•Sarah•

The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Idle chatter in the classroom began to gradually increase in volume as students planned the rest of their day. My day, however, had me feeling a bit nervous.

"Today's the day," I whispered to myself while idly sketching in my notebook. Stacy should be bringing news back any minute on whether Theodore would be interested in me or not. Twenty dollars really isn't that much for crucial information like this, right?

I kept doodling in my notepad for a few minutes, and closed the cover. I really hope--

"Heya Sarah!" Stacy sung in my ear. Somehow, she had snuck up behind me, and placed a hand on my shoulder at the exact same time. I let out a short gasp.

"Jesus Christ you almost gave me a heart attack!" I faced her and let out a forced laugh.

"I've got good news for you, you already know what it is, I'm assuming," Stacy leaned in towards my face with a sly smile and squinted her eyes a bit.

My heart fluttered. I knew exactly what this was about.

"Did... Did he..." I began, but could hardly hear my voice over my own heartbeat. "Did you find out if Theo likes me?"



•Theo•

I had been held in Stacy's hand, pressed against her stomach, hidden from outside view.

"Hold out your hand, Sarah, I've got something for you," Stacy mentioned, trying to sound nonchalant.

I squirmed, trying to free myself. I wanted to go away. But... even if I managed to get free, Stacy was still standing. I would simply fall to the floor and get hurt; I had nowhere to run. Somehow, this felt even more claustrophobic than the maintenance closet did. I could guess what was coming next.

"Oh, I guess you're copping out and giving me the twenty then?" Sarah giggled. Her voice was very slightly muffled through Stacy's hand, but I could hear it plain as day. It was then that I realized... Stacy was about to put me in Sarah's hand.

"Here, just hold onto this, I gotta go, bye!" Stacy enthusiastically dismissed herself, and placed me on to Sarah's hand. Sarah looked at me, seemingly in shock, as Stacy sprinted out of the classroom and closed the door behind her with a hefty slam.

For me, time practically froze. I gazed at the face of my crush for a few seconds. Sarah's style was usually pretty dark. Goth was the best way to describe it. She had it all; Boots, grey denim jeans, a black leather jacket zipped up to her neck. She always kept her hair dyed black, sometimes with a touch of a random color added. Her skin was pale, like she avoided the sun at all costs. Her makeup was minimal, but she usually kept a decent amount of the focus on her eyes. Eye shadow, eye liner, the works. It worked to her benefit, and made her cerulean eyes stand out very nicely. The same cerulean eyes that were staring, straight at me.

Sarah was the first one of us to speak, and waved at me with her free hand.
"H-...H-Hello... Theo," She managed to squeak out. I must be crazy. She seems... Nervous?

I managed to wave back at her, but couldn't really get ahold of my voice.


•Sarah•

Damn it Stacy, why did you have to do us dirty like this!? This guy seemed to be absolutely petrified of me, even back before he shrank. How are we supposed to break the ice this way?

I took a deep breath, and decided to take the lead. This must be incredibly difficult for him, since I'm pretty much towering over him. I can feel him trembling like a leaf in my palm! He's so... cute.

I just need to put on a brave face, and calm him down.


•Theo•

"It's... It's okay, sir. Take your time," Sarah spoke calmly, with a pleasing smile.

I did my best to reply without tripping up. "I'm... I'm sorry..." I wasn't prepared for this. Not at all. I looked down, and stared at her palm.

"Theo, I... I want to help ground you and maybe answer some questions you might have, okay? I'm... Well, I don't always feel this nervous around someone, but you look like you're really struggling to keep it together," Sarah giggled. She was right, of course. "I think... Just hear me out, and I feel like you'll feel better afterwards, okay? Does that... sound good to you?"

She's a fucking God-send. I vigorously nod yes. "T-thank you..." I breathed.

