i still remember it. the start of you in the book of my life. my mother had dragged me along to one of her coworker's annual party for valentine's day. i had on a red sweater with corny hearts on it to get into the spirits. my jeans fit just a little too tight, though i didn't mind. clothes were clothes.
i walked over to the large wooden table that was pushed against the back wall to look at the offered food. i reached over, put my hand on the edge of the table, and tried to grab some mashed potato. the smooth, creamy, and buttery heaven was calling to me.
when i went to go and grab some, the hand that was on the edge of the table had slipped off and i stupidly fell almost face first into the table, had it not been a hand to save me from falling. your warm hand gripped tightly on my upper arm urgently, as if you didn't expect to have caught me at all.
i swallowed a quick yelp, from my almost social disaster. "stupid stupid nova, what were you thinking. of course your clumsy self would slip somehow. how do you even manage to do things like this," i mumbled quietly to myself.
"woah there girl, calm down. accidents happen, don't beat yourself up," you said quite loudly. it sounded masculine and deep. it was a little too deep, in my own opinion. a voice you need to learn to love.
"yeah but, technically it was my own fault. i always manage to slip up."
"okay, so? it was still an accident plus, i got you so it's okay," you gestured to your hand still wrapped around my arm, to which you had loosened when you saw the skin turn a pale white from the semi-tight grip. i didn't mind, you had saved me from a potential disaster.
"ah, yeah-uh, thanks," i mumbled pathetically.
i still remember the smile you graced me with, wide and charming, showing off your teeth, one being slightly crooked but not enough to be noticeable unless focused on. i took this time to really get a look at you. your build was tall and lean, around 6'2" with wide shoulders and a mop of soft dark brown hair that was mussed on top of your head. the way you held yourself was 'fun and carefree', i could tell by the smile lines that were creased around your pale pink lips and the way you had absolutely zero worry lines around those pale blue eyes on your slightly irritated acne-ridden skin. quite the opposite of me, you seemed relaxed, different from how you were a bit tense prior to this moment of me staring. you were adorned in a red button-up, thin leather jacket, some dark washed jeans, and tanned brown combat boots. when i say it now, it sounds like i had been staring at you for five minutes but, in all reality it was a mere seven seconds. that was just the imprint you had on me from our first meeting. how many times had i sat in my bed wondering where those days faded away to?
"what a fun and cliché way to meet a girl, huh?" you chided as you removed your hand from my arm, ignoring my staring politely and cutting me out of my trance.
"i guess so," i looked up to you and smiled slightly.
my green eyes looked up into your calm blue eyes. you reminded me of a normal teenage boy in its whole term. you were a normal teenage boy meeting a normal teenage girl.
you had retracted your hand away and stuffed it in the pocket of your black leather jacket. "my name is luca, if you were wondering," you had said this so confidently, in a way i would have wanted to introduce myself. instead i was me and chastised myself, letting you learn my name that way.
"luca, nice name," nice name? honestly i wish i could say i could do better but i really couldn't. it wasn't a lie though, yout name was nice. it sounded like a cool character from a book.
"i can say the same for you too, nova," you chuckled at that, more than likely remembering my silly act from earlier. my face heated up at that, slightly embarrassed of my actions from that moment.
"well-uh, uhm, i think i should get back to those mashed potatoes," i slowly slipped away into the crowd around the table that i momentarily forgot about.
instead of heading to the table, i headed out to the backyard. the chilly air caressed my olive skin, the soft of my brown hair flying around my face. i need this fresh air, it cooled down my blushed face from both the amount of people inside and the embarrassment.
i laid along the top step of the porch, not caring that it was freezing.
i kept thinking of you, luca. what an interesting person. you spiked my curiosity. i wanted to know you. it was an odd feeling considering i was more of an introvert and very socially awkward. you seemed like the life of the party. a confident person with a strong voice and a constant creativity to their actions and words. you were the opposite of me, personality-wise.
i heard the back door open and turned around to look and my eyes found the person who was on my mind.
"i was looking for you," you had said with steady eyes and a small friendly smile on your face.
i gave you a puzzled look and asked, "what for? did you need something else?"
a pink tint flushed against your cheeks that i could barely make out in the setting sun of the evening. it looked cute on you. i smiled encouragingly while i had waited patiently for your answer to come.
"i just wanted to see if you and i could talk."
"oh. that would be nice," how awkward could i be?
you laughed out, "just like my name?"
"uh...yeah..." i choked out an awkward laugh at my lame compliment from earlier. "so why are you at this party anyways?" i was curious as to why you were here because i've been going to these parties before, my mother dragging me along since my father was out of the picture and i was an only child but i had never seen you at one of these before.
"i'm here because my mother and i just moved here from chicago for her work, since that's the obvious reason why we were invited. she said it was a good way to find new friends and maybe find a love interest," you cringed at the last part as you sat down beside me. you later told me in our relationship that you had been bothered by the fact that your mother was trying to set you up with someone.
i laughed out like a child, "well it is valentine's day," i prodded your shoulder with my finger in a teasing way as i saw your cheeks light up with a bright pink this time, which in turn made me laugh more.
you stuck your tongue out at me and covered your face with your hands, still letting me poke and tease you. we had been acting like kids. we didn't know that that's exactly what we were still.
the door behind up opened again behind us, this time it was my mother.
"honey, sorry to interrupt but we gotta go. you said you needed to get some homework done?" she sent an apologetic look my way, knowing how difficult it was for me to find people to talk to and not wanting to bother.
"it's okay, mum, let's go," i looked to you and sent a smile your way when we both stood up. "i'll see you around?" i looked up hopefully at you awaiting your response.
"definitely," you grinned happily, handing me your phone to put my number in it.
a couple moments passed as I put my number in and sent myself a text from your phone so i could save it later. i glanced up to see you were staring at me already, my face flushed and i looked away quickly.
"see you, luca."
"see you, nova," you smiled brightly at me and gave a little wave as i was pulled into the house by my mother who had stood and waited for me to finish.
when i texted you later that night i found that you lived two houses down from me and were going to go to the same school as i. i was excited for the next day, you started the next day, and i was able to see you again. the thought alone had me smiling at the time, i had an interest in someone and the more i thought about you, the more i realized i could learn to love your voice and tiny flaws.
this was the start of you and i.
