THE EIGHT WORDS

“So, dude…are you really going to do it?”

Out of all the many, many things that came to mind, Johnathan Dowel could not think of a single sentence that would not result in giving into his friend’s insufferable teasing, or worse yet, give him confirmation on his intentions.

The cafeteria permeated with smell of pizza that filled the air with a pleasant aroma that soothed his nostrils, yet at the same time, had his ears barraged with the innumerable conversations and chatter of all his fellow students.

It was almost like being at one of those frat parties only without the booming music, not that he ever been to one.

And that was for the best.

Yet like most of the time, he was able to tune all that stuff out, and kept his gaze focused on the one person that had always left him feeling like his whole body was filled with a bunch of excited butterflies.

And was the cause of his friend constantly barraging him since he started putting the dots together.

Just a few tables away from him and his pal was Ashly Corrals, someone who could be considered a replacement for the sun.

And how could she not be with that glamorous red sea that was her voluminous hair and a smile that can melt Antarctica?

His chest felt like a running furnace; but he only kept questioning wether he should talk to her or just leave it be.

He really didn’t know how it would turn out, and the idea of making a fool of himself just felt too mortifying to even imagine.

In fact. It was surprising no horror stories were made around the idea, it sounded like a bestseller.

“Cmon man, it’s now or never,” his friend Brian urged, as if he somehow developed telepathy to invade his thoughts.

“Just go up and talk to her, she’ll be more than happy to have a chat with you.”

“Or she’ll think I’m a weirdo.” Johnathan muttered, eliciting a groan from his exasperated friend.

“Dude you gotta shake off those bad vibes already, she is a total sweetheart.

I think she’s more likely to get sad from seeing how much of an anxious mess you’re being right now.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Just go ask her already, she ain’t gonna bite.”

He was halfway tempted to just ignore him every time this was brought up, but as he glanced back at Ashly and saw her chatting with her friends and the rest of the table, and that kindhearted smile worn on her lips, actually considered his words.

Or maybe he was just going insane.

Either way he knew this couldn’t keep going on.

Otherwise, he’ll only end up like one of those poor, lonely guys who would always lament about the one choice they felt they should have taken to avoid their fates.

No way was he going to become a sad old man with nobody else.

He sat there continuing to debate with himself, almost reminiscent of those famous philosophers in history class, but as his eyes blinked to the watch, realized he’d been so stuck in his head he didn’t even realize a whole hour had passed by.

Soon the sound of the bell erupted, and all the students started to leave, as he felt like slapping himself for being so caught up in his own head!

He was out of time.

All right, enough procrastination, it was now or never.

Thus, mustering whatever courage he could pull out of his skittish gut, Johnathan rose up from the table and started walking towards Ashly before she left.

Much to his best friend’s shock as he stood like one of those clothing store mannequins.

Honestly, he would’ve laughed to no end if he wasn’t suddenly feeling a piercing sense of anxiety coursing through his veins.

Every step he took towards that table made him almost feel like his legs were getting deeper and deeper into an invisible quicksand.

But it was too late to back down, and he really didn’t want to.

He just wanted to finally to be able to take the next step in the roller coaster his life was.

Before Johnathan even knew it, he finally caught up to Ashly before she left.

But then questioned if this was the right call to make, or if this was a huge mistake.

No, he couldn’t think like that.

He had already come this far to back down now.

Soon the next minute or so was gonna decide if this would be the most memorable day of his life, or an awful memory he wanted to always forget about.

But there he was walking next to the very girl that made his heart start beating like a drum being used at a rock and roll concert, and was about to ask her the famous question…

Here goes nothing…

“Oh, uh…hi Ashly.” He muttered with as much confidence as his vocal cords could pull up and soon had to resist feeling like the sun was blazing at him as she turned to him and smiled.

“Oh hey, Johnathan how are you doing?”

“I’m alright, but…look, I know this came out of nowhere but,” the words he wanted to say of course get clogged up in his tongue of all times, but taking a subtle breath clears up his anxious throat and mans up.

“Do you want to hang out with me?

For a few moments she just stares at me with a look of surprise, and I could just feel my friend gazing at me with a look of support yet similar fear as to my own, yet soon enough her lips curl into a bright smile…

“Sure, I loved to!

So, what did you have in mind?”

Huh, guess Brian was telling him to make the right call after all.

…not that he’d ever admit it, if he wanted to avoid the boasting of a lifetime.