Sure, she'd seen him around. But, then again, who hasn't? He was that boy who everyone had a crush on. He was that boy who was always goofing off in class, giving him the "bad boy" image. He was that boy who everyone wanted to be friends with, whether they'd admit it or not. Sure, she'd seen him around. But had she actually seen him? She'd seen the hair that all the girls swooned over, and the eyes everyone melted into, and she'd seen the way he flirted around the "hot" girls. But she'd never really seen him. Until now.
She shivered. It was getting late and her ride still hadn't shown. Mom was right. She thought. I should have worn a jacket. She looked up at the quickly setting sun, and decided to sit on a nearby bench. She checked her watch one more time. It was just getting later and later. But the sunset was gorgeous. A pallet of blues, pinks, oranges, and purples.
"Don't you just love the sunset?" She didn't expect anyone to answer. That's why she was surprised when someone did.
"It's amazing."
She quickly turned around, and saw him standing there. She didn't want him there. Yeah, he was cute, but noting beyond that.
"Oh, hi. When did you get here?"
He looked behind him, as if to make sure they were all alone.
"I'd say…about five minutes ago. I like to come down here. Just to…chill."
She nodded and looked straight ahead. She hoped that if she ignored him, he'd leave. No such luck. In fact, he slid next to her on the bench.
"It's real beautiful, isn't it?"
She looked over to him. His eyes were set on the sky. They had a thoughtful, faraway look.
"Yeah it is."
He smiled.
"What are you doing here?"
She sighed.
"Waiting. I think my ride forgot me."
He laughed. She glared at him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's not funny. Don't you have a cell phone or something?"
She blushed.
"No. I know I should but my parents are-"
"So strict?" he finished. "I'm in the same boat. I cant get one till I'm-"
"16?" She guessed. He laughed.
"17. But good guess. My dad doesn't want me to grow up. He wants me to be his baby boy forever and never leave home." He sighed, and looked down at the ground. After a couple minutes, he looked up at her.
"But that's not me, you know? I'm looking for…adventure. Something more then-"
"This. Something more then what's going on in our lives, right now."
He nodded slowly. "Exactly." He said. "That's exactly it."
She looked up at him. Maybe I was completely wrong about him. She felt oddly drawn to him. She'd never felt that way about anyone before. Then again, he was…special. And he wasn't at all what he seemed. When she'd seen him around, she'd seen rude, obnoxious, self centered, jerk. But now she see's someone totally different. Someone sweet, thoughtful, and caring.
"Tell me about yourself." He suddenly said.
She smiled and looked at her hands on her lap
"Well…my parents name's are…" she trailed off noticing the amused look he had on. "What?"
"I don't really care about your parents. No offence." He added quickly. "Tell me about you. What you love, what you hate, your 'quirks', your personality…anything." She thought about it.
"Let's see. I love strawberry ice cream. It's just like…I don't know. I just love it. I hate it when people say I'm weird for the littlest things. Like my strawberry ice cream addiction. And they're not like joking around either, yuh know? It's like, why am I weird because I'm not exactly like you? Am I not 'perfect' in your standards?" she sighed. "And I hate it when… when people expect so much of you, when all you wanna do is just…be! You just wanna just be who you are. And if you don't live up to what they expect, its like your letting all these people down. And I feel worthless when people say that, because it's like, 'I'm sorry I'm not perfect!' Because when a good girl does one thing wrong, everyone goes overboard. But when someone bad does something, they're just like, 'Oh its ok. What's one more thing on your permanent record?' And all my friends all have one person that they'd choose over me. It's like I don't even have a best friend. And it's hard. And when I try to express myself and let them into my life, they say I'm over-reacting or girly or whatever, but they'll always find something. I just want them to like me for me, and not someone they want me to be." She finally stopped, and took a few deeps breaths. She glanced over to him, and saw a weird look on my face. Oh God he thinks I'm a freak. That was way more then he asked for. "I'm sorry. I guess that wasn't really what you asked. I just get..a little carried away sometimes."
He smiled. Then all of a sudden, he grabbed her hands.
"Don't ever say sorry for something that doesn't deserve an apology." She looked into his eyes, and felt a spark…somewhat of a connection between them. All of a sudden, she felt so confused. What was going on? Why was she telling him, of all people, something she'd never even thought of telling anyone before? And why did she feel that spark? Then he started talking.
"Well, I love chocolate covered raisons. Arent those called like craisons or something? Anyways, that was something my mom ate all the time. She died when I was eight. When people ask me about her, I try to act like its no biggie. But it is a biggie. I mean, she was my mom! I could sit here, and act all tough like it didn't kill me when she died, or that I'm not still sad. But I am. And if I did that I'd be lying. I still remember the funeral. All my family was there. Everyone kept saying, 'I'm so sorry.' And I just wanted all them to shut up. Half of them barley knew her, and the half that did didn't need to say sorry. What did they do? You know what I mean. And then I had to go up there and make a speech. I didn't want to. I wanted to go home. And I thought that if we stopped the funeral, she would come back. But I had to keep going. I had to make that stupid speech. And I messed up. I just started crying, and I ran off the podium. It was the worst day of my whole entire life. So whenever I eat craisons, I think of her. I think of how much she loved them, and how much I wanted her to be here with me, eating craisons. So not only are they my favorite food, there also my least favorite. I don't want to think of her. I just wish…none of it happened." He sighed and looked away. Suddenly, all her problems seemed small and stupid compared to his. She could feel tears rising up in her eyes. She rested her hand on his shoulder, and he turned around. She saw tears streaming down his face. She didn't know what to say. What could you say? So she did the next best thing, she pulled him in for a hug. She could feel him shaking on her shoulders. She sniffled away the tears. You have to be strong. She thought. You don't have anything to cry about. He lifted up his head, and mumbled in her ear,
"Where've you been all my life?"
She pulled away, and whispered,
"I guess you just need to look harder."
And with that, Massie Block and Derrick Harrington kissed.