Kickstart My Heart

1

Sam sat behind her in his Intro to Cinema Studies class. The first day of his Junior year was when the habit formed at random. He had snoozed his alarm, circled the commuter parking lot for ten minutes, jogged across campus, and made it through the squeaky wooden door just before the professor was about to introduce himself. Sam scanned the full classroom for an empty seat and took one of the only three available, right behind her. Every day after that he filled the same chair behind her.

He didn't notice her on the first day because he'd been too consumed with catching his breath, scrambling through his disaster of a backpack, laughing at the professor's actually funny jokes and paying attention to just about anything else that caught his eye. She didn't catch his eye because she was quiet and unmoving, just content sitting there; statuesque.

The second day, however, he noticed her twirling a strand of orange hair on and off again throughout the class. He noticed how she looked like a psych ward patient. When they walked outside class she was in front of him but turned like she had decided to use the restroom, and he saw her completely. She was average looking and without any features that could've enhanced her attractiveness, except for her orange hair. But her naturally rare shade of hair only called more attention to her standard looks.

He couldn't remember when that changed, when he started to see something more to her. He could only remember day by day instances of things he noticed about her, and specific instances that drew them together. He couldn't pinpoint when she changed or what actually changed about her. He did remember the moment he realized that she had caused a shift within him. He felt ridiculous because he still didn't even know her name. He asked himself how he could be affected by someone without a name, someone who didn't even know he existed. Regardless, the fact remained the same; she changed him.