It’s a strange thing

You know

Starting to like someone

That one moment you see them

And your body rewires

Moves some thoughts

Attaches certain feelings to sights

So that it’s no longer

“It’s just James”

To

“Oh my gosh, it’s _James”_

And your cells start going into overdrive

When you see him up close

Face to face

They go crazy

Short circuit

Start sending fire to your cheeks

But then they're like, “Oh crap, why’d we do that?”

And then they panic

Round up the tongue cells

Cos they need more cells at HQ

to help reboot you

You start feeling cold sweat

But that’s cos your overheating

They shut down parts of your brain

Cos they can’t have it working

When they’re trying to make _you_ work right

So you forget what words are

And when James walks up to you

You stare at him — blankly

Until he smiles just a little bit

And of course even that slight smile

Is a smile

Something special

Something you’d wish you could capture and pocket for the rest of your lonely days

Because it’s James

And you want a piece of him

To get used to him

So you won’t shortcircuit every time you see him

And then he says, “Hey, Cass”

And you open your mouth

But words don’t come out immediately

Cos your brains still off

And your tongue is still tied

But your cells manage to get you working

Just a bit

And you manage the words, “Hey, James”

But they sound like a rushed stammer

An awkward mess of words

But he doesn’t care

Because he’s James

And kind like that

Skimming over embarrassing moments

“So, you wanna head to the library,

To finish up our project?”

He asks

And you nod your head awkwardly too

Grip your bag a little harder

“Yeah, let’s go now”

_Screw you, cells_

You think cos why can’t you just work right

Why do you gotta shortcircuit

And as you guys start walking to the library

And James starts talking

About whatever

Your cells finally manage to restart you

Send your tongue cells back to your mouth

Turn on your brain

Your body starts to cool

Cos your with James now

And he’s talking

And his voice is so angelic

And you wish you could freeze this day

And live this moment forever

But you can’t

Cos he’s only your partner in science

And when the projects over

He’ll go back to the boy in your class

That you’ll never be with

And you’ll go back to that girl

Who’s face always burns

Who’s always a jumble of words

And stammers

Whenever he’s around

But who cares

Because all you wanna do is admire him

From the distance

And hope and dream

That maybe someday

It’ll no longer be “just James”

But

“James and Cass

Together forever”