Status: active-!
Afraid to Fall
chapter 2
Noel. Noel. Noel. My mind went crazy, and my heart felt like it was a sugar-high hamster on a wheel. I thought of that Taylor Swift song, the one that goes "I think he can see though, everything but my heart." That's especially true in my case. Okay, so Noel and I met in a...weird way. And yeah, okay, he wasn't your perfect guy. What guy is, though? He's perfect to me, and that's all that matters. Not that he'd ever know. I swear the boy doesn't have feelings. Well, he does, but he's only had one girlfriend in the past, and I swear if he had broken up with her I would've strangled her myself...not that I knew the girl. I had stalked her on Facebook, and she's the biggest slut ever...just a personal opinion. Anyways, Noel lived an hour away, in New Jersey. We had met when he was visiting the Carolinas with his youth group. I giggled and thought of how he had looked when I first saw him.
I was running downstairs, halfway out the door to my car, when I realized I had forgot my keys in the den. Sprinting across the house, I was about to head into the den when I looked outside and saw him, taking in the view of the North Carolina sunset. He looked like such a nerd, with his JERSEY SHORE YOUTH OF AMERICA collared polo and khaki shorts. He was on the beach, somewhat apart from the rest of the kids, and had wandered down from the public beach onto my family's private beach. I quietly stepped out on my wraparound porch and just stood there, oversize sweatshirt and shorts, hair in a messy bun and little to no makeup. I was just admiring him, hoping he wouldn't notice me. Still not knowing who he was, he bent over to look at a shell and I leaned over the railing to get a closer view. Leaning too far, I almost fell and made a scream-ish noise. He jolted up and turned around just as I had dropped to the ground and was hiding under a chair. Little did I know...my feet were sticking out.
"Hey...wow...theres a pair of feet on the deck. That's weird. Wonder who left them there. Whoever it was had purple nailpolish...huh." Embarassed, I slowly stood up, a sheepish smile on my face.
"Uh...hello. I'm Brighton." The mysterious boy smiled nervously and put one hand behind his neck and I caught a glimpse of some gorgeous biceps. He had gorgeous eyes that captivated you and made you want to stare into them for hours. His face looked like a Connect-the-Dots of freckles, and his lips were in an awkward half-smile that only he could have pulled off. His hair was dark but not black, and short but not too short. Everything about him just worked together to create an incredible male specimen.
"Noel...do you live here?" I laughed too hard, then felt stupid and pulled myself together. By now my face was as red as a ripe strawberry.
"No I just broke in, and I was hiding...cause...I stole stuff...no I'm only kidding. I live here yeah, cause...yeah." Noel grinned.
"Makes sense. You wanna come down here? The beach isn't so bad." My eyes widened and my heart picked up a steady bass rhythm. Why was I so bad at flirting? I didn't even know him, why was I unexplainably in love with him?
"Yeah I was actually on my way to just get some...food. So yeah. The Chinese place will yell at me if I'm late again...sorry. I need me some lo mein." Did I really just say that?
"Oh I get it, lo mein is good. That it is. So... I guess I'll see you around. Actually, I won't cause I don't even live here. I'm just visiting. I'll be in Raleigh by tomorrow, and then back to Jersey." My heart sank down and settled into a pit in the bottom of my stomach. Figures, I thought.
"Well I guess I won't be seeing you then...but maybe we could get to know each other more...do you have a phone?" Stupid. Of course he has a phone. What sixteen year old doesn't? I blushed harder and looked at my feet.
"I have a phone...here's my number." He took a sticky note and a pen out of his pocket, scribbled something, and folded it into a paper airplane. His eyes narrowed, and he drew his arm back with care. Then he let go and the paper swirled around until landing right at my feet. I laughed and picked it up.
"Thanks. That was very skilled. I'm impressed. Crap, 7:30 already!? I really gotta go. Nice to meet you, Noel." He smiled sweetly and waved.
"You too, Brighton. Text me." He picked up his backpack from the sand and ran back to his group down the beach. As I watched him go I sighed, thinking that that was probably the last I'd hear from the beautiful teen. He really was something, and as the sun dipped below the water and the stars came out, I couldn't believe I had let him go.
I was running downstairs, halfway out the door to my car, when I realized I had forgot my keys in the den. Sprinting across the house, I was about to head into the den when I looked outside and saw him, taking in the view of the North Carolina sunset. He looked like such a nerd, with his JERSEY SHORE YOUTH OF AMERICA collared polo and khaki shorts. He was on the beach, somewhat apart from the rest of the kids, and had wandered down from the public beach onto my family's private beach. I quietly stepped out on my wraparound porch and just stood there, oversize sweatshirt and shorts, hair in a messy bun and little to no makeup. I was just admiring him, hoping he wouldn't notice me. Still not knowing who he was, he bent over to look at a shell and I leaned over the railing to get a closer view. Leaning too far, I almost fell and made a scream-ish noise. He jolted up and turned around just as I had dropped to the ground and was hiding under a chair. Little did I know...my feet were sticking out.
"Hey...wow...theres a pair of feet on the deck. That's weird. Wonder who left them there. Whoever it was had purple nailpolish...huh." Embarassed, I slowly stood up, a sheepish smile on my face.
"Uh...hello. I'm Brighton." The mysterious boy smiled nervously and put one hand behind his neck and I caught a glimpse of some gorgeous biceps. He had gorgeous eyes that captivated you and made you want to stare into them for hours. His face looked like a Connect-the-Dots of freckles, and his lips were in an awkward half-smile that only he could have pulled off. His hair was dark but not black, and short but not too short. Everything about him just worked together to create an incredible male specimen.
"Noel...do you live here?" I laughed too hard, then felt stupid and pulled myself together. By now my face was as red as a ripe strawberry.
"No I just broke in, and I was hiding...cause...I stole stuff...no I'm only kidding. I live here yeah, cause...yeah." Noel grinned.
"Makes sense. You wanna come down here? The beach isn't so bad." My eyes widened and my heart picked up a steady bass rhythm. Why was I so bad at flirting? I didn't even know him, why was I unexplainably in love with him?
"Yeah I was actually on my way to just get some...food. So yeah. The Chinese place will yell at me if I'm late again...sorry. I need me some lo mein." Did I really just say that?
"Oh I get it, lo mein is good. That it is. So... I guess I'll see you around. Actually, I won't cause I don't even live here. I'm just visiting. I'll be in Raleigh by tomorrow, and then back to Jersey." My heart sank down and settled into a pit in the bottom of my stomach. Figures, I thought.
"Well I guess I won't be seeing you then...but maybe we could get to know each other more...do you have a phone?" Stupid. Of course he has a phone. What sixteen year old doesn't? I blushed harder and looked at my feet.
"I have a phone...here's my number." He took a sticky note and a pen out of his pocket, scribbled something, and folded it into a paper airplane. His eyes narrowed, and he drew his arm back with care. Then he let go and the paper swirled around until landing right at my feet. I laughed and picked it up.
"Thanks. That was very skilled. I'm impressed. Crap, 7:30 already!? I really gotta go. Nice to meet you, Noel." He smiled sweetly and waved.
"You too, Brighton. Text me." He picked up his backpack from the sand and ran back to his group down the beach. As I watched him go I sighed, thinking that that was probably the last I'd hear from the beautiful teen. He really was something, and as the sun dipped below the water and the stars came out, I couldn't believe I had let him go.