Chapter 1

To get butterflies in one’s stomach.
Fluttering sensations caused by a feeling of nervous anticipation that is most often attributed to falling in love.

• o 🦋 o •

It was a cold, cold day…

I know a lot of these stories start off that way but it’s just the honest truth. And I was walking in the snow nearly freezing to death because of it so I think it’s pretty important information, thank you very much.

So, it was a cold, cold day in December. Snow covered the earth and my ears were hurting. I tried to warm my hands by blowing clouds of mouth-warmth into them but it didn’t have much effect. I was almost there anyway.

It was winter break and I was going to hang out with my best friend, Riley. We were going to see some new action movie at the cinema. She’d been looking forward to it for months, ever since she’d seen the trailer. Other than the movie, she was also looking forward to seeing my discomfort. I hated action movies. I hated blood. It always made my queasy. So whenever a scene with explosions or other violent things came on, I’d close my eyes and think of something nice.

Speaking of something nice: My favorite insects were butterflies. They’re obviously superior to any other. I mean, they’re bright, they’re graceful, they’re lively.. Can’t say that about too many other insects. I would totally bottle them and keep them in my room forever but I could never do that to the poor things so I took pictures of them instead.

I wished I was more like a butterfly. I was more of a toad. Riley rated me a solid five out of ten so I wouldn’t say I looked like a toad. I just.. had the elegance of one. I had a pretty stocky build and no grace at all. Sometimes I wish I was more refined.. but then again, that doesn’t seem to be something that people look for in partners these days so I guess it doesn’t matter.

After another five minutes of walking I had finally reached the cinema. Its golden arches always made me feel so fancy whenever I came there. I stepped inside onto the old, (but in my opinion) still classy red carpet. There was a long line for the tickets and finally I spotted Riley in the crowd. She smiled and waved at me in her signature energetic way, her caramel blonde ponytail swaying in the wind.

I made my way towards her.

“I’m so glad we don’t have school! We could spend all night here if we wanted to!” She said excitedly.

“To watch action movies? I don’t think so.”

“Fine, we’ll go see Princess And The Frog after this, softie.” Riley playfully smacked my arm.

“Ow!” She was stronger than she looked.

“You’re such a wimp. You seriously need to practice more. It would be good for the team too.”

Riley and I were on the same soccer team.

“Hey, strong feet. Not strong arms!”

“Are they really?” Riley gave me a skeptical look before kicking at my legs.

“Ow! Riley! That seriously hurts!”

“I thought your legs were so strong, huh?” She laughed as she continued destroying my legs.

“Not after this!” I complained.

After a while of torture she finally pulled back. That girl was super competitive and passionate. That was also why she was the captain of our team. And I know what you’re thinking: guys and girls in the same team? Since when? Well, since now. Riley was better than most guys on our squad and in our town there was no rule against it so… yay, equality.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” I said.

“Okay, hurry back.”

“What? The movie doesn’t start for twenty minutes and we don’t even have tickets yet.”

“You’re not supposed to keep a lady waiting.” Riley fluttered her eyelashes.

“What lady?” I teased.

Riley lunged forward to kick me again but I stealthily avoided her foot.

“Ha!”

“Hurry!” She insisted.

I shook my head and ran towards the bathroom.

It was so fancy inside. It was all dark and red, kind of romantic looking with golden details everywhere. Despite the fact that this was a guy’s bathroom, it was immaculate, a rarity. 

• o 🦋 o •

I got back a few minutes later.

“You’re late!” Riley exclaimed.

“That took like five minutes!” I countered.

“I thought guys were supposed to be fast..” Riley complained.

“Oh, who’s this?” A stranger’s voice spoke.

A guy came up to us with two drinks in hand. He looked vaguely familiar but I was sure I’d never met him before. His strawberry-blonde hair reached his shoulder. He had hazel eyes, a slim frame and he had some light freckles on his nose and cheeks. His voice was soft but cheerful and now that I thought about it, so was his gaze. He was a lot shorter than me but that might have more to do with me being a giant than him being small.

