Sunsets and storms ✓

Chapter 6

MATTHEW

I feel like the biggest idiot ever. I've met this girl three years ago, we never told each other our names or anything and now I come in here and call her by her name. Or what I assume is her name. It could also be a nickname, of course. All I know is that three years ago, the girl that interrupted our conversation called her Meg.

She looks rather confused when I say her name, but let's be honest, who wouldn't be when a stranger knows your name. God, maybe she doesn't even remember me. We've spend like four hours talking three years ago. She probably had many more people talking to her in all these years. I'm such an idiot. Just because she has been on my mind for the past three years does not mean I was on hers. She probably forgot all about me after she left to bring her friend home.

She still looks as pretty as she did all those years ago, although she changed in some ways. She looks older, more mature. But who wouldn't after three years? I try to think of the ways I changed. Maybe that's why she won't recognise me.

She raises an eyebrow at me and only then do I realise I've been staring at her all this time. I'm so embarrassed. Drifting of while talking to someone is bad enough. Staring at them while you do so, that's suicide. Mental suicide. My eyes quickly snap to the floor. She must think I'm crazy. If she even vaguely remembered me she definitely won't want to catch up now. Why do I always have to be such an idiot?

"You're the guy I met at a party three years ago, right? At the University of Bath."

"Ehm, yeah that's me. Sorry, if I'm too straight forward. It's just that I caught your name when your friend called you that night."

"Don't worry about it. It's Megan, but some people at university call me Meg."

"Oh okay. Good to know."

She raises her eyebrows once again. I can already tell that this is her signature move.

"Oh ehm, I'm Matthew."

"Nice to see you again, Matthew. It's a shame we never exchanged contacts and were never able to get in touch again."

She wanted to get in touch with me? This is not happening right? Am I dreaming? I've tried looking for her after that night. I had Logan ask around for weeks to see if anyone knew her, so we could get in touch. I never expected her to want to talk to me again. Honestly, I never really open up too much and most people don't like talking to me because of that. And the fact that I tend to make sarcastic remarks to almost anything, a habit I picked up from Evan.

"Maybe we can catch up later? I don't know... if you have other plans or don't want to that's okay too, just..."

"No. I'd love to! I'll just need some coffee and food. And change probably."

"Yeah, of course. Say an hour?"

"Great! Just meet me here in an hour and we can walk to the beach or something."

I rushed back to our room with the food I had managed to find before talking to Megan. I don't know what it is about her that makes me so nervous.

Being near her really messes with me. My mind was all over the place, not one straight thought coming out of it. The words coming out of my mouth were rushed and I regretted almost all of them immediately. And let's not forget about my racing pulse. I'm pretty sure I even blushed when she said she would like to catch up. I don't even remember the last time I blushed because of something someone said to me.

All she needed was five minutes and I'm already pudding at her feet. I wonder what happens when we're together for longer than a few minutes. My sanity is saved when Logan and Evan come back from their morning adventure.

I fill them in on what happened as quickly as possible. I don't have much time left and I'm not going to waste it on telling the guys every word we said. They are even more surprised to hear about Megan. Logan was with me that night I met her and tried finding her in the weeks after. Evan heard so much about her that he must think he knows her. I never thought it was possible to have to get over someone you only talked to for a few hours, but it is. For all those years Evan was the one that had to listen to me complaining about not getting to know her, or not liking any other girl because of her.

By the time the guys are up to date I only have half an hour left. Normally I have enough time when you give me five minutes, but of course I'm freaking out like crazy. They rush me into the bathroom to shower. Only when I look in the mirror do I realise I had been talking to Megan with bed-hair. Well, doesn't that make me feel better.

The guys told me that they would pick something for me to wear. I trust this two with my life, so I trust them to pick something decent. All three of us have pretty similar styles so that won't be a problem. I really don't know what I would do without those guys. Being friends since our early teen years, we've seen each other at our most awkward times. They got me through some dark days years ago and stuck by me through it all. Even when I was not the most pleasant of people to be around.

I get into the shorts and t-shirt that they left on the bed, fix my hair and spray on my cologne. I feel like a massive idiot once again today as I look into the mirror trying to get some more confidence. It's useless. To my luck I have the best friends I could ever as for and in the few minutes before I make my way back to the kitchen they hype me up. By the time I get to where Megan is waiting I'm actually a little optimistic about this whole thing.

This is what I've been waiting for since threeyears ago. Now it's time to shoot my shot. As usual I'm still afraid to run outof things to talk about. I'm not the best conversationalist, I don't likesmall-talk and I can be too sarcastic for my own good. I know I shouldn't worrybecause three years ago we didn't run out of things to talk about for hours. Ifit's even remotely like that today, I'll be fine.