Page 7 of Two Weeks to Fall in Love

Two Weeks to Embrace the Strange

After much internal debate, I sat down on the warm sand and untied my shoelaces.

Though I wouldn’t admit it to him, Noah was right. The desire to dip my feet in the water was almost a compulsion on this secluded beach during possibly one of the last days marked by warm sunshine in this autumn weather.

I pulled off my shoes and set them neatly down on the ground before stretching my toes in the sand.

The tingling feeling was both refreshing and odd, and I loved it.

Digging my fingers into the sand, I grabbed a handful and let it trickle through my fingers until I had only a few colorful shards of glass in the palm of my hand.

“You coming, Fox?” Noah yelled, standing in the water with an infectious grin on his face.

I returned the smile, pocketed the remaining shards, and stood up. “Guess I am, Archer.”

My feet sank into the warm sand, and a pleasant feeling spread through me as I approached the water. As soon as my feet dipped into the ocean I jumped and shuddered. He’d made it seem like the water was made of the same sunshine that reflected against its surface, but it was far from it.

“Noah, it’s freezing!” My tone was full of accusation as I glared at him.

“Whoops, sorry?” His aloof expression made him look like he was anything but sorry.

“You sure don’t sound sorry.” I huffed, knowing full well that now that I’d taken off my shoes, I’d dip more than just my toe. Moving back into the ocean, up to the tops of my feet, I glared at him.

“Guess you got me there, Fox.” Noah looked at me with childish wonder. “But why not make some memories? Even if they’re sour ones.” He mimicked his mocking face from earlier before his expression spread into a smirk almost as dazzling as the water beneath us.

My anger had started to melt, and I clenched my toes, focusing on the feeling of the fine sand beneath my feet. The refreshing water was now a welcome reminder of what was important: that I shouldn’t be swept away by his contagious attitude. It was a wake-up call from his siren song.

“About those questions—” I started, trying to glance at him through my eyelashes and get the topic back onto what mattered.

“I could tell you weren’t convinced,” he interjected, walking deeper into the water. It was bewildering how carefree he was acting when in my mind there was so much at stake. Like people’s hearts .

“Look, two weeks is a short time. I don’t think a couple of questions can make you fall for someone.” I regretted the tone of my words as soon as they slipped from my lips.

“And you think dating someone for months and months just to realize you’re not compatible is the right move?

” His matter-of-fact delivery was almost infuriating, more so because in a way he may have been right.

It wasn’t like I was an expert in love. Though him dating and breaking up with so many girls in such a short time didn’t exactly make him one either.

“That’s not what I’m—”

“It’s exactly what you’re saying,” Noah interrupted, clearly not finished with his little TED Talk moment.

“It’s attraction, your brain’s chemistry telling you oh wow, this person is so hot , and you’re drawn to them, so you want to be around them and date them.

Whether you’re actually compatible falls into second place until it’s already too late.

In the end, choosing who to love based on attraction can only lead you to trouble.

Or do you disagree?” he challenged as he walked through the water closer to me, sending ripples my way—ripples in more ways than one.

I looked down, twisting my toes into the sand, feeling increasingly flustered.

“I mean, I guess not, but two weeks ? There’s no way you could find out if you’re compatible, let alone fall in love, with someone in two weeks.” This looming time frame was my big problem with his whole dating thing.

“Sure you could, if you asked the right questions.” Noah shrugged, as if he was stating the most obvious fact.

“Oh, you have a strategy? Think you’ve hacked the science of romance, Dr. Love Expert?

” I spewed sarcastically. It was ridiculous that anyone thought there was rhyme and reason to love.

That you could find it by asking some questions.

With logic like that, no wonder he never fell in love with anyone.

Noah grinned, all mischief and triumph. “So you agree that love is just science?”

“I didn’t say that. I was just trying to point out that your approach to love seems strange.

” Narrowing my eyes, I studied him. That devilish twinkle in his eyes.

The way his lips seemed to twitch upward at my words.

The way he seemed so aloof and yet oddly grounded.

I couldn’t get a good read on him, no matter how hard I tried.

