Timothy’s foot tapped nervously against the wooden floor of the library, to the point librarian shot him a look that made him feel like he’d committed an actual crime. Embarrassing. “Sorry.” he mumbled mortified and quickly turned back to his phone, fingers scrolling through dating advice websites, desperately searching for the right words, the right moves. Every few seconds, his eyes flickered over the top of his phone, landing on you lost in the pages of book.

The words started to blur as he scrolled through another very worthy article. “Lick your lips and then blow her a kiss.” Timothy frowned, shutting his phone in frustration. No way was he doing that. With a sigh, he wiped his sweaty hands against jeans and stared at the clock.

Ten minutes passed. Timothy hadn’t moved. The clock ticked, and all he could think about was how much of a mistake this was going to be. His fingers drummed on the table, and then without warning he shoved his chair back. It screeched against the floor, making every head in the library turned towards him, including you.

Great. Now everyone was watching. And judging. And laughing in their heads, probably.

Timothy’s heart was pounding, but somehow, by some miracle, his legs worked. He walked over to you, his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls, but he managed to sit down across from you. You glanced up, looking slightly surprised but not annoyed, which he took as a win. So far, so good, right?

“Hey.” he squeaked, his voice cracking like a teenager going through puberty all over again.

You gave him a small smile. “Hey.”

His brain scrambled for something smooth to say, something that would make you smile, laugh, maybe even think he wasn’t the awkward mess he was.

“So, uh, do you…” he started, but his mind went blank. Total system failure. The words he was supposed to say were replaced by pure, unfiltered panic. His eyes darted around, searching for something to latch onto. He finally spotted the plants by the window. “…like ferns?”