Meeting You

Chapter Five

Emma's alarm went off the following morning and sat up slowly in bed, stretching out. She saw Tom's jacket hanging on the post at the foot of her bed and the memories of the previous night came flooding back, Lily thinking Tom liked her, the dinner, Tom giving her his jacket, the feeling of his warm jacket over her shoulders. Smiling to herself, she got out of bed and threw on light blue jeans, a long sleeve black shirt, and her rose vans. She grabbed Tom's jacket and pulled it on before throwing her stuff in her bag and throwing it over her shoulder, making not to wake the sleeping Lily and headed to her classes, she had two back-to-back classes right next to each other, band composition and dance class. She sat down in her seat in band comp and pulled out her notebook, and class started. When it finished she moved to the next class and put her stuff on the side, and danced, not taking her jacket off no matter how hot she was getting. By the end she was almost sweating, her cheeks flushed with exertion as she grabbed her bag and walked out of the building. As she walked out she saw a young man standing there, his brown eyes and hair familiar. When he saw her wearing the jacket he raised his eyebrows, but then smiled, Emma smiled too and walked, then ran, up to him, giving him a big hug.

"Tom!" she exclaimed, her arms hanging loosely around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, darling, I thought I would visit you at your college today since you visited me at my work."

Emma laughed, then realized with a start that she was all sweaty, she let go and stepped back from him, "I'm sorry, I just got back from dance and..." Tom walked back towards her and put his finger on her lip, telling her to be quiet. 

"You're  good, I wouldn't even know if you hadn't told me, you look wonderful." Emma's cheeks flushed even redder at his words as he grabbed her hands and pulled one around her neck, his hand behind clasped to hers which was in front. Her back was now to his stomach, her head turned up so she could see his face, which was smiling down at her, his brown eyes shining. After what felt like ages of just looking each other in the eyes, he let go and she turned around so she was facing him.

"Here's your jacket, I've had it for too long," she says, pulling it off of herself. Once again he put his hands on her shoulders, pushing the jacket back onto her.

"No, it looks better on you, keep it. For good." She smiles at him, readjusting it on her shoulders so it's on correctly.

"Thank you," she says, smiling sheepishly. 

"Of course," he says, smiling back at her. "Look, Emma," he says, his hands fidgeting nervously, "I didn't want to, er, scare you off earlier, but I really like you." 

Emma's blue eyes glowed with joy, "Really?" Tom nodded at her, evidently still nervous. "I like you, too."

He smiled at her, calming down, "So, er, would you like to go out with me sometime?"

She smiled back, "Of course!" They started walking down the road of the campus, to the little coffee cart that Emma had stopped at the other day. As they were walking their hands brushed and they quickly pulled their hands away, but Emma could feel Tom's eyes on her as he reached his hand back to hers and grabbed it gently. She laced his fingers into his as they kept walking to the cart. When they got there Tom got some hot tea and Emma got her Chai Tea Latte, once again she tried to pay but he wouldn't let her. They walked for a while longer in a comfortable silence, looking out at the buildings covered in snow, before she started shivering, even with his jacket on. He reached his arm around her neck, pulling her into him. She rested her head on the edge of his shoulder as they kept walking, shivering not only from the cold now, his warm arm sending shivers down her spine. He pulled her in closer and rubbed the top of her arm gently, trying to warm her up. 

"So," Emma said, still sipping her drink, "how did you and Harrison meet?"

"It was way back in primary school, we were in a class together and became fast friends. Were you born here in Georgia?"

"Yeah, I've lived here my whole life. How about you? Where were you born, I know you're British and from England but that's a big country."

Tom laughs, "I'm a native of Southwest, London, darling." Him saying that sent shivers down her spine, but he didn't seem to notice and continued talking as they were walking. "So, you're going to be a music teacher. What's your favorite thing to do music wise, sing, dance, what?"

"Well, I think if I had to choose it would be dancing. I know that you're an actor an obviously a gymnast of some sort, but what else do you like to do?"

"You're right, I used to take gymnastics when I was younger, same with dance. I actually started as Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot: The Musical production at the London theater. I sing a little, but only in the shower or sometimes with friends."

"Wait, follow me," Emma says, pulling her head up straight and walking briskly to a little building on the side of the road. They step in and see a deserted restaurant with a little stage in the center. Tom takes his arm off of Emma's shoulder and she grabs his now free hand and walks him over to an older looking man in the corner, one of her friends. "Tom, meet Ben, Ben, Tom."

Tom stretches out his hand and shakes the old man's, "Pleasure to meet you."

Ben raises his eyebrows at Tom's accent, but his face softens and he smiles, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. "You too, young man."

"I met Ben on my first day on campus, I was lost and he gave me directions as long as I promised to visit his restaurant after, so I did. It usually has a lot more people, but they're all in classes right now so we're alone. He has a karaoke machine, come on."

"What, no! I don't like singing in front of people, it's embarrassing."

"Tom, you starred in a musical for crying out loud. Come on, it'll be fun! Plus, nobody's here but us and Ben, please!" 

Tom looks at her pleading blue eyes and sighs, "Fine."

Emma lets out a little squeal and hop before calming down, "Ok, you pick the song."

"I guess we can do one of the songs from Billy Elliot," he turns to Ben. "Can I do electricity by Elton John?" Ben smiles and hands them each a mike, then starts the song, the words on the screen.

Tom starts singing with the music, his voice like an angel. "I can't really explain it, I haven't got the words. It's a feeling that you can't control, I suppose its like forgetting. Losing who you are. And at the same time something makes you whole. Its like that there's a music playing in your ear. And I'm listening, and I'm listening, and then I disappear. And then I feel a change like a fire deep inside. Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide, and suddenly I'm," Emma joins in with him, her voice matching in perfect harmony.

"Flying, flying like a bird, like electricity, electricity. Sparks inside of me and I'm free, I'm free. It's a bit like being angry. It's a bit like being scared confused and all mixed up and mad as hell. It's like when you've been crying and you're empty, and you're full. I don't know what it is, it's hard to tell. It's like that there's some music playing in your ear. But the music is impossible, impossible to hear. But then I feel it move me like a burning deep inside. Something bursting me wide open, impossible to hide. Then suddenly I'm flying, flying like a bird, like electricity, electricity. Sparks inside of me and I'm free, I'm free. Electricity, sparks inside of me, and I'm free, I'm free. Oh oh whoa, I'm free." When the song finishes they're looking at each other, her blue eyes piercing his brown ones. 

Emma smiles at him, "See? I told you it would be fun."

Tom smiles back at her, "I guess you were right, thanks."

"Come on, the rush is about to start, come back to my dorm, we can grab some food on the way and watch some movies."

"That sounds great," they hold hands, without hesitation this time, and walk out of the restaurant and into the cold snow, leaving footprints in the untreated, freshly fallen snow, as they headed back to her dorm.