Catfish

Through the course of her life, Penelope had had countless nerve-wrecking moments – her high school graduation, where she was sure she’d trip, and when she had to walk down the aisle at her sister’s wedding – but none of those moments compared to how nervous she was feeling as she sat in the middle of the small park, on top of the wooden bench, waiting for Nev, Max and Liam.

The park was nearly empty, as it was chilly outside and people would rather spend their day sipping cocoa. Even the ducks, which usually floated in the pond in front of her, had all but disappeared, not even to be coaxed back by small children with bread crumbs.

As Penelope say on the bench, her breaths fell short and quickly, the fog filling the air in front of her. She’d always loved to blow out puffs of air when she was younger, but now it only reminded her of how nervous she was.

She felt like she’d been waiting forever for this moment – to finally meet Liam – but now that it was finally here, she wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to feeling. She was excited, of course, as any girl would have been, but her nerves overcame that excitement and buried it down deep inside her. She was too nervous to feel much of anything else. Even the cold.

What if Liam saw her and ran away? What if she pretty enough for him? What if she wasn’t thin enough, nice enough, or perfect enough? What if she wasn’t good enough?

Her thoughts were racing in her head, trying to convince her to back out and walk away, but before she could, she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

Whipping her head around, she was met with a dark bearded face and brown eyes. The man smiled at her, and she smiled back.

“Penelope?” he asked, and she recognized his voice immediately. She nodded, and he held out his hand. “I’m Nev.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, as she quickly shook his hand. Her heart was racing, and she hoped that he couldn’t feel it through her skin.

He wore a wide smile that was meant to comfort her, and he grinned at her as he spoke.

“Do you think you’re ready?” he asked, and even though she was more nervous than she’d ever been, she knew that she was. Nerves aside, she’d always been ready to meet Liam.

After giving Nev a soft nod of her head, he waved his arm, motioning for her to follow him as they walked. Max followed behind them with a small camera, and Penelope tried her best to ignore it. She was just thankful that there wasn’t a full blown camera crew surrounding them.

Penelope’s body was shaking as they walked, with her knees trembling so badly she was almost certain that they’d buckle underneath her. She wished that they’d brought Liam to her, instead of the other way around, but she knew they probably had some film crew related reason for it.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Penelope tried not to think about where she was walking to. She tried not to focus on the fact that she was about to meet the boy of her dreams, and that this one moment had everything resting on it. One wrong move and her friendship with Liam could be ruined forever.

“Just breathe,” Nev said softly, as he smiled at her. “Just remember to breathe.”

Penelope shut her eyes tightly, before nodding softly, and when she opened them, her eyes fell on the pavilion several hundred feet away. A boy sat on top of one of the benches, hunched over with his head resting on his chin. He was turned away from them, his gaze focused on the city, and for some reason, Penelope just knew that the boy was Liam.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, causing her lungs to catch on fire. She was almost certain she was going to topple over, so she was thankful when Nev put his hand gently on her elbow. Her body felt like it was shutting down and she wasn’t sure if she could do it anymore. She was too afraid and too nervous to move, but somehow her legs were still carrying on with Nev’s.

In her mind, she was still a few feet back, far enough away from him for her to breathe, but in reality, he was so close that she swore she could hear him breathing. She couldn’t do it. He was too close and she was too afraid. She needed to run away.

But her foot landed on a branch, causing it to crunch beneath her. The sound alerted Liam, who say in his smooth, black pea coat. She wanted to curse herself for being so damn loud, but before she could, his head whipped around, and his eyes met hers almost immediately.

When he spoke, his voice sounded like it had a thousand times before, but it was so much closer than he had ever been, and all she could think about was running away.

He whispered her name, just barely loud enough for her to hear.

“Penelope?”