”Holy-” she stated in amazement, as I made my way back up the court towards her, simultaneously wiping the sweat off my forehead and brushing the matted blonde hair back off my face.

”Good game. I needed that”. I replied grabbing one of the towels we had laid out on the sidelines and wiping myself off with it.

”I can’t wait to play ball with you this year. We’re totally gonna kick ass!” I was grinning like a fool and when she reverently added, ”Your amazing.” At that moment I became intimately familiar with the sentiment ’my heart sank into my stomach’. Those metaphorical butterflies people speak of, erupted within me and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. This wasn’t normal, I didn’t act like this around girls. I was calm and cool and tended to keep my emotions in check, never getting too involved, never falling too hard. Then I meet this one girl and after 2 days, 2 days, I want to ask her out, I want her to be mine, I wanted to be cheesy and hold her hand, take her on dinner dates and most importantly – get her very, very naked, with me, in bed. Yeah, that part, at least, was normal.

Showering quickly and agreeing to head back to mine to start our chemistry project we caught the bus and chatted animatedly about various insignificant details of our separate lives. I loved hearing about her, the private inconspicuous details she thought meant nothing to people she told them to, but to me, they were nothing short of a window into the silhouette of her soul.

”So you’ve always been from Seattle?” I quizzed her lightly.

”We lived in Miami for a while, but more or less. My whole life is here, but I can’t wait to go to college somewhere a little different. A change of scenery could be fun.” She was smiling, she still has the same infectious smile now, it lights up my world.

”What do you want to do?”

”Oh, I’m going to be a doctor. Well, hopefully.”

”Seriously?” I was shocked, but more impossibly in awe of the brunette sitting beside me, than I was 30 seconds previous. She’s always had a habit of surprising me, even now.