Sarah smiled brightly, and set me on the desk she was sitting at. Both of her hands rested nearby, cupped close enough for me to feel the faint warmth from them. In a small way, it made me feel safe and secure, like she was shielding me from the rest of the world.

Sarah took a deep breath, and stared at the ceiling lights.

"So... I guess this is finally it, huh? How many years have we gone to this school together?" Sarah seemed to be doing some mental math. "It's... been a long time, regardless. Long enough. I've kept an eye on you, from a distance. You're probably the sweetest guy I know, and yet you're very underrated. Look, I know you're shy, and probably trying to do some insane mental gymnastics in your head to talk yourself out of getting to know me, but..."

Sarah looked back down at me, and used one finger to lift my chin up to meet her gaze.

"I'm going to make this crystal clear, sir, cause I know guys can be a little oblivious sometimes and I want to leave no room for misinterpretation. I like you, I've liked you for a long time, and I want to get to know you better. I know you've struggled with self doubt even before shrinking; you did everything you could to avoid me. At first, I thought I had done something to upset you, but I figured out over time, even asked people like Stacy, and learned that you're just a more... timid... type of person. And... When you ended up shrinking, my heart freakin' sank! 'He'll never approach me now' just kept repeating in my head... I needed to figure out how to contact you, because I'm pretty much just as shy as you are."

My jaw was on the floor as Sarah spilled her guts to me.

"I'm human, just like you. I'm not out of your league, you're not out of mine. So please don't be scared of me-- don't put me on a pedestal, either-- I just want you to be comfortable, okay? I want to hang out and maybe do nerd shit and be friends, best friends, or maybe something more if I'm lucky. Hold on, look at this--" Sarah stopped her lengthy confession and brought her hands up to her neck, and began to unzip her jacket.

I went beet red and turned away, to give her some privacy. Why was she stripping!? If she's trying to make me feel calm, this was not going to make me feel any braver!

"... Theo. Turn around, you dork. I'm still decent!" Sarah laughed from behind me when she noticed I wasn't watching.

"S-sorry..." I replied, and turned around. What I saw really helped me understand she wasn't some untouchable divine angel like I'd been telling myself she was all these years.

She was wearing an anime shirt under her jacket. A man was slashing a giant sword down through the logo with a furious look on his face... Well, on second glance, maybe it was less of a sword and more like a large hunk of iron.

"Yeah, it's an anime shirt! Get a good long look... and don't stop looking. You... You don't have to keep averting your gaze from me! I want you to look at me! For months and months I've wanted you to..." Sarah finished her tireade.

From the looks of things, and from the way all of this burst out of her, I felt like a complete and utter fool for avoiding her so hard all this time. Her hair was glistening just a little from perspiration, and she was breathing heavy. She didn't seem angry, just winded from her speech.

I was floored, but, something inside of me had changed. I... I didn't need courage to speak up anymore. The next words out of my mouth were as natural as breathing in air. The illusion was shattered, and all that remained in front of me was a flustered, but gorgeous nerd--with a bit of a height advantage.

"Would you like to get something to eat with me?" I asked.

In all my life up to that point, I had never seen someone wear a warmer smile than she did when I asked that.

"Yes, please!" Sarah squealed. "Let me just put my notebook back in my backpack--" she stopped. "Hmm. Maybe before I do that, would you like to see what I'd been drawing today?"

"You can draw!? Awesome! Yeah, let me see?" I quickly answered.

"Okay! Don't make fun of me, alright?" Sarah added. She was already blushing the past few minutes, but for some reason this time seemed to really get her face even more red.

And, I could see why. For, on that page, she had drawn a few panels of a manga. The characters... Were us. My character was tiny, just like me. Her character was blushing, and had a word bubble beside her: Will you go out with me?

Honestly, I found it cute. I walked over to her pencil, and kicked the tip of it and broke it. This caused Sarah to gasp, but, her surprise didn't last long. I walked over to the notepad and drew my own bubble near my character, and wrote Nothing would make me happier.