“The Girl”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Two people crash into each other.” — suggested by Mary

“I’ve just never tried,” I admit, pushing the door open. I take a step inside the building and immediately crash directly into someone. I stumble backward, arms waving around wildly as I try to regain my balance.

“Oops, are you okay?!”

I stick my arms out to the side to stabilize myself. When I’ve finally got both feet firmly on the ground, I take a deep breath and look up, only to have the breath stolen from my lungs again.

She stares at me, the concern growing in her eyes. “Hello?”

“Er…”

I try speaking. Honestly, I do. But my mind is absolutely blank. All I can think about is how I’m standing in front of The Girl. Yes, The Girl, capital ‘T’ and capital ‘G’. Because she’s the one I saw earlier. She’s the one who stood up for me. The only one other than Lance who’s ever stood up for me.

When she stepped in front of me and told Hugo to suck it, my jaw dropped. Even though she’d never met Hugo before and wasn’t aware of just how much of a bully he’s been to me over the past ten years, she still stood up for me. She protected a complete stranger.

But not only did she stand up for me, she also completely destroyed Hugo. She’d done the equivalent of pulling down his pants in front of a crowd, but with only her words. If Hugo had a tail, he’d have run away with it tucked between his legs.

And then she’d turned to me, gave me a smile, and walked away as if it was nothing. As if this was just something she did every day.

My only regret was that I never thanked her. I was in too much shock that I’d never expressed my gratitude, nor my sheer awe of her. I’d searched for her, high and low, and hadn’t even caught a glimpse of her.

Until now.

But as I stand in front of her, my words fail me once again. I can only stare at her, mouth agape, as her concern turns to confusion.

“Okay,” she says slowly, “well sorry about knocking into you like that. Have a good day.”

My eyes follow her until she disappears around the corner. Only once she’s completely out of sight does my body relax.

“Dude,” Lance says, nudging me, “what the hell was that?”

I can only shake my head. “I don’t know, but I need to find her again. I need to talk to her.”

Final Comments: I had a lot of fun with this one! The wording was pretty awkward in some spots, but I almost feel like it matches the protagonist’s personality.

Overall Rating: 😄