Exploding with excitement, I dash across the street. Car horns blare, but I barely notice. I'm running on pure adrenaline and feel as if I'm in a dream. This can't truly be happening, I think to myself as I barely make it safely to the other side of the road, it's much too wonderful. But it is happening. As I stop to catch my breath, I see the reality right before my very eyes. A large brown tour bus, with the most adorable creature in the world as an inhabitant. The very thought makes my pulse quicken and my legs get shaky. I try to settle down and compose myself, fanning my warm face and fidgeting with my hair in nervous anticipation. My gosh, relax! I chastise myself. He probably won't be coming out for like hours, so just take deep breaths...no need to faint and make a fool of yourself! Before I could take those deep breaths, however, the sight I soon beheld made my heart stop and then beat in double-time, out of control.
There is a squeak as the door of the tour bus opens and a young man emerges. As he stretches and yawns, I openly gape at him, taking him in. His tousled brown hair lifts gently in the light summer breeze as he takes in a deep breath, yawns widely, and then smiles a dreamy smile that seems to radiate a warm glow. My eyes eventually leave his face and travel to the rest of his body, taking in his lean body dressed in an adorable ensemble of a black t-shirt and white tie, skinny jeans, and Onitsuka Tiger shoes. I return my gaze back to his face, and suddenly our eyes meet. My heart leaps with the dolphins, and I become dizzy and giddy. A huge, stupid smile is plastered on my face, and I begin to blush profusively. I look down at my feet, and when I look up again, he is still looking at me with an awkward smile on his face and an adorable blush reddening his cheeks as our eyes meet again. I begin to feel faint as I realize what I need to do...I need to cross the distance between us and get up the guts to talk to him. I gulp and take a large, shaky breath as I begin to take the most surreal walk I've ever traversed. It's just so surreal, a dream come true, a fairy tale come to life.
I keep my eyes glued on him as I walk, afraid that he'll disappear if I relinquish my gaze. Consequently, this makes it much easier to trip over my feet, which I do multiple times. My cheeks flame up with embarassment and excitement, and I inwardly curse my clumsiness. The closer I get to him, the more shaky my whole body becomes, and I begin to feel dizzy. Eventually I'm close enough to speak to him, but no words escape from my mouth. They all get stuck in my throat and feel inadequate now that I'm in his presence. The presence of Adam Young. So, I just stand there, a deer in the headlights.
"Hey...ummm...you okay?" Adam asks.
Adam peers at me with concern deepening his chocolate eyes. Once again, I am completely unable to utter a sound because now I'm falling into his eyes. Adam begins to bite his lip and folds his arms around his chest as he glances around nervously, looking so adorably awkward that I just want to wrap him up into my arms and squeeze him tight against me. I smile and barely suppress a giggle at the thought. Noticing this, Adam raises his eye brows and cocks his head to one side, like an adorably inquisitive puppy. Can he get any cuter? I blush beet red and a tiny, high-pitched giggle escapes from my mouth. I clap my hand to my mouth in utter embarassment, but Adam is unfazed. He just laughs with me. His laugh has a bright and cheerful sound to it that seems to emanate from his very soul, and it's highly contagious. I start to laugh along with him, and in my joy, I accidentally let out a snort. We're both silent for a moment, looking at each other (me looking absolutely disgusted with myself, I'm sure), when suddenly we begin laughing like a couple of maniacs. And we just can't stop. We're both laughing so hard that we can barely breathe, gasping for air and eventually dropping down to the ground to hold our sides in delicious pain.
When we finally get our breath back, our eyes meet again, and my breath catches in my throat as I realize how close we are. We're sprawled out on the cement of the parking lot, our bodies mere inches away from each other...so close that I can hear Adam's breath quicken, and I can smell his cologne: a soothingly sweet mixture of vanilla and lilac. If this wasn't intoxicating enough, his warm, chocolate eyes make me completely melt as he gazes into my eyes and seemingly into my very soul. This intimate moment is timeless; it seems to last forever and to last only a second, all at the same time. Adam is the first to bring us back to the present. In his embarassment, he gets up a bit too quickly and stumbles, however, catching himself on the bus's open door. I jump up in concern.
