Silver Eyes

Unexpected

"I'm going out!" I called to my mom as I grabbed my backpack and skipped out before my mom had time to argue. I had been working on a painting and ran out of white paint. The downtown art store, Delanie's was only a short subway ride away. As usual, I felt like I was being watched as I combed the shelves for what I was looking for. I guessed that my age and my grungy black clothes made the shop manager jumpy. My black trench coat was weighed down by my wallet in one pocket and my keys and phone in the other. I folded my arms over my chest and studied my options as I tried to relax in the starkly lit store.

"Hey." I heard a surprised greeting, making me spin around to see him. Jack stood tall in all black beside me.

"Hi!" I exclaimed with my voice practically cracking like a boy going through puberty. "What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to get my voice to cooperate.

"I just needed a new sketchbook." He held up his 12" by 16" graph paper pad. "What about you?" he asked, glancing at the paints and then back at me.

"I ran out of white." I told him, uncomfortable under his mysterious gaze. I smiled awkwardly and showed him the jar of acrylic paint I had picked up.

"You paint?"

"Yeah. Do you draw buildings or something?" I pried.

"Yeah..." he took a moment to decide whether to explain. "I'm going to school to be an architect." He said, looking at the linoleum as he surprised me with the information.

"That's cool." I said sincerely, swallowing my feelings of inferiority and smiling brightly. He smiled back after swiping his black hair out of his eyes.

"Soo, what do you paint?"

"Different things, mostly people and animals, I guess..." I shrugged, bashfully.

"Cool. Maybe you could show me sometime." He said, with an adorable half-smile.

"Totally." I barked, as I noticed he was wearing a U of T t-shirt. "So, you go to U of T?" I asked, motioning to his t-shirt that had the university title on it.

"Yeah, I'm a first year." He explained. So he's in university... I thought to myself. Why would he want to date me? I couldn't help asking. To my surprise, he stepped closer to me. "You're a junior, right?" he asked quietly as his red eyes gazed down at me, practically putting me into a trance.

"Yeah..." I breathed, as I couldn't help my eyes going to his lips. When they pulled into a smile, my eyes snapped back up to see a funny look in his eyes, before he pulled me into a kiss. His hand was on my neck as he backed me into the shelf and I let my fingers reach out to touch his tight abdomen as I tried not to let my paint fall from my other hand. When he stopped kissing me and I was breathless, he looked at the employee who had stopped to gawk at us from the end of the aisle, before he turned back to me with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"I gotta go. I'll see you later, Silver." He told me, slipping away.

"See ya." I sighed, smoothing out my hair and straightening up.

* * *

"So how was it with that guy the other day?" Cassidie leaned in with her excitement dancing in her deep, hazel eyes.

"Good." I stated vaguely, trying not to show how much I liked him.

"What's his name?" Cassidie asked lingering on each word and pouring in all kinds of suggestions into each.

"Jack." I answered simply.

"How old is he?" Marnie asked with a frown.

"I don't know. I didn't ask." I answered, thinking he was probably at least 18 if he was in university.