She's walking next to me. Maybe a foot away? Maybe closer? Her energy is palpable. And I'm getting distracted again. Why does this keep happening?
"Where to?" she asks me.
"Um... there's a café a few minutes from here. Is that... er, is that okay with you?" I say tentatively.
"Anywhere you want to go is fine," Kaycee responds with a shrug, "I don't know the area very well."
"Really?" I say. "Do you not live here?"
She suddenly looks really uncomfortable. "Uh... I live around here, but not here here... if that makes sense, I mean, I live, like... somewhere."
Her awkwardness is still ridiculously adorable.
"You live somewhere?" I say, chuckling. "Well, I'm glad that's the case. I was under the impression that you were just an aimless wanderer."
"How do you know that I'm not?" she asks.
I shrug. I wish I could unravel the mystery that you are, Kaycee Rice.
"Maybe you're a sylph," I muse,"a beautiful spirit who lures hapless men into the forest. Should I be afraid of you?"
She looks up and give me a strange look. Crap, did I just say all of that out loud? Did I just call her beautiful? I start blushing furiously.
"Er-- I meant... just metaphorically, of course--" I mumble awkwardly. "Uh... you know the story of La Sylphide, right? It's a pretty famous ballet, choreographed by Filippo Taglioni."
Smooth, Sean. Real smooth. Showing off your embarrassing knowledge base again, way to go!
"Let me guess," Kaycee says, "more research?"
"Um, yeah, I guess," I reply awkwardly, "I've gone through a lot of random... phases."
"You're kind of a nerd, did you know that?" Kaycee says laughing, causing me to redden even more. "I mean, what type of person researches door mechanics and old ballets, of all things? But it's okay, I have really eclectic interests too. Just look at my socks."
She shows me her socks, which feature cats personified as Harry Potter characters, including Hairy PAWtter, HerMEOWonie and RAWRn.
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(imagine these on socks :) credits to the Etsy artist who makes these shirts, they're freaking adorable!!!)
I raise an eyebrow. "They're very... unique?"
Kaycee laughs. "Yep, that's me. Anyway, don't worry, I won't try to lure you into the forest like the evil witch in Hansel and Gretel. I like you too much to do that."
My insides seem to light on fire at her last words. I look up at Kaycee, whose face is now the color of a ripe tomato.
"Er-- I meant... you know, as a friend. I think we'll be great friends, Shamu," she says brightly.
