Andthereit was again - his heart. Beatingwaytoo fast.
How could this even be possible?
He’d literally only reconnected with her…like two weeks ago.
Has it only been two weeks?
Did things like this even happen quickly?
Seth tried to think back to the last time he had a crush. Sure, he’d had crushes here and there, very brief attractions that’d end after one night spent in their bed, or maybe two - but they’d hardly stuck.
Seth glanced at Nina, who was looking at him expectantly, her brow curved in curiosity.
How on earth did she look so good doing that?
“Definitely uncharacteristic. Seth, you haven’t rambled about the latest game announcements yet,” she said, and he tilted his head. Wow, he didn’t even realise thatthat’swhat he talks about.
“Lucky foryou,I checked my Instagram feed this morning. Apparently, Nintendo is going to release another Mario game. And the creators that did the horror game Outlast? They’re in development of a new horror project. Wait, I think I’ve missed some -”
Nina pulled out her phone and squinted at the screen in search. An odd sensation settled over Seth’s chest like petals. Like fire and ice at once.
“You checked that for me?” Seth asked, and his voice dipped a little with a crack.
“Well,yeah.I was excited to chat with you about it. Personally,I’mkind of curious about this new horror game project, even though I’m terrified -”
She glanced up, as if to gauge Seth’s response. But he still had nothing.
His heart quickened as she continued to look at him. She’s looked at him like this before. This was literally a normal conversation, but now, it was like everything was on high volume. Every little movement she made, every glance. Even the way the fingers on her free hand drew circles idly around her empty coffee cup.
It was all sending him on edge.
Get it together dude,he thought.
It’ll fade in a couple of days. He just needed to let it run its course. He was just attracted to her. That’s what it was. Except, usually that was fixed by inviting the other to bed.
Is that all it was? Did he just need to sleep with her to get this over with?It didn’t feel like the case, though.
He hadn’t even thought about it.
Oh god,nowthe thought was in his head. Seth felt his neck warm.
Nina slapped his knee. He wished his heart didn’t beat like that when she did it.
“Come on, shake out the bad sleep. You don’t want to feel out of it like this for the rest of the day,” she encouraged, with a smile.
Stop smiling at me,he thought.
Something in his face must’ve given away his distress, because Nina’s lips turned downward. Her eyes clouded with concern.
“Sorry…I guess...uni is just stressing me,” Seth blurted, a little pathetically.
Uni? Really?
Sure, uni stressed him out at times, but it wasn’t what was currently stressing him out atthatmoment. It had everything to do with who was in front of him.
Nina’s face softened. She reached out and grabbed his hand. Seth’s eyes darted down to her fingers touching his, and felt about ready to jump out of the train and let it run over him.
“I get you, don’t worry,” she assured, her voice gentle, “We’re all on the same boat. We’re all still young, in our early twenties, and you’ve beenkillingit with your internship.”
