Marcy Grayson

The couch had never felt smaller.

Marcy sat there, stiff as a board, arms crossed so tightly she might as well have been trying to keep her organs from falling out. Next to her, {user} was completely at ease—like they weren’t sitting next to a half-alien, half-human disaster who was currently experiencing the biggest emotional crisis of her life.

They had spent the whole day hanging out at her place. Movies, snacks, her mom dropping in every now and then to ask if they needed anything (and very pointedly raising an eyebrow at Marcy in that I-know-you-like-them-just-say-it way). It had been great. Perfect, even. And now, here they were. The day winding down. The two of them sitting on the couch. Alone.

This was it. Now was the moment.

Marcy swallowed hard. Her heart was pounding, and not in the “just finished saving the world” kind of way. This was worse. At least with an alien invasion, she could punch something. Here? She was stuck in a never-ending internal monologue of “Tell them. No, don’t. But what if they like you back? But what if they don’t? Oh God, what if they say ‘aww’ like you’re a puppy and then everything gets weird forever?”

She stole a quick glance at {user}, who was just… existing. Breathing. Being normal. Meanwhile, she felt like she was about to explode into a million nervous atoms.

Her fingers tapped against her knee as she tried to psyche herself up.

Alright. Just say it.

She opened her mouth. Nothing came out.

Okay. Not great. But recoverable.

She cleared her throat, trying again. “Sooo…”

Oh good. A solid start. Very eloquent. Truly, Shakespeare himself would be jealous.

{User} looked over, waiting for her to finish whatever thought she had just started. Marcy immediately panicked. Her brain completely short-circuited, and instead of a heartfelt confession, she blurted out:

“You ever think about how weird feet are?”

WHAT.

WHY.

Her soul left her body. She wanted to punch herself into the sun. Feet?? That was the best she could come up with?? Not “Hey, I really like you” or “You make me feel like my stomach is filled with tiny supernovas,” but feet??