Butterflies

Does he remember when they first met, all those years ago when they were just shy of seventeen? She does.

He was sitting on a bench, a boombox by his feet was playing a song that she liked but didn’t know the name of. He reminded her of a character in one her favourite films, the bad boy with a chip on his shoulder who was really the nice guy underneath.

She walked over and introduced herself, and asked him what the song was, and he looked at her as if she was from another world. Little did they know that their worlds would soon collide.

She followed him around for most of the day, being careful to stay five steps behind him so he wouldn’t notice. This was easy as she was used to walking in other people’s shadows, especially her friends who were prettier and more popular than she was.

In the evening as everyone sat down for dinner in the dining room, his eyes caught hers from across the room and she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she’d never felt before.

People call this feeling butterflies, a nervous flutter but for her it was different, it burned, like her butterflies were dancing too close to a flame.

Image: photograph by jamienelson.com for Vogue Portugal 2016..