Jonah Marais
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idea credited to @dmalfoyxmespinosa
"Alright, which girl's next?" Logan Paul says as my four best friends and I walk away from the group of three girls we just finished singing our new song - Nobody Gotta Know - to.
Zach chuckles at Logan's words, knowing he'll be the one to go up to the one that catches our eye first and introduce himself and our song to her.
I look to the sidewalk on the other side of the busy L.A. street, allowing my eyes to roam over the buildings packed together.
I'm glancing over an old fashioned record shop when it's front door opens and a girl appears. She's turned sideways in the doorway, still looking inside, obviously talking to someone. I become transfixed in the smile that breaks out on her face as she nods at something the person who I'm guessing is the owner says.
Despite all of the noises surrounding me, my hearing zeros in on the sound of her laugh like a funnel. I've never heard anything so sweet or... addicting.
I have the strong urge to go to her, but instead, I compose myself and force my attention away from her to see that my friends and Logan are staring at me, very clearly trying not to laugh.
"Dude, we called your name like, four times," Logan says.
"So? You going to go talk to her?" Zach says, shooting me a sly look.
"What?" I say stupidly, taken aback by what he said.
Was I really staring at her that hard?
"Go talk to her!" Jack repeats, smiling widely.
"Uh... Zach, you're the one who's supposed to go up first," I mumble.
Logan scoffs aloud and shoves my shoulder before saying, "That plan's changed. You're a go, man."
I glance around at their smug faces and grins and slowly turn around again, eyes searching.
There she is.
She's just a ways down the street from the record shop and is holding a camera, snapping pictures as she moves slowly down the sidewalk.
After "Go!" is said over and over too many times to count, I finally cross the street and start to make my way towards her.
I've never been a shy guy. Talking to girls - flirting - has always been easy for me. But this feeling... I've never felt the way I do as I approach the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
When I finally reach her, she's focused on pointing her camera at a set of front doors of the building she's standing in front of that has an intricate design. I hear the soft click of the shutter just as I take a deep breath.
"Excuse me," I say.
The girl jumps a little ways away from me and yelps before laughing. If I didn't feel so terrible for scaring her, I probably would've fainted from hearing her laugh again.
What is wrong with you? No girl has ever done this to you before....
"I'm sorry; you scared me," she says, still laughing while placing a hand to her chest.
"N- no," I stutter.
Come on, Jonah, what is wrong with you?!
"I'm sorry," I say. "I shouldn't have come up to you like that."
She sends me a genuine smile.
"It's completely fine... uh... I didn't catch your name," she says.
"Jonah Marais," I say, reaching forward to shake her hand.
She grabs hold of my hand in her own and my heart pounds in my chest, reluctant to let go.
"It's nice to meet you, Jonah. My name's (y/n) (y/l/n)."
(y/n).
"I just...."
Looking into her eyes isn't helping anything, you idiot.
"I just saw you from across the street and I honestly thought you're... absolutely drop-dead gorgeous."
An adorable blush creeps onto the sides of her face as she tries to hide a small smile.
"Thank you," she says shyly.
"So, I'm dressed like this," I say, gesturing to my black pants, white shirt, and suspenders, "because I have two jobs. One, to give you this rose."
When I pull the stem out of my back pocket and hold it out to her, she takes it gingerly and stares at it with a look in her eyes that I can't quite decipher the meaning of.
"Second thing... may I... may I sing something to you?" I ask.
The question surfaces hesitantly and I break out in a nervous sweat, anxiously awaiting her answer, though I don't exactly know why I'm nervous since I do this for a living.
She glances up at me, eyes twinkling, and nods.
Here goes.
"Take the time with me tonight. You should come with me tonight. We can feel the free tonight. Nobody gotta know," I sing, never breaking eye contact with her.
Her eyes widen when Daniel strumming his guitar sounds from behind me and her hand flies to her mouth when my four best friends appear and begin to sing along with me.
And then, all too soon, the song is over.
As planned, the guys run away from her as soon as the last note dies out of the air. She watches them go down the street in a hurry with a mixed expression of confusion and joy on her face before she turns back to me.
She grins and points a thumb in the direction the boys just took off in.
"You supposed to go with them?" she asks, amusement evident in her voice.
I rub the back of my neck.
"Uh... yeah, but I... well...."
"What, Jonah?" she laughs.
I seriously consider backtracking and leaving, but... as I stare at her bright eyes, gentle smile, and the hair falling softly against her face, I know that I can't let her go just because I'm afraid.
You can't let her go. Don't let her go.
"What?" she asks again, staring at my conflicted face.
"How... how would you feel if a... stranger asked for your number?"
The ends of her mouth tug into a wider smile than before.
"We're not strangers; we're on a first name basis. So... yes. I'll give it to you."
