Eyes

She met him at a dance. His crystal blue eyes danced around the room, and his back was leaning against the wall as if he didn’t care that his suit might get ruined by the dirty gym furnishings, but she had seen him clean off the wall before casually finding a position. He kept looking around, as if he were expecting someone, but she could tell no one was coming. The dance had started hours ago, and he’d been sitting there for the whole of it. If the roles were switched maybe he would have come over and talked to her, but she just couldn’t bring herself to stare into those blue eyes without completely melting into a pile of socially inept goo.

She’d never seen him before, and it’s not like there were that many people in their class. Only 64 to be exact. Or 65…? No, she would’ve seen him at least once. She looked back over to him, and found that his eyes weren’t dancing anymore. They were simply fixed on her. She took a deep breath in, and tried to stay calm. She glanced back up at him to see his gaze was tenaciously holding onto her, and she knew he’d seen her staring at him.

She was surprised it had taken so long considering she’d been playing this game for about an hour or so. Staring at him, turning away when his gaze got a little close, and then turning back as soon as his eyes turned in another direction. But she was caught now, and she had about two options. She could of course go talk to him like any normal human being would, or she could leave. And no, she couldn’t just leave her spot, she’d have to leave the party to avoid some kind of social disaster, or at least that’s what the anxious part of herself said.

Her friends would understand. They’d ditched her hours ago to dance; they wouldn’t be in the mood to condone her social anxieties. So, in an attempt to seem as if she hadn’t noticed the boy’s gaze, she pulled her soft black hoodie over the red dress that she’d borrowed from her mom, and tried to casually walk towards the exit. Somehow the anxious part of her brain took over and she ended up speed walking, no, running out of the dance. She had never felt more like Cinderella. With a lack of social aptitude.

Her eyes flashed back to boy, and she could’ve sworn a smirk was playing on his lips. That wouldn’t be the last she would be seeing him, and deep down, she knew it.

~ Jacqueline M.