Girl Meets Trouble #Wattys2015

Chapter 18: Something Great

For a moment, nothing in my body would move.

I just stand there, dazed, the cold midnight breeze blows on my face as I stare at his familiar silhouette, coming closer and closer. Time stops. A giant avalanche of emotions are crashing over me. It's as if the clock operated differently, somehow.

My brain took a few seconds to recognize that the figure walking towards me isn't some figment of my imagination.

And then the earth seems to spin around me like one giant roller coaster and I'm breathing hard like I just sprinted for a 10K marathon.

Now I know what astronauts must have felt like in zero gravity.

My mouth goes dry and parched like the Sahara Desert. I'm trying hard to stay rational, but the longer I stare, I get weaker and weaker in the knees.

Deep breaths, Teddy. Just take one deep breath, I remind myself. But holy crap, breathing is impossible when Harry is standing three feet away from me.

It's as if someone has pressed "Pause" on the DVD that is my life and I'm watching it all play in slow-mo.

Harry edges closer and closer to me, and suddenly, with no warning, I feel really, really nervous.

"Teddy," he whispers, meeting my eyes squarely, and I fight the violent urge to wrap my arms around his neck.

Oh heaven help me. The thin fabric of his white printed shirt clings tightly enough to his body, for me to catch a glimpse of the faint lines on his torso. And when he raises his hand to hair, causing his shirt to reveal some of his skin, for a split second, I see a tiny flash of his stomach.

Oh God, one more minute of staring and I would self-combust. My body is seized in a state of utter giddiness

What am I even supposed to say? Now that everything has been clear with Audrey and now that Harry is here in person, I can't even stammer a hello. What happened to all my years of school that I suddenly forgot how to speak?

Anxiety is gripping my entire body. It's nearly killing me, pretending to be calm. A strange mixture of emotions are flooding inside me, I'm not even sure I could name it. It's like all sorts of feelings in a human's spectrum of emotions were mixed inside me with a turbo blender.

Harry stands a few feet away, his curly hair ruffled in the wind and just the sight of him sends me into a state of light-headedness.

Okay, Teddy. Now isn't the perfect time to drool.

Maybe if he wasn't so good-looking, I wouldn't be so panicked over some basic self-control. No one should look this handsome at midnight.

"Hi," I greet, almost speechless, averting my eyes from him. Every cell in my body is jumping giddily with anticipation.