"You okay?" I ask.
Adam laughs. "Well, it seems we've come full-circle, haven't we?"
"Yeah, I guess so." I chuckle, and then, taking a shaky breath, I begin to introduce myself. "Well, um, my name is Jenna, in case you were wondering."
"Nice to meet you, Jenna," Adam responds. "My name's Adam, in case you didn't already know that." He winks (yes, winks!) at me and reaches out his hand to shake mine. His hand hovers alone for a moment as I stare at it in wonder, afraid to touch it. Afraid that if I touch him, I'll discover it's all just a dream. But curiosity and desire grab hold of me, and I place my hand in his. Shivers of delight run down my spine as his warm hand grasps mine.
"Nice to meet you, too, Adam," I say, as he releases my hand. My hand is still warm and tingles with elated electricity. "I love your music, and I...um...I think you're an amazing person."
"Aww, thanks," Adam says, his smile shining brightly.
"You're very welcome!" There's an awkward silence as I look down at my feet. I glance at Adam's feet and notice his legs are shaking. Is he actually as nervous as I am? I wonder. To lessen the discomfort for the both of us, I speak again. "Umm...Adam? Can I, um, possibly get my picture taken with you, please?" I ask. I inwardly curse myself for how rehearsed it probably sounded. The truth is, though, that I had rehearsed those very lines in my head for months and months before this moment. In my daydreams I'd imagined this happening over and over. I am pleased to know, however, that I'd actually been been able to utter my request at all.
"Oh, sure!" There's silence for a few moments. "Ummm, do you...have a camera?"
"Oh, yeah, yes," I fluster out, bringing myself back to reality. Fumbling through my purse, I find my camera. "Got it!" I exclaim in triumph, spilling out the rest of the contents of my purse in the process. How embarassing. I blush beet red again as I hurriedly drop down and pick up my things, and I find my head colliding with something hard: Adam's head.
"Sorry!" we both chime and laugh nervously.
"Sorry," Adam says again, as he continues to help me pick up. "I was just...going to help y--"
"It's okay," I interrupt, reassuring him. "Don't worry about it." When the only object left is my hairbrush, I reach out to grab it...at the same time that Adam does the same. Our fingers meet for a second, sending a spark of electricity that travels up my whole hand, and then Adam quickly relinquishes his hand, and I throw my hairbrush into my purse. Suddenly we become aware that people are watching us. We stand up quickly and find a group of pretty girls watching us with great interest and envy. One of the girls, an especially beautiful girl with wavy, blonde hair and blue eyes, throws me a look of contemptuous resentment. My cheeks burn up in embarrassment and surprise. I'd never been one to be disliked or envied by others. I was always the nice, shy girl who was largly overlooked, but today is a different story all together. It's like I'm a totally different person around Adam, I think to myself, but then I realize that I'm not being a totally different person. I'm just finally and truly being me for a change. No holding back and watching things happen around me, waiting for something to happen to me. I'm actually chasing my dreams, literally.
So, I rack up my courage and ask one of the girls, a cheery brunette with pigtails, to take a picture of Adam and me. The girl agrees, happy to be closer to and be noticed by Adam, I'm sure. My heart begins beating like crazy as I go to stand next to him, our bodies mere inches away from each other, the possibility of embrace in the air. I can hear his shaky, shallow breaths, and when he exhales, I can feel his breath's warmth caress my cheek. We're so close, and I just want to hold him, but I'm too scared. Afraid of the rejection that I'm so sure I'd find. I instead settle into memorizing the moment, taking in how beautiful his face is as he smiles for the camera.
"Hey! Look at the camera, girly!" the brunette teases. "And get closer. I don't think he bites!"
