Title: Reminisce

Author: Just Like Vacation

Summary: A middle-aged man recollects old memories about his first love in second grade after a pair of gray eyes trigger his memories. Oneshot.

Those Gray Eyes

Believe it or not, I used to be a kid, too.

Back in the days of second grade, when we used to measure beauty in units of Disney princesses, I met my own Cinderella, except I never was able to give her the shoes back.

Let me explain. It was recess and I was playing tag with my friends, and man, let me tell ya, I was the greatest there ever was. Basically all the girls in my class were attracted to my speed and tagging skills, but the belief of cooties in elementary school hindered the potential of a polygamy. That being said, when I first saw her, I wished cooties never existed.

You see, I had never once seen a girl get down and dirty like the boys did. The girls in my class never wanted to "get dirty" or "run like boys," which didn't make sense because they based attraction on how the boys performed during recess. Anyways, I wanted a girl that I could relate to, but not one that changed my beliefs. You were not going to get me to start wearing your clothes.

Getting back on topic, across the field was the first girl that I had ever seen climb a tree and run across a puddle of mud. But that wasn't all. She wasn't even wearing pink! Her clothes were stained with all kinds of dirt and scratches, making me fall even more. As she left explosions of mud and dirt in her wake, it was like seeing fireworks for the first time. Each step was like an explosion that made my mind reeling. Her each kick made her blonde hair bounce up and down, captivating my mind with the thought of what lay under those locks. There was only one thing on my mind as I ran across the field, trying desperately to catch up to her. Who is this girl?

As I got closer to her, I noticed that she clutched something in her hand. A hammer. I don't know about you, but I'd rarely gotten to see any second graders carrying hammers around, and the thought of that frightened me a little, making me hesitate. Okay, why does she have a hammer? What's she going to do with it?

However, the hammer only added to the curtain of mystery that my curious, second grade self wanted to unveil, so after thinking it over, I decided to keep running. She's a girl, she won't know what to do with a hammer. I should go help her!

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. You're going after a seemingly homeless girl with a hammer furiously running away from who knows what. But what can I say? I was a curious little guy.

Despite my determination to catch up to the girl, my short legs had taken the toll of thirty minutes of recess and the indefinite amount that the girl had ran and I never caught up. All she left me was a trail of footsteps and the feeling of regret. I thought that we could've been best friends. I liked running, she appeared to like running. I liked getting dirty, she was the dirtiest I'd ever seen. I liked playing in mud, she was basically swimming in it. But the thing I wanted the most was something I could've never had. Just like chasing after her, the very idea seeing her everyday seemed like an unattainable goal.

After that, every day I followed her footprints, fitting mine over hers hoping something would happen. Unfortunately, reality was cruel. Over time, the rain washed away the footprints and I learned to just stop caring. After second grade, I grew the girl out, pushing her down to the depths of my memories until she became a faded dream.

But today, something triggered my mind. It caused me to remember the first time I got attracted to the opposite sex. I don't know why, but her gray eyes put me in a state of nostalgia. It also reminded me of the one thing that haunted my mind everyday since I gave up finding the girl.

It was never meant to be.

A/N: I got this idea after reading another fanfic kinda like this (Musafreen), so shout out to her. If you liked this story, be sure to read my other ones. As usual, please leave a review of how I did (constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, I want to get better). Thanks for reading.

Review Responses:

ReadingManiac98: Yeah, that was Annabeth; was that the only thing you were confused with?