“Hm, but doesn’t being strange in a strange world make me normal?” Noah stopped right in front of me, eyes studying me carefully.

I opened my mouth to reply but my words were cut off when he raised his hand and pressed it against my cheek.

He bent so that we were eye level and stared directly at me with an uncomfortable intensity.

I felt heat rise to the very top of my head and parts of my body tingle at the attention.

A part of me wanted to pull away, but my body was frozen as he gently brushed his thumb across my cheek.

“You’re blushing now because I’m touching you. It’s a biological impulse. Science,” Noah said, and then he pulled his hand away and shrugged, continuing, “So, I don’t think love has to be some mystical thing we have no control over. Why can’t we use science to fall in love?”

The way he said it was odd, as if he needed to believe that, and even though I regretted not asking him what he meant at that moment, I just couldn’t form a coherent thought. It felt like a spell had been cast over me and all I could do was stare at him and blink. Maybe he was a wizard?

He turned around and walked a few feet away from me, threading through the water as if it was air.

“Have you ever really thought about what it would take to fall in love?” When I didn’t reply he turned around to look at me, and I shook my head.

In truth, I’d never thought of it like that—as something that required any kind of effort.

In my mind, love just happened. It just was.

At least, that was how all the books and movies made it look.

Noah scratched his chin before continuing, “Well, that was all I could think about for the past few years. Why do people fall for someone, what makes you fall in love? And then I found this . . . journal,” he said, his face turning unusually gentle.

“It had steps on how to fall in love and I thought it was pretty neat, because it also had this theory about what it would take to make love happen.”

“Let me guess, ask them questions?” I exhaled, finally free from the spell he seemed to cast.

“Bingo!” Noah clicked his tongue, doing a quick finger gun motion in my direction. “So you were paying attention, Fox. Well, the journal suggested both questions and close proximity. Intimacy .” He gave me a sly look, and I felt another surge of warmth spread through my cheeks.

After that he went quiet and walked toward the beach. That was it? Somehow, I felt like I knew him even less than I had before. This enigmatic boy seemed to only speak in riddles.

“Did it work?” I called after him, and he turned to me.

“What?” Noah asked, tilting his head, as if his mind had gone somewhere else entirely for a moment.

“For the person whose journal you found. Did they find love?” I took large strides in an effort to catch up to him, not exactly as graceful at walking through water as he seemed to be.

“Oh,” he muttered, and something that closely resembled hurt flashed across his features. “Yeah, I guess they did fall in love. The better question, though, is if they stayed in lo—watch out!” he yelled, just as I stepped in a hole and tumbled forward.

It only took a second but I could see the splatter of water as Noah ran my way, and then I felt his grip against my shoulders. Not that it helped much, because a second later I was still completely drenched.

And worst of all, I had fallen on top of him. My mind and body both seemed frozen for a few seconds as I looked down at him, at his eyes the color of the sea, our faces way too close for comfort.

“Well, that’s one way to be intimate, I guess,” he said, a crooked smile spreading across his face, as if he didn’t care he was soaked to the core.

“I’m so sorry.” Once I regained my composure, I scrambled to get off him and shivered as a light fall breeze swept around us.

“Are you okay?” we both asked at the same time.

Our eyes widened with shock, then he burst out laughing, and I found myself quickly joining in. His hair was matted to his face, his clothes dripping with salt water, but somehow with the way he laughed, it seemed like there wasn’t a single care in his world.

“I’m fine. Other than the fact you have me falling for you already,” he said between laughs, a naughty look in his eyes, clearly way too amused by his own joke.

I rolled my eyes and walked toward the beach with quick steps. “You shouldn’t joke about that, Noah.” Especially considering the number of girls he’d already dumped because he couldn’t fall in love with them.

“You’re right, you’re right, sorry. It was just too good to pass up,” he said as he caught up to me. As soon as we reached the beach, he took my hand in his and nudged me. “Let’s hurry back to the car before we catch a cold.”

*

“Why do you have spare clothes in your car? And a toothbrush and . . . what is all of this?” I didn’t even try to hide how nosy I sounded.