I can almost feel the vibrations of Adam's chest as he chuckles. "Yeah, I'll try not to bite," he teases, tossing me a gentle smile. I smile shyly and move closer, until our arms touch, and then, before my bravery disappears, I quickly wrap my arm around him. It's an akward hold, granted, but I had done it. Adam stiffens in surprise at first, but then he relaxes against me. The surprise is then on me as I feel Adam's body shift, and I realize that he is putting his arm around me as well. I begin beaming so big that I think my face might explode. When the pictures have all been taken, the other girls begin to swarm around Adam, and I realize I should probably let them take their turn, so to speak, but I just can't bear to leave him. I'm afraid we'll never meet again. So, I try to speak above the tumult of the excited girls. "Ummm...Adam?" He doesn't respond, not hearing me. I push through the crowd of girls and touch his arm. He then notices me, and smiling mischieviously, he grabs my arm and bursts through the crowd. I stumble at first, as he drags me along, but then I begin to laugh and run along with him. As I peer back over my shoulder, I see the girls gazing at our retreating figures in astonishment and giving me looks of admiration and wonder mixed with disappointment.
After dashing down the sidewalk, dodging curious pedestrians, and racing across the street, narrowly avoiding a collision with a speedy Corvette, we end up near a little beach. We hunch over as we gasp for breath, and I notice that Adam's hand is still holding mine. He notices, too, and hastily lets go.
"Sorry about that," Adam says. "I wasn't trying to...kidnap you or anything. I just wanted to get some space, so I could actually hear you and talk to you. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic over there." He laughs and gestures towards the girls across the street, who are still waiting patiently for his return.
"Oh, no problem! I just hope I'm not being an inconvenience for you or anyth--"
"No, no," Adam interrupts, smiling sweetly at me. "You're not an inconvenience at all. So...did you have a question that you wanted to ask me?"
"Oh, well, um," I stutter, flustered by his brown eyes that are now penetrating deeply into mine. I release his gaze and look at my hands. "I was wondering if I could...well...hug you."
Adam smiles bashfully and blushes. "Oh. S-sure."
There's a long split-second of hesitation, as I continue to look at my hands and bite my lip. My apprehension is keeping me rooted to the spot. Frozen. But when I venture a peek up at Adam, I feel my frigid timidity melt with the warmth of his eyes on me. I take a deep breath and step towards him. Reaching out, I awkwardly wrap my arms around his back and pull my body up against his chest. Adam gently wraps his arms around my back, completing the gesture. I can feel the warmth of his hands on my lower back through the thin material of my light blue summer dress, and the beating of his heart thumps rapidly against mine. Eventually his heart beat begins to slow, and our heart beats begin to beat in time. Our bodies meld together, as if we're two puzzle pieces fitting in place. It's the happiest moment of my life. All too soon, we slowly release from each other's grasp. I have a deep feeling of elation. My whole body is tingling, and I feel a bit tipsy. I think I'm drunk on Adam Young! I think to myself, smiling dreamily.
"Thanks," I say breathlessly. "Thank you."
Adam puts his hands in his pockets and looks out at the lake, looking a bit shy and nervous. "N-no problem. I...um...it was great meeting you." He bites his lip and continues to look out at the water, his eyes periodically lingering on me. I follow suit and look out at the water gleaming in the late afternoon sunshine. We continue doing that for some time, the sun sinking lower and lower on the horizon. After a while, Adam turns back to me.
"Well, I think I better be going," Adam says, but still stays rooted to the spot as he continues to inscrutably look at me.
"Yeah, you wouldn't want to be late for your own concert," I say teasingly, "and you've got a lot of other fans who want to meet you."
"Yeah, right," Adam says, nodding. "That's an understatement." We both laugh as we peer across the street, where a bunch of girls are frantically waving at Adam. Both of us stand that way for a few moments. It seems as if he is as reluctant to leave as I am. "Well, I guess I'll see you tonight," Adam says finally. "I hope you enjoy the concert."
"Yeah, it should be awesome," I say, my voice spontaneously squeaking up an octave higher. I clap my hand to my mouth in embarrassment. Adam tries to conceal a laugh by clapping a hand to his mouth too, but I can still hear his muffled laughter through his fingers. I playfully swat his shoulder and give him a smirk. He smirks back at me and takes my hand, my heart beat accelerating. Hand-in-hand we walk back across the street. As I let go of his hand, I give him one more smile and thank him again. Turning away from Adam and the crowd of girls who had once again surrounded him, I look back over my shoulder and see Adam's penetrating eyes watching me leave.
