Love Sick

Chapter 11

My body was flooded with energy as we exited the stage. Shawn hugged me excitedly. "You were incredible, your voice is angelic!" He practically shouted into my ear. I pull out my noise mufflers and grinned at him.

"That was absolutely electric!" I squealed. The crowd was incredible, the energy was through the roof. I had never felt such a rush. I stumbled to sit down, massaging my calfs as the adrenaline subsided. My phone played it's annoying ringtone as Matt FaceTimed me.

"Hey baby!" His voice rang through as his face popped up on my screen. "How'd it go? I'm already being flooded with videos in my mentions!"

"Matt, it was amazing! I've never felt like that before. My heart is pounding!" He flashed his beautiful teeth at me.

"I'm so proud of you! Fill me in when you get here for Q&A! I already ordered you some food!" He said. What a perfect man. I hung up the phone and closed my eyes, calming my heart and coming back to earth. I felt him hover over me. I peeled back my eyelids to look at James.

"You owe me a chat?" He said, it was more of a question than a statement.

"Yes, let's go for a walk."

We had about thirty minutes until the Q&A started, so James and I snuck out a back door to get some fresh air. The sun was starting to set and the sky was a beautiful pinky orange color. "I met him when I was 17." I said, sighing as I leaned up against the wall. James didn't say anything, he kicked a few pebbles and stared at the ground. "We grew up in the same town, but I had never run into him before." James eyes flashed up to meet mine. "He saved my life, in so many different ways, but I was so lost and unsure of myself, I needed him. We met at a lacrosse game, my little brother played and Matt was meeting up with some old teammates to watch. My best friend Marley spotted him and his friends and was instantly obsessed." I smiled, reminiscing. "I don't believe in love at first sight, that's just infatuation, but the moment our eyes met I knew he was going to change my life." Thinking back to our first meeting made my heart break. Matt was so undeniably important to me, and I was treating him like a toy.

"So how did it start?" James asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Like any teenage relationship... awkwardly."

Flashback

"Marley, Mar! Slow down!" I tried my hardest to rush down the metal bleacher steps at her pace. The game was still going, 3-2, we were loosing.

"Hanna, those boys are beautiful, we need a game plan!" She booked it around a corner and disappeared down another set of stairs. In my clumsiness, I missed a step and slid the rest of the way down. Jon Roden maneuvered strategically to be able to scoop me up as I slid to his feet.

"Woah, you okay?" He asked as I dusted off my ass and tried to hide my embarrassment. I met his chocolate brown eyes and melted. Jon had been my obsession since I started school. He was a year older than me, captain of the soccer team, and an Honor Roll student. His brown hair was always perfectly styled and he dressed like a GQ model.

"Yeah, I just have two left feet apparently." I laughed, looking away from him to hide my flushing red face.

"You're a pretty good dancer for someone with two left feet." He said, smirking at me. I met his eyes again, this time with astonishment, how did he know I danced? "I saw you in the school recital on Tuesday." He said, as if answering my unspoken question. I smiled.

"Thanks." Silence enveloped us as he gave me a good look up and down.

"I'll let you catch up with your friend." He nodded in the direction of Marley, whose mouth was wide open as she stared at us. "See you around Hanna." He knew my name. I almost squealed.