Potion

Seeing Him

A week had passed. I'd talked to Penelope on the phone the day after our shopping trip, but we never mentioned the inevitable. She seemed to treat me differently now. Then again, so did my mom. So did the little kids across the street. Whenever I babysat them, they would stare at me with wide, scared eyes. It made me think I was some kind of monster.

I was in the woods again, in my backyard. The lush green forest helped to calm my racing mind. The air was chilled, the sky was empty. I glanced around at the scenery, watching the blooms on the trees begin to shrivel away.

Crack.

The noise caught me off guard. I spun around, half expecting a squirrel to pounce on my face. Instead, there was nothing. Hm.

Crack.

The noise sounded again, but I knew the direction this time. It was coming from deep in the forest, where the trees stood taller than the rest. Without thinking twice, I took off in that direction. My feet sprinted across the ground and the wind burned my eyes.

Crack.

The sound was so close now, I was sure it would be discovered soon. Suddenly, I saw a blur in my vision and red sparks flew everywhere. It was like a mini explosion. I realized it was fireworks! I'd seen them before, and heard the deafening crack. What kind of idiot would use fireworks in the middle of fall though?

I soon found the person accountable. He stepped out from behind a giant spruce, and my heart thudded to a stop. He wasn't an ordinary kid. That's for sure. His dark hair swept past his eyes, and I found my hands itching to run through it. He was wearing a tight black shirt, which showed off his muscles and lean figure. He had converse on, which surprised me for some odd reason. I was wearing converse too. His face was beautiful in its own unique way. His eyes were a mix of gray and green. The depth inside them stole my breath in a wave if intensity. His jaw was smooth, almost like a painting. And his lips were turned up at the edges. That's when I realized he was grinning. At me.

"Why are you using fireworks in the middle of the woods?" I asked when I finally found my voice. He stopped grinning and shrugged.

"I really wanted to try these out." He replied, holding up some firecrackers.

His voice was deep and compelling, I could listen to it all day.

"Why are you alone in the middle of the woods?" He asked, looking into my eyes.

"I....." Did I want to tell him this? Oh whatever. "I live here." I finished.

He nodded his head, scrutinizing my face. I felt entranced by his eyes. They pulled me in, they stopped my breath.

"I don't think I've seen you around the highschool." He said.

"Yeah...I don't go to school." I replied. This conversation was going in a direction I didn't want it to go. But thankfully, he dropped the subject.

"Huh. What's your name?"

"Willow."

He grinned again, and sent butterflies in my stomach. "I'm Jesse."

Realization hit me like a punch to the gut. This was the guy Penelope was talking about! The cutest guy in school, but he didn't like anyone.

"You seem different. Than the other girls, I mean." Jesse said, the ghost of a smile on his face. "I guess I'll see you...Willow."

I smiled for real this time.

"See you."

Jesse walked back through the forest from the way he'd came. The whole time I couldn't make my heart pump right. What was wrong with me?