She leaned up against the white brick wall behind her as the throngs of students rushed by, each on an individual mission to get to their cars as quickly as possible and go home. She did not pay attention to the faces that passed her, but looked farther down the hallway at the people that were still walking her way. Anticipation was heavy on her face as she stood. Her eyes rested only momentarily on each figure, trying hard to find him in the crowd, to pick out his beautiful face among all the others.

When the bell rang, he slowly gathered his things from his desk, taking his time to make sure everything was put away neatly. He stopped at his locker, something he rarely did at the end of the day. He stood there for a moment making sure there wasn't anything he had forgotten. He created a mental checklist of things in his head to ensure that he hadn't overlooked anything. His hair was fine. His breath was good. He was deodorized, cologned and decently dressed. As he walked down the hallway, the sunlight showed clearly his reflection in the window and as he gazed he become both more confident and self conscious, adding to his mental trepidation to the upcoming moments. 

Her anticipation became strong; her nerves giving her such a shock that she was sure that people walking by could smell the scent of it coming off her skin. The smell was electricity in the rain. Just as he was making sure that he looked good, she generated an imaginary mirror in front of her, making sure that her hair was tamed, her breath was fine and her skin was smooth. Her opportunity to refine or change anything about herself would end as soon as he arrived.

He pushed his way through a set of double doors at the end of the hall and took in a deep breath. He knew she would be waiting just beyond as they had planned earlier. As he walked swiftly down the hallway, faster than the flow of people around him, his searching eyes came across her before she saw him. His heart began beating faster, as it did every time he neared her. As it did every time he thought about her. Without the trap of her eyes capturing his attention, he was free to look at her. Her blond brown hair and her freckled skin looked as though it was sprayed with sand; He gazed at her green eyes that seemed so deep and powerful. Her attitude that could relax, change and intimidate you.  Her voice that spoke in rolling waves.  She was every perfect element of the beach, everything anyone could love about the sea. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

She turned and saw him and stiffened at his presence. He was closer than she had been mentally preparing for, only a few more strides until they would be close enough for contact. Her mind was blasted by his attractiveness. His short, dark brown hair lay neatly on his head, making her fingers tingle with the idea of slowly caressing through it. His arms were long and slender, undeniably inviting. Undeniably asking her to fold herself up inside of them and stay there forever.

Before she had a chance to develop these thoughts any further, he had reached her. She ripped her mind from its daydreaming and quickly composed a cheery facade. "Ready to go?" she beamed up at him. "Yep." he bluntly responded, injecting into his speech a warmth he hoped would cover his nervousness. As they walked side by side, they both tried to remain smooth and collected as they silently measured the distance between their bodies. Both certain that the buzz of electricity that was trying to surge between them was audible to the other.

They walked up to her car and she swiftly unlocked the door, having mentally rehearsed all of these normal every day actions a thousand times already today to make sure that she remained smooth and didn't fumble. She could not imagine looking like an idiot in front of him.

As she unlocked his door he moved confidently into the seat, reaching blindly for the seatbelt behind his shoulder before quickly snapping it into the buckle. He adjusted his position in the seat and rubbed his hands on his jeans for a moment before catching his nervous tick. 

She started the ignition and pulled out into the line of cars that were waiting to exit the crammed parking lot. While they waited, she fumbled with the radio, hesitant about playing a song he may not like. She settled on a song that she liked okay, and was relieved to see him bobbing his head along with the music. The corner of his mouth rose in a half smile that revealed the gentle wrinkles in his smooth face and showed a glint of bright teeth.  She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel along with the music as they moved forward.

Their conversation was light and meaningless. Talking about their day, joking about what they said on the radio. They both seemed to ignore the forced continuance of the dialogue. Each of them smiling and laughing. Trying to stay interesting. Trying to stay important. It went on this way as they drove down the winding roads toward his home, the conversation almost taking an audible rise, their tension almost shining brighter and brighter as they got closer to their destination. 

Finally, much to both their excitement and fear, they had reached his house. She turned slowly into his driveway and made her way up to the house, suddenly fixated on the road as if this was the most important part of the drive to be paying attention. She stopped at the end of the gravel and slowly, with too much conviction, put her car into park. She turned her body very subtly toward him and then looked up to meet his gaze, first recognizing that they were sitting in the same position, with nearly every part of their body angled toward each other.

His mind was spinning with a thousand thoughts. About how much he wanted to be close to her. About how fantastic she was. About what he planned to do. About how she would feel. If she would be surprised. What she would think. How she would react.

Her mind wasn't in a much better place. She began to question how sure she was of his intentions. She began to become insecure about how he may truly feel about her. She, also, was afraid of her reaction. 

Despite all the thoughts trying to hold him back, the ones that were pushing him forward gained power and he leaned in to her. She immediately mimicked his actions without even thinking. Her mind was spinning. If anyone's head had ever been in the clouds, then this is what it must have felt life. Free. Exhilarating. Euphoric. Fantastic.

Their lips met.

The moment was too short. It was too long. Milliseconds. Hours. Days. She wasn't even sure if it had truly happened. Without enough time to gather a well rounded thought about what was happening, he pulled away from her. He looked up at her, seemingly weary of her reaction and unsure that he did the right thing. His eyes teemed with intense sincerity and when he spoke, he spoke with the deepest, most pure honesty he could muster.

"I love you." He said, and he stepped out of her car.