My Undefined Romeo

“There, done” Nate said, putting the mop back in the corner. I laughed as he quickly hopped across the wet floor and over to the door. His hand paused on the door handle as he looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Ready to go?”

I nodded and hopped off the counter, and joined him at the door. He opened the door for me and I walked out of the concession stand with him behind me. Once we were a little a ways from the stand, I stopped to thank him for helping me. “Thank y-” I stopped in midsentence when cold water instantly hit my face. It took me a second to realize what was happening. At first, my first thought was that Nate had dumped some jug of cold water on me as a prank, but no, of course that wasn’t it.

“Well that’s fantastic,” I muttered, looking up at the black sky. The rain began to fall harder now making it difficult to hear. And as you can imagine, I was somewhat surprised when I heard laughter behind me.

I turned around to see Nate smiling at me. His brown hair was wet and clinging to his forehead, while his black shirt was soaked through as well as his jeans. And he was laughing. Why the hell was he laughing? It was cold, dark, late, and raining. But still, I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes at him.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked incredulously. “Did you get high off of that floor disinfectant? You know I told you not to use so much…”

Nate’s smile turned into a grin. “It’s raining.”

I blinked. “Uh, yeah… I noticed. And we’re getting soaked. Lets go.” I turned and started walking away, but something stopped me. Nate had his hand wrapped around my wrist. While he stared at me, I stared at his hand.

“Let. Go.” I said threatening.

Nate immediately let go, still smiling, and walked past me a few feet. “Isn’t it great?”

I scoffed. “No, it’s awful. I hate the rain.” And I did. I hated getting wet.

Nate didn’t reply. Instead, he spread out his arms and looked up to the sky. He closed his eyes and didn’t make a sound.

In that moment, watching Nate, I felt an unfamiliar feeling in my stomach. It felt like I was going to puke, but I kind of liked it…in a weird way. There was something about the way he just stood there looking up at the sky with the rain pouring down on him. It was like for tonight, for this moment, Nate wasn’t a Popular…He was just a normal, regular, guy.

And a part of me liked it.

I wish I had a camera, I thought. Instead, I resorted to forming a box with my hands and pretend clicking a camera button. “Click,” I said. Immediately, Nate’s head snapped forward and he eyed me cautiously.

“What did you just do…?”

I grinned. “Mental photo.”

“Okay?” he said frowning, obviously not understanding what I did it for.

I rolled my eyes and walked towards him. “You looked like a normal guy for that moment there. I didn’t have a picture, so I took a mental picture instead.”

His eyebrows rose and we walked towards the parking lot. “I don’t look normal now?”

I sighed. “You know what I mean…”

“Emma,” he said so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear. “I don’t know if it means anything to you, but I want to apologize for how I’ve treated you all this time.”

I shook my head. “Nate, you don’t need to apologize… But if it’s important to you then I accept.”

His beautiful face lit up. “Thanks.”

I stopped and rocked back and forth on my feet as Nate opened the door to his car. He smiled at me through the pouring rain and my heart involuntary fluttered.

“Do you need a ride?” he asked.

Yes. I didn’t want to walk through the rain. I hated the rain! “No,” I said with a small smile. “My car is parked way over there.” What the hell?! I yelled inside my head. Why didn’t you say yes?! Nate Carter just offered to give you a ride! You idiot!

He hesitated before sliding in his car. “Okay, then, I guess I’ll talk to you Monday?”

I sighed deeply. “Nate, I’m not going to explain this to you again…”

He waved me off with his hand. “So what are you going to do if I just happen to run into you and accidently start a conversation?”

I thought about it and laughed. I could imagine that happening. But still… “Nate, just go home. I’ll seeyou on Monday, okay?”

He blew frustrated air through his nose. “But I’m tired of just watching.”

I blinked at that statement. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but did that just sounded like Nate said he had been watching me? And for a while now? Nah, I must have misinterpreted wrong. Why would Nate Carter be watching me?

“Oh, um…” he stumbled around for words. “It’s just that I see you around a lot, and we never talk. Ever.”

I sighed. Duh. I was an idiot. “Well yeah. We are two completely different people. You are the most popular guy in school, captain of the rugby team, the most cutes-” I cut myself off quickly. “You know what? Just never mind. The answer is no. If you bump into me, I won’t even acknowledge you.”

He seemed hurt for a moment then laughed. “I highly doubt that! I imagine that if I were to bump into you… you would push me back and yell.” I felt myself flush. “Am I right?”

I sighed and turned around to walk away. “Goodbye, Nate.” And Before I got too far out of earshot, I heard him yell back.

“I think you’re pretty cute too!”

Thank god I had my back to him. I didn’t need a mirror to tell me that my face was beat red. Meanwhile, the butterflies in my stomach woke up from their short nap and were going wild…