The nausea that came with his first trip up the high dive ladder at the Munster Community Pool. The dry throat he remembered from his valedictory address to his 8th grade class. The sweaty palms brought to mind the time Pastor Wood caught him writing swears on the inside flaps of the offertory envelopes. All of these feelings rushed through him at once. It was, to that point, the most terrifying moment in Steve Norcutt's life.
He approached cautiously, aware of but disregarding the people milling around him. The heat in his face was enough to melt the paint off the lockers on either side of the hallway. The thumping of his heart, like a jackhammer on overdrive. But he had to do it - this was his destiny.
"Hey Jen - can I talk to you for a second?" (I hope I don't throw up...no, wait, that's just a burp...okay, so far, so good...
She was beautiful. High school royalty without trying. Brown hair, curly, fell over her shoulders like milk chocolate waterfalls. Her brownish-greenish eyes, just lighter than her forest green..ish sweater, sparkled with the vitality of life. Her anxious half-smile as she left her friends to talk with him, the way her eyebrow arched just so...
"What's up, Steve?"
"Not much, man." (Frick! Did I just call her man? Frick frick!) "Listen, I was wondering if you had plans for prom."
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