He saw her.
She was standing with her friends, laughing.
He stood mesmerized, basking in her presence.
Her friend caught his stare and whispered to her. They both giggled as she turned to look at him.
She smiled, her dimples creasing her cheeks.
His heart started to beat faster.
She was in the popcorn line. He was waiting to buy tickets for the movie.
Her friends all began to whisper in her ear as she stared at him.
His friends tapped him, telling him to stop drooling. He ignored them.
She went to his school. They had a few encounters, but had never gotten the opportunity to get to know each other. However, he saw her at lunch, at cheerleading practice, and at school events.
He loved the way she laughed, how sexy she looked without even trying, how perky she was, the energy that came off of her, etc.
She in turn watched him. Just like she knew he watched her.
She loved how sweet he was, how loyal he was to his friends, how good he was at basketball, his kindred soul, etc.
She smiled slowly as she remembered the one time they had been forced to dance together at a party. Luckily it had been a ballad.
He remembered how she had felt with his arms around her. He had never wanted to let her go.
She had loved the way he had shot warning glances to the guys who had tried to interrupt their dance.
They had never wanted to stop and had been disappointed when the song had changed to a fast, floor-stomping song.
As he caught up with her, while she made her way towards the dark theater, he whispered, "hey."
She shot him a startled smile. She hadn't seen him leave his friends the moment he had received his ticket to catch up with her.
"Hey," she replied as she noticed that her friends had deserted her.
"Are you watching The Ring, too?" he asked as he relieved her of the popcorn tray that also held the drink.
"Yeah. Are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yea." He didn't know how to ask her so he just went with what came into his mind. "Would you mind if I sat next to you?"
She smiled in spite of herself. "No, of course not." She answered a little too enthusiastically.
They sat down in the middle of the theater and waited for the movie to start, content with the silence – each in his/her own thoughts.
The movie started.
Like he had expected, she clasped unto his hand and arm during the nightmare-causing parts of the movie. But he wasn't paying attention to the movie.
He was too busy watching the girl he had feelings for watch the movie.
And that was how they spent the entire length of the movie.
As the lights slowly came back on, he held her hand in his. He wasn't ready to let go yet.
"Did you have a good time?" he asked her.
She was too busy staring entranced by their intertwined hands; she hadn't realized that they had still been holding hands.
He smiled as he watched her.
Becoming aware of his stare, she looked up. "Sorry, did you say something?"
"Did you like the movie?" he repeated, rubbing circles on the back of her hand.
"I'm going to get nightmares, but, thanks to you, it wasn't as scary."
"Glad to be of service." He grinned at her.
She felt her heart flutter. How was it that he was able to look cuter than he already was?
She looked around the theater, self-consciously, and saw that they were the only two people left.
"Could you walk me home? My friends seem to have ditched me." She told him, afraid that he might say no.
Contrary to her beliefs, he thanked his lucky stars.
"Of course. It'd be my pleasure."
They both smiled and stood up.
Now was their time to get to know each other.
He still hadn't released her hand.
As they walked down the street, talking, hands intertwined, it felt natural.
The feeling struck them unexpectedly.
They found out a lot about each other and shared many jokes.
They enjoyed each other's company and wondered why it was that they hadn't hung out together before.
She found out that she liked his sense of humor and the way his eyes twinkled when he smiled or laughed.
He liked the way she laughed with him and held her part of the conversation.
They both could get used to this.
When they reached her house, he sighed disappointedly though they had been walking together for awhile.
"It was really fun tonight. Thanks for walking me home and all." She said as she reluctantly slipped her hand from his.
"It was, by far, the best night ever." He replied. His hand instantaneously felt cold and he stuck his hand in his pocket.
She smiled, pleased with his response, and her dimples deepened.
Then she reached up and kissed his cheek.
"Good night, Lucas. See you tomorrow," she said as she walked up her steps.
"Sweet dreams, Brooke." He watched her enter her house, hand lingering over the kissed spot on his cheek, then replayed every scene in his mind as he turned around and began walking home.
The smile never left his face the whole way home.
She watched him leave and felt like dancing, while shouting for joy. She too thought back on the night. She grinned as she thought of the kiss she had mustered up the courage to give him.
The only thing on their minds before they went to sleep was each other and the thought of tomorrow.