Riley grabbed one drink from the guy.

“Oh, I totally forgot to introduce you two. Mica, meet my best friend Jay, Jay, Mica.” Riley said.

WHO WAS THIS GUY? WHY HADN’T RILEY TOLD ME SHE WAS BRINGING ANOTHER PERSON? SHE KNEW HOW NERVOUS I GOT AROUND NEW PEOPLE?!?!

“Hello, Jay. Nice to finally meet you.” Mica reached for my hand.

We shook hands in the most awkward fashion. Mica quietly giggled at my weird behavior. I had just met him and already he thought I was strange. Nothing new.

“Oh, if I’d known you were coming I would’ve bought an extra drink..” Mica looked at his drink.

“I’ll get another one!” Riley offered. She pushed her drink in my hand and left the line.

Why would she leave me alone with a stranger?!

What was I supposed to say now? I had no idea how to start a conversation with someone. Riley knew that!

“So how do you know Riley?” Mica asked, surprising me.

My face got hot and I started to sweat.

“We play for the same team.”

I knew how that sounded. 

“I mean, soccer! We’re both on the soccer team.” GOOD GRIEF.

“I figured something like that. That’s very exciting! I haven’t seen a soccer game in so long. I should come cheer you guys on soon.” Mica smiled.

I felt a flutter in my stomach just from that smile. It was filled with warmth and love. And it was heartfelt.

“How do you know her?” I asked, surprising myself. I found myself curious and less on edge with Mica than around other new people.

“My brother used to play soccer too. They met at a match a few years ago and they were really close.”

“Were? What happened? Did he quit—”

“I GOT POPCORN!” Riley ran up to us with a huge tub of popcorn, a drink and a bag of gummy worms in hand.

“Did you carry all that by yourself?” Mica asked in disbelief.

“You’re not the only one with good balance!” Riley pushed the popcorn in my hands just before we reached the front of the line. She got our tickets and soon enough we were in our seats waiting for the movie to start.

Riley thought it’d be a good idea for me to sit in the middle, since I had the popcorn.

I was nervous sitting next to Mica. We were pretty close together, you see. And that was.. quite intimate.

Mica smelled like honey and maybe even a little like flowers. And as I occasionally peeked over while the ads began to play, I realized he had great posture. It was seriously amazing how straight he was sitting. His chin never touched his chest, he never slouched. We were at the movies for Pete’s sake.

Mica suddenly looked away from the screen and met my gaze. I turned red and just as I was about to turn away to pretend it never happened Mica smiled at me.

And my nerves melted away again.

It was at this moment that I realized he was a butterfly. I mean, come on; smells like honey and flowers, Monarch colored hair, the smile of the sun, the grace of… a butterfly. I never thought I’d meet the personification of my favorite insect.

When guns started blasting I looked away from the screen again and I looked at pretty much the only thing in the theater that had my attention.

Mica didn’t seem fazed by all the explosions on screen. He even looked a little bored.

Wow, he was brave. I was even more amazed.

Mica brushed some hair behind his ear and it made me feel a new wave of flutters in my stomach.

“Look! Look!” Riley grabbed my arm and forced me to look at the screen.

Someone’s nose just got chopped off. It landed on the ground and blood spurted from the nose-less face.

I covered my mouth as I felt sick rise in my throat.

Riley was laughing her head off. I wanted to smash her head in. This was beyond embarrassing and that in front of Mica!

I felt a gentle hand on my arm.

“Are you okay?” Mica asked.

I looked into his eyes and he seemed genuinely concerned for my well-being.

I swallowed and nodded, afraid that my breath now smelled awful.

“Sorry,” I said, with my hand over my mouth as I rose from the chair. I pushed the popcorn into Riley’s hands and ran out of the room.

I quickly located the bathroom and locked myself inside.

After throwing up I rinsed my mouth a bunch of times and drank a crap ton of water to make sure my breath smelled fine.

