{HIM}
Holy shit. Is that her? It has to be. She’s got the same long, wavy, periwinkle hair. The same fair skin. The same petite body. And, as she turned, not looking directly at me, she had the same beautiful face and unusual eyes that had captured me in the first place. One was deep, dark blue. The other: light, stormy gray blue with flecks of brown in the middle. They were both bright, brighter than mine, even. And electrifying.
I was out with Ross and a few of the other guys. We were hanging out at a deli only a few blocks from the pier where I had met her two months ago. It seems like so much longer, like years. Every night, I had lay awake covered in sweat thinking about that night. About her, and the two other girls I had slept with before the party. But this one was a virgin. Fresh meat. It was amazing. I felt a real, deep connection between us. I almost regretted the other girls, but hey, it’s not like I knew I’d find this amazing girl that night.
I wanted to approach her, but what if she didn’t remember me? What if she was too wasted at the party, and she wasn’t even really there, just the girl that comes alive from the alcohol?
My friends went inside the deli to pay, I gave Ross some money to pay for me and told him I’ll be back, but not to wait up.
I was walking, no, jogging to her. She was with a girl, I couldn’t see her, but it may have been Benna.
I finally got to her, tapped her on the shoulder, she whirled around and gasped. She stared at me for the longest time. Finally, she made a noise; it may have been a little “Hi.” or just a squeak. Either way, it was adorable and I hugged her.
Once she pulled back, she kept staring, speechless. “Remember me?” I said, smiling my crooked smile that I tried to hard to not use. “I… you… you’re name?” she stuttered. “Tucker. And you are?”
“Valerie.” She said, still staring in awe. I looked at her friend, who turned out not to be Benna, and she nodded in approval to let me take Valerie.
Valerie…what a beautiful name…
Anyways, I walked her by the shop next door, which happened to be where we got pistachio ice cream that night. She still wouldn’t talk much. I reminded her of all the things we talked about and did that night. Then, I stopped her and faced her. “Valerie…” she looked up at me with those breathtaking eyes, I felt so strong and safe. I don’t know why, I usually have a hard time talking to girls about real things, especially looking into their eyes. “We made love that night.” That phrase: “made love”. I’ve never used it in my life. I always thought it was old and dumb, cheesy, even. But that night really was something special, and we didn’t even finish. She blushed like crazy, which made my stupid smile spread like a wild fire.
She cleared her throat. “Um, yeah. We did. I have to go. Bye, Tucker.” Valerie began to walk down the sidewalk, but I caught her arm. “Wait. Hey, what’s wrong? Give me a chance, here.” I pulled her close. “You never called me. You took my virginity, that night was the best night of my life. All I did was think about it and cry after that night. I thought you were different, but you just took what you wanted and ran.” Oh. She’s right, dammit. “No, no. No. Look Valerie, I lost your number, I swear. I thought about that night, too. All the time… I couldn’t sleep, I could hardly eat. I kept thinking that I had to find you. And I have, so, can I have a chance?” She thought for a while. “I don’t know Tucker…” she said, shaking her head.
“Val, please, I’d do anything.” Cue puppy dog eyes.
“Maybe…if you swear you’ll stick around.” She smiled at me. I grinned. “Swear. What are you doing tonight? Let me take you to dinner.” My hands were around her waist now; I pulled her around a building and leaned her on a wall. “Just us. Please?” I kissed her, tenderly at first, and then passionately like I hadn’t seen her in years, which might as well be accurate.
I felt like this girl could change me, easily. She could make me fall in love with a single bat of her long eyelashes. I’ve never been in love, I’ve never wanted to be, but now I do. Desperately.
“Okay.” She backed into the wall. “Where to?” I touched my nose to hers. “You pick, Valerie.” She blushed at the sound of her name. I love it when she blushes. She’s so beautiful. I wonder if she knows that… I made a mental note to call her beautiful every day.
We exchanged numbers, more information about each other, just incase the same thing happened again like last time. I’d make sure it didn’t, I’d stay in touch with this girl for the rest of my life.
We got to the restaurant she picked, The Macaroni Grill. Our table was way in the back, so we could act like idiots as much as we wanted. “If you order a salad, I will just…”
“Don’t worry, I’m not one of those girls.” She giggled.
“Alright, Miss Valerie, what will you be having, then?” I snootily instituted. Giggling again, she replied “That’s Miss Dubois to you, Mr. MacAulay. I will be having the Mozzarella sticks with the marinara sauce and a side salad with lots of bread, thank you. And you?”
“Possibly the Chicken Alfredo? Maybe the lobster…hmmm, decisions, decisions...” She continued giggling at my trying-to-be-snooty Irish accent.
She was half French, and it showed in her features. However, she’s never been, so her accent is more Northern-USA. She told me that someday she’s going to travel all over Europe, stay in France the longest, go to each city and just inhale the culture. She loves her ancestry line and would like to know everything there is to know about it. I plan on taking he to Europe someday. I’ll show her Ireland, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Scotland, Germany, Finland, Ukraine, and Romania; all the good places. I’ve been to every country in Europe at least once because my father loved to travel, he owned a restaurant, he was the head chef, he left on ‘business trips’ to roam our side of the hemisphere to search for the best foods. He’d take my mother and me with him, of course.
