It began as just another day.
I was in the library at Brown University, studying between classes. Many people were passing me by, not uncommon at midday. But it took a very special one to truly draw my attention.
She had brown hair that fell across her shoulders and brown eyes you could drown in. She had not donned an effusive amount of makeup today to unveil a natural beauty few could match. Her bookbag draped one arm, her head turned toward some distant object I could not see. My pulse quickened at the sight, but I was also disheartened.
Emma Watson was not an uncommon crush in today's world. I will confess some joy at the news she was coming to Brown some several months ago. But I harbored few delusions of my chances. Fashion model, movie star, such widespread fame at such a young age. Everyone has fantasies, but reality eventually sets in to crush them. As I sat there though, elevated heart rate and all, basking in the beauty, a thought came into my mind. I had to at least try. This once at least, or I could never forgive myself for missing such an opportunity, small and unlikely though it would seem.
Emma turned her head back forward, her stride coming closer. I hurriedly tried to think of an icebreaker for conversation, some feeble pretext. And then suddenly fortune smiled upon me. Her book bag spilled opened a mere meter away, as if I had cast some spell from the movie universe that had bestowed her fame. One could say it was magical, given what eventually followed.
I quickly leapt up to take advantage of her misfortune and my luck. Some say chivalry is dead...but I had always been chivalrous to a fault, said my more effusive friends. She was leaning down, but I did not take the look many a modern man would have envied. Instead, I leaned down, collecting the first of the books. Her hair was falling forward in a lovely disarray as she was doing the same, but as she saw the second pair of hands, her gaze lifted. I met her eyes for the first time, and a more wonderful sight I had never known.
"Thanks for the help," Emma said. "I swear, I should just go with a knapsack these days, but...the fashion..."
"No problem," I replied, handing her the first pair of books and glancing at the volume and thickness of the others. "You seem to be quite the student."
"Hard to live up to the expectations of Hermione Granger," she said wryly. "But I try."
"You're in Professor Gerard's English Literature class too?" I asked, handing her the corresponding tome. "I haven't seen you there before."
"I don't always want to show up to be seen...you know how it is," Emma said, before pondering what she had said and laughing. She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Sorry, what a self-centered thing to say..."
I chuckled as I pondered her words. "Fame is not always kind, is it?"
"Not always." Emma sighed slightly. "There are a lot of people around who just want to attach themselves to you, or...have other designs."
"I can't say I can relate, but I understand," I replied amiably. "I'm just a regular dude. I can only imagine what it might be like."
Emma looked up again at me. Not the cursory glance of our first exchange, but a more thorough, searching one. I could tell what it meant. She was trying to see if I was genuine, or simply feeding her what she wanted to hear...or what I thought she wanted to hear. And maybe she was looking for a little more as well...
A small bloom of hope burgeoned inside me. I had already been fortunate, and now I was a little more so. Clearly Emma did not have a lot of normal conversations. And every word I spoke was genuine. I was not the womanizing, untrue type. Perhaps she saw that.
She blushed ever so slightly as I met her searching glance, then took the last of the books from my hands. "Thanks for the help...?"
I gave her my name. She smiled slightly, encouragingly...or so I hoped. "Maybe I will see you around?"
Emma Watson was rising away from me. All my progress, luck, fortune, was about to be lost. So many times in my life, I had played it safe, scuttling back behind my rock for fear of rejection. I would be damned if it happened again. I set my teeth determinedly. "Is Professor Gerard's class your next one as well?"
She considered the question as I rose, standing over her, but never looking away from her soft brown eyes. "Yes. In about three hours."
"Mine too," I said, taking a glance at my watch. "Maybe I can take you to lunch. Get you out of here from the inquiring eyes, and pass the time with something other than studying."
I felt a sudden sinking feeling as I realized my last words were a little more forward than I had intended, but Emma either did not notice or did not care. She gave me another searching look. My heart pounded.
"Sure." Never had a single word caused my heart to soar so much. "But only if you have a car. I don't want to eat around here. Let's grab some fast food."
I cracked a smile. "I took you for a more formal eating type."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Emma said in a teasing tone. "A lot of people can't tell the actress from the role. Maybe I'll show you."