I looked in the mirror and I’d instantly gone from a solid five to a mere four. My black hair was clamped together, my skin pale.. I looked disgusting. I felt it too. 

I came out into the lobby and was surprised to find Mica dancing to himself. It was empty. Just us there.

He was moving so gracefully despite dancing on a carpet.

Then he noticed me watching him.

He smiled again. How can a person smile so much and still manage to make each smile more beautiful than the one before?

“That must have looked really weird.”

“It— It didn’t. It was awesome. Do you dance a lot?”

“I’m a ballet dancer.”

Ah, that explained it. The perfect posture, the grace, his soft moves. Wow. A ballet dancer. I’d never met one before.

“Don’t think too highly of me! I’m not professional yet!” He chuckled.

“Yet?”

“I want to be. I’m an apprentice at a ballet company here in the city and with a bit of luck maybe I’ll be professional soon.”

Wow. This guy was amazing. He probably worked really hard to get to where he was now. He seemed like someone who was very ambitious but also super talented and disciplined. Just hearing him talk about it he was dripping with passion.

“I guess it’s kind of a boring topic, huh? Sorry.”

“No! I love hearing about this. You’re really interesting.” I said way too eagerly, catching him off guard.

“Thank you.” He smiled while a gentle blush spread across his cheeks.

“So, about your brother. What’s his name? Maybe I know him.” I asked.

Mica looked away for a while before beginning to speak again. “Daniel Walters. He was the captain of his team.”

I stared at Mica in disbelief because I did know his brother. His brother was the guy that’d past away last year. Riley was really sad about it. She kept talking about how she had to make sure Daniel’s brother was alright. I never would have guessed it’d be Mica. They were polar opposites. Daniel was loud, competitive, and really assertive. It seemed Mica was more calm and submissive.

“I’m so sorry.”

Mica shook his head. “It’s okay.”

So if Mica was Daniel’s brother then they must have been twins. I remember Riley telling me that. I only have a little sister and a big brother but the idea of losing either of them already hurts so much. Imagine it being a twin. Half of you. I felt so bad for him. How come he was so smiley and cheerful still?

Mica looked at the ground while I stared at him, trying to think of something to say other than ‘I’m sorry’. Who knew how many times he’d heard that over the last year?

“YOU GUYS!” Riley came from the room where the movie was playing. “You’re missing the best part!”

“What? The ending?”

Mica giggled at that. And it made me happy. He laughed at something I said.

“You are hilarious, Jay. Now please, get back in there! They’re about to start—”

Suddenly we heard loud gunshots from the cinema hall.

“Shooting!” Riley ran inside and we followed behind her, sharing an amused glance.

• o 🦋 o •

Our feet crunched in the snow as we made our way to the bus stop. Someone was coming to pick Mica up but he decided to walk with us anyway.

“Tonight was so fun!” Riley said excitedly. “Next time we should do a movie night at my place!”

“Deal.” I said.

“Mica?”

“Sure.” He agreed happily.

“Eeek! I can’t wait! We’ll have to do it soon, though! I’ll text you guys ASAP!” Riley said right before our bus arrived.

Mica stared at his watch nervously. I wondered why he was suddenly so on edge.

“Byaahh!” Riley flung her arms around Mica before jumping into the bus.

“Bye Riley.” Mica laughed.

We shared an awkward glance.

Would it be weird if I asked for his number?

“You’re going to miss your bus.” Mica reminded me.

“Oh. Yeah, you’re right.” I bowed to him.

I BOWED TO HIM. WHY?!

“Bye Jay.” He smiled.

My heart fluttered as he said my name. Something about new people saying your name just makes you feel special. Maybe it’s because they’re acknowledging your existence.

Or.. maybe I’m surprised someone would remember my name.

“I’ll see you later.” I said awkwardly before getting on the bus.

The doors closed and I looked through the window. Mica waved us goodbye.

Author’s Note~

Thank you for reading this story! I hope you fall in love with the characters like I did! Please leave a comment with your thoughts and don’t forget to vote, I really appreciate it! 

Happy reading! <3