Brown Eyed Boy

First Glance is Chance (Jessie POV)

There was about a week left of summer vacation when I first saw him. Our town was so small that everyone knew each other and knew when someone was moving away or moving in. I had heard for weeks that a new family was moving in two blocks away, but it didn’t interest me as much as it seemed to everyone else.

            One morning, my mom had sent me to the store to get a few things for breakfast. When I got there, it was mostly empty aside from a woman I had never seen before and a little girl who couldn’t be more than five years old. I walked into their aisle and watched as the woman looked around in confusion.

            “Hi, do you need help?” I asked politely. She looked over at me and relief flooded her eyes.

            “Yes please,” she laughed, almost embarrassed. “I’m new here and I have no idea where to find this cereal my daughter likes. I sent my son to find it, but he hasn’t come back yet.”

            “Well our town is a little backwards when it comes to organizing shelves,” I said. “I’m sure he’s just trying to figure out how it works too. What cereal are you looking for?”

            “Trix!” the little girl answered with a friendly smile as she jumped up and down.

            I laughed at her enthusiasm for the cereal before I answered. “Trix are a few aisles down from his one. For some reason they stock the shelves in alphabetical order.”

            “That’s weird,” the woman said. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend your home.”

            “No worries,” I assured her. “I call this place weird all the time. It’s pretty much my name for it.”

            “Okay,” she laughed. “Thank you for the help. My name is Erin by the way, and this is my daughter Cassie.”

            “Hi!” Cassie exclaimed with a bright smile.

            “Hi,” I smiled back. “I’m Jessie. It was nice meeting you both.”

            “Same to you,” Erin said. “I would introduce you to my son, but he seems to have fallen into a black hole.”

            “Its fine,” I laughed. “I’m sure I’ll see him when school starts. Or maybe even sooner because I live a few blocks from you.”

            “Wow, this really is a small town,” she said politely. Cassie started tugging on my arm until I looked down at her and then she gestured for me to come closer.

            “I have to tell you something,” she said eagerly. I smiled and bent down so that I was at her level.

            “What?”

            She leaned forward so that her face was right in front of mine and said “You’re pretty.”

            “Oh,” I said, completely stunned at the comment. “Um, thank you. You're pretty too.” I could feel my face heating up with awkwardness and suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave.

            “I think my brother would think you're pretty too,” Cassie said.

            “Um.” I stood up straight, ready to leave. “Okay, I should be going. My mom might be wondering where I am, so...”

            “Of course,” Erin said. “Maybe we'll see you around then.”

            “Yeah,” I said, still feeling awkward. “Bye.” I hurried away, hoping that I didn't seem rude and kept my eyes to the ground. I didn't notice the sneakers coming towards me until it was too late and I ended up colliding with their owner.

            “I'm sorry!” I blurted out as I looked up and locked gazes with the brownest eyes I had ever seen. They reminded me of a pool of chocolate, looking so warm they pulled me in until I fell over the edge. Falling, falling, falling until I finally realized that I was staring at someone and that was rude. I looked away, mumbling “sorry” again.

            “It's okay,” they said sincerely. “I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going. It was my fault.” I looked back up, trying to avoid staring directly at their eyes and realized that I had never seen this boy before. He had to be Erin's son.

            “Well I wasn't paying much attention either, so it's partially my fault,” I replied.

            “We can both be at fault, how about that?” he said with a smile.

            “Sure,” I said smiling back. I hadn't planned on smiling, but his was so contagious that I couldn't help it. “Well I have to go, so bye.”

            “Wait-”

            I hurried away before I could feel more awkward than I already did. I bought what my mother asked for and walked away from the store as fast as I could, trying to escape the awkward feeling that seemed to have consumed me. Even once I'd made it a safe distance away from the store and eventually to my house, I found that I hadn't completely escaped my encounter. Those warm brown eyes and the face that held them seemed to haunt me the rest of the day and creep it's way into my dreams.