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Scurrying out the door of the theater, the cool summer night breeze pushed me along, but I could barely feel its chill. The night's events were enough to keep me warm for a long time. As I walked, I replayed the night over in my mind: meeting Adam Young, actually conversing with him, and even hugging him! It still seems so unreal. Excitedly searching through my purse, I dig out my camera and scroll through the night's events captured in the photos, proving the reality of this enchanted evening. I couldn't wait to tell my friends and my family all about it. My head was so full of these thoughts that I barely noticed that something was wrong. I start to feel the hair on the back of my neck prickling, and I feel like someone is behind me. Am I being followed?
My heart begins to race as I pick up the pace, but my pursuer seems to follow suit and pick up the pace too. Every moment my pursuer seems to get closer and closer. By now my heart is beating almost right out of my chest, so I decide to just turn around and face my pursuer before my heart bursts apart from beating so fast. I turn my head around slightly and, under the fluorescent glow of a street light, I find someone I had least expected.
"Um, hey! D-do you, uh, do you remember me?" says a brown-haired young man with brown eyes above an awkward, sheepish smile. But it couldn't be...could it? I think to myself. As I stand there, a look of alarm must have remained on my face because the young man blushes scarlet and quickly apologizes. "I'm sorry...really sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I-um-I'm Adam Young, in case you don't remember me..." His words trail off as he appears to suddenly be fascinated by the cracks in the sidewalk beneath his feet.
"Oh! It's okay," I say, and seeing an unconvinced look from Adam, I add: "Really. I mean it...and of course I remember you. I was just surprised to see you and, well, surprised that you remembered me."
There is an awkard pause in the conversation, diffused a bit by a couple of people who pass between us, providing an opportunity to compose ourselves. For me that composure doesn't come, but Adam seems very composed now and so perfect. I long to gently pull his face down to mine and place my lips on his as I string my fingers through his lovely hair. Thinking about these kinds of things makes it rather difficult to gain composure, in case you were wondering.
"Of course I remember you, Jenna," Adam says. Hearing the sound of my name being spoken breaks me out of my daydreams (especially considering the person who has spoken my name). "I just wanted to tell you how enchanted I was to meet you," he continues, "and, well, I was wondering if we could maybe keep in touch...?"
I open my mouth to respond, but words escape me. Adam Young was, in his own words, enchanted to meet me?!...and he wants to keep in touch?! Could this even possibly be happening to me?
"Th-thanks!" I say lamely. "And yes, I-I'd like to keep in touch, too."
Adam's smile lights up the night, like a little kid on Christmas morning. "Great!" he says, as he fishes in his pocket and pulls out a pen. He suddenly becomes hesitant as he looks at his pen and clicks it a few times. Adam then reaches out his left arm to hold my hand while he begins writing on it. When he gets done writing, I see that he's written his number and his name, first and last. This makes me laugh. He's just so humble. I mean, as if I'd forget which Adam he was...ha!
Adam then hands the pen over to me, and I shyly write my name and number for him as well. "Thank you so much, Adam, for everything," I say, peering up into his cozy brown eyes.
"No problem," Adam says, melting chocolate into my hazel eyes. "Thank you."
We both stand and smile at each other, unsure of what to do next and reluctant to leave. Knowing that my parents are waiting for me and that Adam is probably super tired, however, I decide to (sadly) start our farewells.
"I should let you go," I say. "You've probably got lots of things you need to do...number one being sleep, I hope." As soon as I say this, the thought of watching him sleep pops into my mind and makes me blush.
Thankfully, Adam doesn't seem to notice my discomfort. Instead, he just laughs. "Yeah, sleep sounds pretty good right about now, but it'll probably be hard to fall asleep right away tonight. It's been...an amazing night." Adam then gives me the sweetest smile I've ever seen. It's the kind of smile that seems to warm up the air 10 degrees or more.
"Yeah, it definetely has been amazing," I say. "It was incredible meeting you."
"Same here, Jenna," Adam says, taking my hand and shaking it. As we are about to release our hands, I decide to surprise him and give him a quick hug. We both wobble around awkwardly as we turn to leave, glancing back and waving good bye as we go. I eventually see Adam disappear around the corner and out of sight. Stopping to stand and stare over toward the corner where Adam disappeared, I see a pair of fireflies drift by, twinkling in the night.
