Hoped he found happiness in those sad eyes of his.
It was during a warm fall day that she found out what he’d been doing. Their reuniting was anything but magical, but it was still momentous, a literal crashing-into when they just happened to be in the same place at the same time.
Smack.
They ran into each other head on, the impact intense, but not as intense as seeing each other again.
They were in shock.
Stunned.
Breathless.
But most of all, they were just glad to see each other alive and breathing.
‘Hey,’ the girl said as the wind and leaves danced around them.
‘Hey,’ the boy replied back, looking better than he had before. His eyes, although they still carried sadness, also carried happiness.
Their first words weren’t the best of opening lines, not like in the fairytales the girl had read when she was a princess. Stories that promised fantasies of princes sweeping princesses off their feet, wooing hearts with words and sometimes song.
But that was okay.
She didn’t need wooing.
She didn’t need songs.
Because she wasn’t a princess.
And the boy wasn’t a prince.
She was just a girl.
And he was just a guy.
And this wasn’t a fairytale.
But real life.
And fairytales were overrated anyway.
The rest of their conversation was light, cautious, neither of them comfortable enough to bring up that night. They soon parted ways, with a wave and a smile that carried hope they would soon see each other again.
It was not the end for these two.
There was so much more in store for them.
Now that their monsters were out of their lives.
It didn’t start right away – the relationship between the two of them. They had a class together and their conversations were filled with, ‘Can I borrow a pen?’ and ‘Did you go to my game on Friday?’ and ‘You should really go to my game.’
The girl wanted to say more and so did the guy, but it took some time just to work up the courage to take that extra step.
But finally the time came.
‘So I was thinking,’ the guy said one day when they’d run into each other in the hallway. He was standing up straighter these days, more confident now that he wasn’t being beaten down. ‘That we should go out some time.’
‘Like on a date?’ The girl had never been out on a date and she was confused. Yes, they’d talked a little bit to one another and she couldn’t stop thinking about him – her journal was filled with pages of their average encounters and of course the details of his eyes because those were her favorite part – but other than that, they’d seemed like they were going to be friends, which was way better than not being friends. But now, his expression showed signs of something else, as if he’d been trying to fight it, but had given it up and let it free.
I like you, his expression read.
I like you, too, the girl wanted to say.
‘Yeah, on a date.’ He seemed amused by the girl, almost nonchalant about the whole thing, but his eyes promised, I like you a lot.
I like you a lot, too.
‘Okay.’ It was hard for the girl to say, and when the words left her lips, they surprised her.
‘I’m not sure what you mean?’
Leaning back, she draws down her sunglasses to look at me. ‘I keep uttering these cheesy lines every time I’m around you. It’s becoming ridiculous.’
I chuckle softly. ‘I think it’s cute.’
‘Well, you do it, too,’ she says, amused. ‘All the time.’
I start to scrunch up my nose and protest, but then I realize she’s right. So instead, I get to my feet, brush the sand off my hands, and throw her over my shoulder.