•Grab A Bite•

SEVEN YEARS AGO

Natasha slowly opened the door to the classroom and peeked her head through. She sighed in relief when she saw it empty. She pushed it open, walked and quickly closed the door, after which she slid into a chair and brought out a book to read. Reading in empty places was one of the things she enjoyed doing. She never liked reading in the midst of people or in crowded places. Aside from the fact that people gave her weird looks when they saw her reading, she also knew she would never be able to concentrate of she was in the midst of people.

As she flipped the pages open from side to side, her mind drifted off to the new guy, Paul. A small smile unconsciously touched her lips as she thought of him. Paul. He was so nice and so sweet and of course, so handsome. This was his fourth day in school and he was fast becoming everyone’s sweetheart. He had a lovely voice and a beautiful smile. And he was sooo kind. Natasha knew him becoming popular in school was probably a red flag but she couldn’t fight her attraction towards him. She couldn’t suppress that urge to blush uncontrollably when he complimented her hair or her dress. She couldn’t do anything about the butterflies that erupted deep down in her belly whenever he sent a smile her way.

He was so cute……

The door opened and Natasha jerked her head up as a head full of curly, thick, black hair stuck through the door.

Speak of the devil, she thought as Paul's face came through. Or in this case, the angel.

“Hey,” he said as he pushed the door and walked inside the class room.

“The door,” Natasha managed to say, her eyes glued to him, as the butterflies in her belly danced about in joy.

He turned and stared at the open door, a little bit confused. “You want me to close it?”

She nodded and said in a low voice, “Yes please.”

He walked back to the door and closed it. Then, he turned. “So, do you stay here alone often?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. Almost all the time. I….um,” she cleared her throat and raised her book up. “I come here to read sometimes.” 'Shut up!’ her inner mind yelled. ‘He didn’t ask about that. You are starting to blab!’ She quickly stopped talking.

Paul peered at the cover of the book. “It seems like an interesting book,” he offered.

“It is interesting.”

There was an awkward silence as the both of them just continued to stare at each other.

Natasha cleared her throat. “So, why are you here?”

He shrugged his shoulders as he walked to a chair across her. “No reason, really. I was talking to the coach of the football team in the hallway and then, I saw you walk back in here.”

“So…..” Natasha drawled.

“So, I came to say hi.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah and to tell you that your blouse looks beautiful,” he says.

Natasha dipped her head down to check out her flowery blouse as a blush stained her cheek. She raises her hand to touch the tip of her hair, toying with it shyly. “Oh, thank you,” she answered.

“You are welcome.”

They stared at each other in an awkward silence, with Natasha playing with the tips of her hair and glancing down at her book while Paul just stared at her face. After a while, Paul cleared his throat and asked, “So, do you have plans after school?”

Natasha eyes shot up and a blush coated her cheeks. Was he asking her out? “I….no, i….don’t……”

“I and a couple of people are going bowling and I was thinking you would love to tag along,” he explained.

“Oh.”

“You can come with Alyssa if you want,” he offered.

“Oh,” she repeated, hoping her disappointment was not evident in her tone. It was clear she thought he wanted to hang out with her alone. Forcing a smile on her face, she answered him, “I’m sure she would love that.”

“Yeah?” he asked and she nodded.

“Yes.”

“What about you?”

She seemed taken aback at first, stared into his eyes. “Me?” she questioned, her mind momentarily blank.

“Yeah, you. Would you love to come along?” he asked.

Sure, why wouldn’t she? She would grab any opportunity to be close to him. Except, she desperately wished this was a date. So, she smiled at him and said through gritted teeth, “Of course, why wouldn’t i?”

“Great.” He grinned. “I’d be expecting you. How about I pick you up?” he asked.

She shrugged coolly but deep down, she could feel her belly bursting into flames. “Hmm, sure of course,” she said. “I’ll text you my address?”

“Perfect. Then, maybe we can grab a bite before we meet with my friends.”

Natasha was feeling giddy with excitement. He wanted to spend sometime with her alone. She smiled. “I’d love that.”

“Good. See you later,” he said with a wink that made her insides melt. Then, he gave a little wave, turned and walked away.

Natasha watched as he gracefully moved out of the class and let out a deep sigh. She could feel her excitement piling up at the though of hanging out with Paul at the end of school. Did he also like her? Maybe he did. Why else would he ask her to 'grab a bite' with him before going with his friends? Maybe he liked her just as much as she liked him. Natasha couldn’t push away the giddy feeling she felt at the thought of that.

She glanced at the clock. School was almost over. She needed to find Alyssa and tell her about their plans. Also, she needed to get a new pair of clothes immediately and only Alyssa could help with that.

Shooting up to her feet, she quickly gathered her books and hurried out of the class to find her best friend.