She Had Me At Bonjour

”Zack, you better not let go! I don’t want to be with the fishies!” Her dark brown hair whipped around in the wind as I held her waist, preventing her from falling into the water below. She was leaning with half her body on the other side of the fence separating the harbor from the ocean, pretending she was Rose DeWitt Bukater from Titanic; the scene where Jack Dawson is holding Rose at the tip of the boat.

“Okay, okay you can put me down now! I’m seriously scared!” I put her down in front of me and she turned around to smile at me. “If I ever suggest something like that again, please refuse!”

“Did you think you were going to fall?” I asked her. I knew I was holding her tightly so she wouldn’t fall, but when you’re hovering over the ocean with only two arms holding you up, anyone would be slightly afraid.

“No, of course not!” She came closer and rested her head on my chest. “You wouldn’t let me, right?”

I grinned at her and rested my chin on top of her head, wrapping my arms around her. “I’d never let you go. Not even if you told me to.” I swear I could stay like this forever.

“Good. Now can we go get some ice cream? I’m starving!”

“Okay, let’s go.” I unwrapped my arms and grabbed her hand as we started walking to the ice cream shop by the harbor.

“Zachary Merrick! You’re such a liar!” She let go of my hand and crossed her arms.

“No I’m not, we’re getting ice cream right now!”

“Not that, silly!” Her voice lowered a bit. “You said you’d never let me go.”

I smiled even wider, picking her up off her feet and cuddling her small frame to my chest. “Is this better?”

“Yes, now carry me to the ice cream shop!”

“Zack, c’mon man, wake up.” I opened my eyes to see Rian sitting on the foot of my bed, shaking my arm.

“Good, you’re awake. You kept saying random things in your sleep. I mean, ice cream sounds delicious right now, but I don’t think you’d want to carry me there.” He laughed at his own joke and I laughed with him.

“I, uh, dreamt about her again.” I’ve been having dreams about the girl who was pushed into the barricades for the past few days now. Rian was the only one who knew; Alex would crack jokes about it whenever I was around and Jack would be destined to find her for me.

“The girl from our last show?” I nodded. “Do you even know her name?”

“No. All I know is that she has dark brown hair and brown eyes. And that she’s probably the prettiest girl I’ve seen.” I shrugged and held my head down.

“She was at the Baltimore show, so she probably lives here. Maybe you’ll run into each other?”

“Baltimore isn’t some tiny little town where everyone knows each other, Rian. I doubt I’ll see her.”

“Doesn’t hurt to hope.” Rian got up from the bed and started walking out of my room before stopping at the door. “Oh, right. The guys and I are going to Thames Street in a bit to walk around, maybe get something to eat. You coming?”

“Yeah, I’ll be out in 10 minutes.” He left, shutting the door behind him.

I got up, causing my bed to sqeak a bit. I took a quick shower and threw on some clothes and a pair of shoes before heading out. Jack, Rian, and Alex were all waiting for me next to the door. We took Jack’s car out to Thames Street, parking in the first available spot. While we all were walking and making jokes, We passed by a skateboard shop. I told the guys I’d meet up with them later and went inside. After looking around a bit and buying a set of wheels, I walked out of the shop. I ended up at the harbor and leaned on the railing, looking out at the water. A few minutes later, I heard a voice that sounded oddly familiar.

“I’ll catch up with you later, okay Cree? I want to look out at the water for a bit, get stuff off my mind, you know?” From the corner of my eyes, I could see a girl with dark brown hair walk up and set her hands on the railing a few feet away from me. She sighed, relaxing her shoulders and started humming to something on her iPod.

Turning my head a bit to get a better view, I realized it was the girl from the concert; the girl who’s been in my dreams the past few days. I tensed and looked back out to the ocean, apparently a little too late. She caught me staring and blushed, coughing a bit and turning her head my way.

“Zack? Z-Zack Merrick?”