, uh, got you something.”
She blushed slightly. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I wanted to.” He handed her a box and Emily gripped her boyfriend’s hand as they watched Carrie’s facial expression go from happy to shocked to ecstatic.
“Oh, Matt! It’s gorgeous!”
“Hey, Carrie, what’s that at the bottom of the box?” Emily called casually.
This prompted her to pull out a CD case. “What’s this?”
“Just…a guy you should listen to.”
“You think I’ll like him?”
“I certainly hope so.”
00000
At home, Carrie took the burned CD out of its case and slid it into her computer’s disk drive. iTunes came up and asked her if she wanted to transport the CD into the library. She clicked “Yes” before flipping open what looked like a hand-made lyric booklet.
On the first page was the title: “My Unsaid Things.” Following quickly were the words “Blue Eyes.” As if on cue, a slow strumming exited the speakers of her laptop. Was that Matt’s voice? She bit her lip as she listened to the song, eyes watching the lyrics, heart pounding so loudly that she could barely hear the music over it.
The second one was called “I Found You.”
“I don’t think I can live another moment/
Without you here.
I don’t think I can take another breath/
Unless you tell me you want me.
Cuz I’ve been looking for someone to love/
And baby, I found you.”
The last song was called “Words.” In the corner of the page, next to the lyrics, Matt had written, “I’ve never been very good at using my words to tell people what I think or feel. But I hope this shows you.”
“Words will never express how in love with you I am/
But they sure as hell can try.”
With excitement making her hands shake, she pulled out her phone and began a message to Matt.
I listened to the CD.
A few anxious seconds later, he responded with: And?
She smiled as she texted back: I like him. A lot.
Good. Because he was wondering if you wanted to go out with him on Friday.
Yeah. I definitely would.