What It's Like to Fall In Love

First step. The two of you meet and it's amazing. There's lots of conversations and laughing with each other and it seems like there's no end. She'll spend all night with you and the two of you talk until the sun rises. You two talk until there's no talk left. You two talk until both of you are struggling to keep your eyes open. And after that you two talk some more.

Second step. She'll leave in the morning and you realize how much you miss her. You'll pick her shirt up from your bed and breathe deeply. It smells like her perfume mixed with the lotion she likes so much along with her natural smell. Your foot begins to tap as you count the hours, minutes, seconds until you get to see her again.

Third step. You sit throughout dinner staring at her. You stare at her as her eyes light up when she tells you the story of how her sorority sister did something silly on pledge week. You watch her lips move and curl as she talks, only thinking about how it would feel to kiss her again. She stops talking and you panic for a second. Did she ask you a question that you didn't hear? You were too busy daydreaming about her lips again. In an effort to cover up your mistake, you nod and say something like, "Yeah, that sounded like it was fun." She nods with a smile and continues with her story. Phew. You've dodged a bullet to daydream another day.

Fourth step. You're hanging out with friends and you tune out of the conversation. In your mind, you're playing a game with yourself as you try to remember what she looks like. You will close your eyes and remember the patterns you traced on her skin, her face when she's still sleeping, the stray strand of hair on her face. You'll think about how her arms would feel when you're tired and she cuddles you. Your friends get up and you guys move along to the next destination. You're so hopeless. At this point you're not even pretending to pay attention to what's going on. You stalk her Instagram. You scroll all the way back to see what she looked like three years ago. You accidentally double tap and see the heart symbol appear over a selfie she took in her dorm room. You don't hit unlike.

Fifth step. You come home from work. You go into the bathroom and stare at her towel and toothbrush. You make your bed and wait for her to come home from work. She takes longer than usual today. You go back to the restroom and pick up her shirt. Her scent is mostly gone but it sort of lingers in your nose. You hear her knocking on your door. You run across the living room to see her. You open the door and pretend to be tired. She asks, Did you miss me. Eh, a little. This entire time you are staring at her and the way her lips move as she talks, and that blouse that you know will smell like her for the rest of the day.