Dainty and Dauntless

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"Actions speak louder than words," that's what the people say and I agree, but I think I need everything. So go ahead and burst my ear drums with your sweet nothings and have me longing for your hug, please.
                                       
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It begins with the initial spark of recognition—an accidental meeting of eyes across a room, perhaps amidst a crowd or during a fleeting moment of quiet. In that instant, something shifts subtly in the air between the boy and the girl. Their eyes lock, holding each other's gaze for a fraction longer than customary, as if testing the waters of mutual intrigue. Through their eyes, the boy and the girl navigate a delicate balance of revealing and concealing. They tease and test, drawing closer with each exchanged look while maintaining a respectful distance that heightens the allure of the encounter. In this way, flirting through glances becomes a dance of intimacy, where emotions are explored and boundaries gently nudged.
•••

Natalie had planned to pass by the library, to do some personal revision so she had headed out during her free period. She got there early and found the library almost empty, only three students were spaced out across the three columns when she entered and looked around. She then took a seat at the back of the second column, her favorite place to read from. She was at least ten minutes into her revision when the door cracked open and Ethan Valer stepped inside. He only had a book in hand and as he searched the room, his eyes settled on Natalie who had raised her head to glance at whomever was making their way inside. She only looked at him once, then to his shoes and back to her books. She heard the wooden stool screech from the third column as he sat down at a table.
It had been thirty minutes into reading when Natalie sat up for a stretch. When she looked his way , Ethan was turned to the back and he looked to be asleep.

That's odd.
The book was held to his chest and his head was against the wall. The posture looked painful. Natalie squinted forward and thought she saw his eyes twitch and close. Was he awake?
His right eye was almost open and she wondered if he was winking.
Snap out of it! She withdrew her eyes away from him and got back to revision. She scribbled down a few notes in her notebook as she checked the textbook. With less than ten minutes left for her library time, she looked through her notes and highlighted a few.
Ethan moved and sat upright, stretched and marched across the room then out the door. The bell rang and the librarian let the students know that their time was up. Natalie handed in the book, packed up and headed out. She used the staircase on her left since it was shorter and easily connected the aisle with the pathway to the dormitory block. She could feel the fatigue in her neck and the hunger in her stomach so she quickened her steps in order to get to dorm faster. She was almost at the bottom when she saw Ethan leaning against the wall, legs crossed. He seemed to be waiting for someone. When he glanced up, Natalie's impulses were too quick to realize that she had made a U-turn and sprinted up the stairs. Bemused, she kept climbing, ignoring the urge to turn back. She cusped her mouth as she neared the top of the staircase and turned to take the one on the right. Quickly, she went down the stairs, only for her eyes to land on Ethan Valer standing at the bottom of the stairs once more. He was looking up at her, legs crossed once more. God only knows how huge her eyes bulged and heart thumped at that instant. Her body stiffened as she got to the end of the stairs and he just kept standing there and staring.
"Is he going to say anything?
She slowed down and looked back at him and also said nothing. Ethan's breath was quick and he looked like he needed a minute to breathe right.

"You okay?" Natalie asked when he took a deep breath.

"Hmm?," he stood upright. "Totally, how's everything?"

"It's alright, I guess" Natalie then pointed up the stairs, "I thought I saw you on the other side"

Ethan cleared his throat, "Really? Yeah... yeah, I guess" He closed his eyes and sighed, "that was me actually"

Natalie laughed, "did you teleport over here or something? That was really fast."

He laughed with her and the two fell silent after. Natalie waited a bit longer for him to say something and when he didn't she finally spoke;
"You are really not good with talking, are you Ethan Valer?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know".

"How about you talk?" Ethan leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest and Natalie gasped.
"Talk about what?" "I don't know"
He shrugged and walked away.
•••

"Why did you run away?" Elise asked Natalie.

"It just happened, Natalie tried to explain. I don't think that gave him the idea to wait up for me at the end of the other stairs?"

"I don't know, maybe"

Natalie was in the cafeteria with Garf and Elise, queued up to get their meals. Garf kept asking Elise what she was going to have while she kept trying to explaining why she was going on a diet. The line was moving slow and Natalie was almost fed up when she felt someone squeeze in behind her and continue to get closer. She turned to meet Ethan's grin to which she smiled back at him. Natalie could feel his body lightly bumping into hers as he continuously turned front and back, all the while laughing at what the boys he was talking to commented about the cafeteria. At the end of lunch break, Natalie excused herself to the urinals and when she was out she joined the river of students flowing to their classrooms. As usual, she paced fast and kept a stern face, dodging every other person that was in her way. Then she saw Ethan walking in the opposite direction of the classroom.

"Good afternoon," she heard him whisper and she looked back almost immediately to reply back softly but he didn't look back and kept on walking.
In her seat, her fingers nervously traced the edge of her notebook and she looked at his empty seat, he hadn't reported back to class yet. He barely made it in before Mr. Foster and when he sat down, he quickly glanced at her and smiled.

Her heartbeat quickened.

•••

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