First sight.

1

"As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Natalia.

Nat was famished, per usual. That's okay though.

She opens the car door and the bitterly cold wind slices through the warm and comforting air of the car. Nat shivers. 

It'll be warm inside. She tells herself.

"It looks packed." Her mother, Avania, tells her as the car doors slam shut.

"I bet it's just workers." Nat hopes this is true. She hates waiting.

They make their way inside and Nat looks around, realizing they are going to have to wait in line for ages due to crowd of people.

"Good luck." An older lady mumbles to them as they approach the line. 

Natalia turns to watch as the lady leaves the store with her friend, visibly annoyed with the wait.

"I wonder what the deal with the uniforms are." Avania says and points in the direction of a large group of people in matching uniforms. Nat shrugs and eyes the line. 

Theres roughly 10 groups of people infront of them and the restaurant is packed. 

"I'm going to go look at the menu." Nat says and slowly weaves her way between pairs of people to view the menu. 

As she's walking, she catches a glimpse of one of the uniforms. 

A soccer team? In this area? Nat scans her eyes over the menu.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket and Nat removes it while making her way back to her mother.

Reminder: Erin's birthday is today. 

Oh shoot, I forgot. Nat shoots her friend a quick Happy Birthday text. 

"Find what you want?" Avania asks as Nat returns to her side. Nat nods and puts her phone away.

"Good, why don't you find us a table and I'll go look at the menu. text me what you want incase I find a shorter line." 

Nat scans the crowd, looking for an empty table. Her eyes settle on a table for two near the entrance and she makes her way to it. 

The chairs are comfortable, yet cold, so Nat sits on the edge of the seat, waiting to adjust to the temperature of the cushion.

A group of matching students run past her and she watches them chase each other, weaving through families. 

The kids run through another family, and this time Natalia watches the family. Two adults seem to be talking to a younger girl in one of those orange and white uniforms. The younger girl seems to be frustrated and eager to play but she remains in line with her family. 

A boy about Natalia's age approaches them and she assume he's with them. He scrolls through social media on his phone.

 Nat watches his movements closely, observing to see what his next move will be. He's lean, but not weak. Like an athlete. Nat admires that.

Suddenly, as if he could sense her presence, he turns and meets her eyes.

Natalia's whole body seems to tense and relax at the same time. Her heart rate speeds up. 

It's like the beat drop of a song. The climax of a novel. The mystery boy holds Natalia's attention. She wants to pry her eyes away but can't. His green eyes hold her gaze.

Then, as sudden as they met eyes, he looks away; Once again consumed by his phone.

Natalia doesn't know how to react. It's as if her whole world just crashed around her. She feels sick, excited, scared, all at once. She wants to scream and cheer at the same time.

She looks around to see if anyone else felt the whole world shake around them, yet everyone's going about their day as if nothing just happened. But something did happen. 

Nat's world spins around her, children continue running and cheering. Her mother continues ordering food at the counter. The boy continues looking at his phone.

Nat wills the boy to look at her again. She want's to understand what just happened. She craves the glance. And, almost on que, he looks in her direction again.

This time, Natalia isn't scared. She holds the eye contact, doesn't let him look away. She wonders if the boy feels the same way Nat does: strangely excited and scared all at once.

Time itself seems to freeze in that moment. There's a connection between them, Natalia can feel it. This time, it's not the boy that looks away, it's Nat.

Her mother has reproached and is looking at her curiously. 

"You okay?" Avania asks her daughter and looks in the direction of the boy.

"Yeah," Nat looks at her mother, removing her tray of food from Avania's hands. "zoned out." 

They eat quietly, Nat occasionally stealing glances in the boys direction.

She wonders what his curly hair would feel like if she were to touch it. If his skin would be soft and smooth or worn and bumpy. If his laugh is soft or loud.

Eventually, they finish eating. Avania and Nat clear their trays and grab their stuff.

As they approach the door, Natalia takes one last glance in the boys direction, meeting his soft green eyes for what she assumed was the last time, and exits the building.