▲crystal▼

one

The walls were shaking and I could feel the music in my ears, but I could barely hear it. I kept my eyes on the rim of my cup as the liquid inside of it jumped, obviously startled by the beat of the music. I looked up at the decorations of the house. Twinkling lights were hung on the doorways into the other rooms and people milled passed me, smoke cloulds disappating behind them and the smell of alcohol roaming around after them. I took a sip of my drink which contained of fruit punch and I looked up. 

And then I saw him. 

He was staring at me from the doorway which led into the sitting room where most of the people were. The lights illuminated his white blonde hair and I saw his lips and their small smile which contained only but wonder. They were parted slightly and he blinked at me as he caught me staring at him. 

Come talk to me, I thought. Save me from this diasaster that my best friend, Angelica, had created in hopes of making me more social. 

He began to move towards me and I looked down, my pink dress which stopped above my knee flowing out as I played with the hem. My brown hair covered my eyes and I pushed it away. He finally reached me and he still stared at me and I didn't understand why until I looked into his eyes. They were shining and I blinked, surprised by the feeling that presented itself in my stomach. It was like a jolt and I bit my lip as he smiled at me.

"Hi." He spoke in a voice loud enough to go over the music but low enough to display the privacy that we both felt at the moment. Oh god, he was trouble. I could see the glimmer of mischief in his eyes as his gossamer hands reached up to ruffle his hair in an act of complete casualty. His arms were exposed from his tank top that was supporting an unknown band to me. 

His skin was porcelain, his lips pink and his teeth milk as they bit down on them. He was beautiful. And I guess I should've known then that I should've stayed away from him. It was the summer I turned seventeen and I was young and ripe, ready for any oncoming storm. But he wasn't a storm, and I hadn't seen him coming at all. He was an electric current that ran through me that summer. I should have walked away right then and there, but my naïveté got the best of me and I breathed, 

"Hi."

This simple word made him excited and I could see it. It made me excited as well. Excited, scared, mostly scared. He seemed to be encouraged to say his next words. 

"I'm Michael." he said, his eyes flcikering down to my lips, subtley. I smiled slightly and said, 

"Lena." I said my name, quietly. He held out his cup to me and I stared at it, shaking my head and saying, 

"I don't drink."

"I don't either. It's water." he admitted, shrugging. I laughed lightly and he said, 

"I hope you don't think this is creepy, but do you want to get out of here?" He paused to let me soak in his words. "I mean, it's loud." I raised an eyebrow, trying not to smile. He looked hopeful. 

"You don't want to talk to me-" I began, tilting my head to the side. 

"I want to talk to you forever." he said, quickly. I laughed and smiled widely, staring at him. 

"Well, aren't you something." I said. He laughed, too and pressed his lips together in a smile. 

"So..?" I nodded, sipping my fruit punch. He nodded as well and we walked towards the sitting room where the front door was. We walked out into the warm night air and I looked up at the sky as he closed the door behind himself. There were people outside strewn across the lawn with others or just sitting on the porch. We walked a little further away from the loud music and onto the sidewalk. I looked over at him as he stood beside me. 

"Lena." he said, quietly. "Your name. It's something out of a fairytale." I smiled at him. 

"It was my grandma's name." I said. "Michael. Kinda boring name." He laughed again. His laugh made me smile and he said, 

"I promise. I'm not boring." 

I found out later that that couldn't be more true. 

He looked up with me at the sky and the hundreds of stars strewn across it. "Pretty, isn't it?" I said. 

"Yeah."

"It's weird to think of the number of stars there are." I said. He hummed a response. 

"Yeah."

We were strangers. Two strangers at a party. We both had no idea what were were doing there or outside together. But it's one of those things that you don't mind. It didn't matter then. It was simpler then. All I knew then that he was special.

And, boy, I couldn't be more right.