Love with the mind (Short Story)

Love with the mind

I wish I would meet someone as captivating as the sky.

How it manages to mix a threatening blue with a holy yellow, shades of pink underneath and a shiny velvet red passing through the entire picture, making it seem like it would ruin the harmony while, at the same time, leaving me breathless, aware of the fact that that's exactly how it's supposed to be.

How, after hours and hours of showing us one brilliant art work after another, it slowly says goodbye only to grant us the privilege of watching the night sky with all its constellations for another ten hours.

I make use of this chance whenever I can, spending as much time as possible on a small, uncomfortable bench, gazing at the wonders, that so many people have become oblivious to. There are stories about those constellations standing for characters from myths and legends, but I could never acquire a taste for it.

I am a rational person. I want things to be simple. If I can't see a proof with my own eyes, it's hard for me to believe anything. And the sky just holds too many mysteries, that yet need to be solved, for me thinking a story I grew up hearing could be true.

With only five hours of sleep due to my nightly admirations, I sit in the classroom the next morning, expecting nothing but an ordinary day on which I'd be punished with another literature digression by my teacher. However, something seems off today. My best friend, who usually takes the seat next to me, isn't here and my teacher, who is normally fifteen minutes early, is missing as well. I am close to just skipping the class, when suddenly the door is being opened, my teacher entering the room.

But she's not the reason for why I have to swallow, the need to cough getting me the attention from everyone around. No, it's the boy standing next to her.

He looks around the room before his eyes land on me and the only empty seat left next to me. Our eye contact makes me tense up in my chair and I feel a strong shiver running along my spine slowly as I imagine to see the morning sky with red clouds and shimmering highlights from the sun in his eyes, before they turn into a dark blue, only a few sparkles shining through.

As he takes the seat next to me, his arm lightly brushing mine, I exhale shakily before I take a deep breath in, his scent, that must be the definition of mystery, creeping into my nose and spreading through my being while igniting sparks of electricity along the way. He doesn't say anything and he doesn't need to. He has already captivated my attention like no one has ever managed before. I am rigid, my body longing for any sort of connection.

The lesson seems to last longer than ever and when it finally ends, I need a moment to collect myself, the mysterious boy already leaving the room. Without much thinking I stand up, quickly following him into the hall way.

"Wait! Who are you?", I half scream, desperately longing for an answer that would be reason enough for the emotions that he has evoked within me without even trying.

He stops and turns to me with a small smirk: "You know who I am. You have already been staring at me for hours, I just couldn't resist anymore. I had to meet you."

Taken aback by his answer, I stare up at him in confusion: "I've never seen you before."

He takes a few steps closer, pinning me to the wall behind me, his body almost touching mine. His hand reaches for a strand of hair, that he puts behind my ear, his fingers gently brushing over my cheek as he replies: "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."

I need a moment to understand what he has just said, recognizing the lines from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream but failing at understanding what he means by quoting them.

"What?", I ask stupidly and shudder as he gives me a gorgeous smile in return.

"You don't need to see me with your eyes to know me with your mind", he whispers and I don't push him away as he tilts my head up, slowly leaning closer before he presses his lips to mine. It's a surreal feeling and so light, I almost don't feel it. But at the same time, my whole body explodes at the foreign yet so familiar contact. Unconsciously, my hand travels up to his face to pull him closer before we let go of each other breathlessly.

"I can't wait for you to watch me again", he mumbles and then he is gone, leaving me wondering how he could have disappeared so quickly.

Laying on the old bench that night, it isn't so uncomfortable anymore and as I glance up at the sky, it has something holy I've never noticed before. As if the sky would be indeed full of people, who once were gods.

By now, I already know every constellation by heart but I gasp in shock as I realise that one is actually missing. The one I adore the most.

No, it couldn't be him, could it?

However, every doubt simply vanishes as I realise what he meant. There is in fact a difference between seeing and knowing something. In this moment, I don't see the proof. I don't need it. I just know. He is the love I was searching for in the dark. As captivating as the sky, because he is a part of it.

And with a small smile on my face, I continue admiring the constellations, waiting for mine to return again.