Matt was always the awkward one at parties. He wasn't very outgoing, and even when people did come to talk to him, he could never quite form the words he wanted to say, and even the words he wanted to say weren't quite arranged in logical sentences in his brain. When the people left, feeling about as uncomfortable around him as he felt around them, he was always able to pull himself together. He'd think about the things he should have said. He'd try to practice the things he should say when the next person came around. But things just never quite worked out.
It was his best friend's birthday (and coincidentally, one of his only friends), and he had promised to be there. Matt knew that John would have lots of friends over, like he always did, and John knew that Matt would feel uncomfortable with so many people around. But John always made sure to make time for Matt, to sit down and talk with him away from everyone else, and they had arranged to have a sleepover with just the two of them after the party, and so Matt was willing to go through the party in return. Even if at times it made his skin crawl.
There was one girl in particular there who Matt hadn't seen before. He was trying to remember all of the names of the people John had invited, because he knew that there had been a few that he didn't recognize, but he was struggling with coming up with who they were. He hadn't honestly been paying much attention at the time. This girl would drift in and out of Matt's view, and he found that each time he saw her, he became irritated with the fact that he couldn't place a name on her face, and he couldn't determine why.
She was a pretty girl with blonde hair that ran just past her shoulders, a tank top, and a cute skirt. She seemed to be a much more lively person than even John was, bouncing around between conversations, a smile constantly plastered on her face. For a long time, she didn't notice Matt, hidden away back in a corner so that fewer people would talk to him, but when she did her face seemed to light up and she made a beeline straight towards him. Matt could feel his entire body freezing up as she approached.
"Hi there!" she called out as she got close, her voice just as bubbly as her appearance. "I don't think we've met. My name's Lauren." She held out her hand, and Matt starred at it for a moment, unable to come up with what she wanted him to do. Even when he realized she was offering to shake his hand, it took a moment for him to make his body respond, and after wait felt like an eternity, he reached out and took her hand.
The touch of her skin was electricity. It shot through his body, a cold thunderbolt at first, to be replaced with fire only a moment later. Every inch of him was taken by it. He felt like his eyes must be bulging out of his head, his muscles contracting and expanding at random, trying to make him move while at the same time holding him in place. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He didn't even register that the girl was happily shaking his hand, and she pulled her arm away from his, the feeling dimmed, but lingered.
"And you are?" Lauren asked. Matt couldn't take his eyes off of her face. Was he going crazy, or had she suddenly become even better looking? It took every ounce of willpower that he had to stutter out his own name in response to her question. He was always shy, but this... This was something more. He couldn't understand what was happening. "It's nice to meet you, Matt," Lauren continued, blissfully unaware of the madness running through Matt's mind and body. "You must be a good friend of John's to not be talking to anyone and still be here."
Matt barely registered that his head nodded slightly. He had entered full autopilot. His brain was running full thrusters on trying to understand what was happening to him. "I've still got a lot of people to meet. I'll see you around, ok?" She waved as she bounced back off.
Matt gulped for air. He didn't know when he had stopped breathing. For the first time, he didn't regain control as soon as he was left alone. The fire was no longer raging inside him, but he could still feel a hot simmer coursing through his blood. He didn't even notice that John had come up beside him. He didn't know how long it had been since Lauren left.
"You feeling ok, bro?" John asked. Matt looked at him, trying to pull himself together. John put a soda in Matt's hand, which he drank quickly, hoping it would cool him down. It didn't. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Who..." Matt could barely get the words out. "Who's Lauren?" he asked.
"Oh, you met Lauren? I'm sorry, for you, she probably came off a little strong. She's my cousin."
"Cousin?"
"Yeah, she's from out of state, so I don't see her much. She's actually staying the night. But I made sure she'd be on the other side of the house, so we won't have to worry about her tonight."
Matt wasn't sure if that was a very good thing, or a very bad thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment