When Time Stops | Completed

page 6: the fifth time.

you see i can't forget those memories i made with you but if i'm being honest i don't recall them often. after graduation you, ethan thomas, became just a piece of dust on my shoulder. you suddenly became irrelevant. i never intentionally wanted that for you but it just seemed to happen that way, there was no way around it.

i threw away my feelings for you and left home. i left to college, to study english and literature, to become a teacher. it was a great experience and i loved every second of it. i met new people and made new friends. i even got a boyfriend. his name was aaron and i really really liked him--adored him even.

i would have almost said loved him but that all went away when you, ethan thomas, came back into my life.

i remember that day like it was yesterday. the cloudy autumn morning. the sprinkle of rain. the breeze. i remember it so vividly.

aaron and i decided to go get coffee at the local café that morning. i thought i'd just be a normal morning of chatting with him and talking about our classes but it didn't turn out that way. the two of us sat down at a table by the window. i faced the door, my eyes roaming over the customers who walked in and out of all people i didn't expect you, ethan, to walk through those doors. your hair was in damp curls from the rain and your freckled cheeks were rosy from the morning chill. i lost my breath in that moment. i know i shouldn't have. i had a boyfriend, but my subconsciousness didn't seem to care.

"gen? hello?" aaron waved his hands i front of my face. i quickly turned my attention to him and blinked, "yes?"

"you okay? you dazed off a bit there," he told me his eyes a tad worried. i smiled at him, "oh yeah, i'm fine."

"cool," he smiled back and sipped his cappuccino.

i looked down trying to not stare at you because truthfully, whenever you were around you always drew my attention. my hazel eyes got the best of me and gazed back up only to meet your icy blue ones.

i lost my breath, time stopped. it was another one of those moments. the kind i can never forget. the moment that seems to last forever. i wanted it to last forever. to stare into your eyes all day because i'd always loved them and found them hypnotizing but i couldn't. that was selfish. i gulped and looked away out the window, taking a sip of my latte.

"hey babe, you want to go?" i asked aaron as he finished his cup of coffee. he nodded and we got up and i joined hands with him, interlocking our fingers. as we left i avoided all eye contact with you. it was better that way.

and please, ethan, don't tell me you felt it too because i didn't want to feel it in the first place.

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