Open Eyes (Phan)

Three

Phil

I watched as the boy with chocolate brown eyes left the store. He was in the hidden corner for over three hours today. It was two hours yesterday.

He was in here a lot. And every single time he went back to the corner.

I'm not sure what he does back there. I've never looked.

I never see to much of him, either. He's always rushing. Whether he's entering the tiny bookstore or leaving. He always seems to be in a hurry. The boy always seems nervous. I'm not sure why. He always has his eyes on the ground.

He's looked at me once.

And that one time was enough to keep me up at night. His eyes had been like endless pools of chocolate, and his hair was flecked with gold when it caught the sun just right. He had a smooth jawline and cheek bones. To say he was beautiful would be the understatement of the century.

I approached the corner and slid inside. I sat down in the beanbag. It was still slightly warm from being occupied for three hours. I leaned back and pulled a random book off the shelf.

I technically shouldn't have been be back here. I was supposed to be working. But Chris, the manager, wasn't currently in the store. And we'd had a whopping total of five costumers all day.

So I opened the book and started reading.

Of course it happened to be a romance. It was about a girl who falls in love with her new college roommate. At least, that's what I thought happened after I glanced at the synopsis on the back cover.

Surprisingly, I actually became engaged in the book.

I only read for about seven minutes. And I probably would have continued until the end of my shift if it weren't for the loud thud that reached my ears.

I looked up sharply, slamming the book shut. For a wild second I thought it was Chris. An apology complete with a stupid excuse was already hanging off the edge of my tongue. That was before I actually took a moment to look the guy over.

It wasn't Chris at all. It was the brown haired, brown eyed boy. He was staring at me with wide, fearful eyes. I immediately felt horrible for startling him.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I said, hoping he didn't hate me. He didn't answer, just stared at the floor. Like he always did. "I'm Phil," I added, and instinctively stuck my hand out. After a slightly awkward moment of silence he glanced up.

When he realized I was waiting for him to shake my hand, he hesitated, but eventually grasped it with his own.

He hand was surprisingly cold. But soft. His skin was extremely soft. I shook his hand lightly. He stared at our intertwined fingers until I let go. Like he was shocked to be touching another human being.

"What's your name?" I asked.

The boy pursed his lips together and was silent. I thought for a second that he wasn't going to respond. But when I opened my mouth to say something, he replied.

"Dan." His voice was so quiet I almost didn't hear. But I did. His voice was soft, gentle, soothing. I wanted to hear that sound again and again and again.

I broke into a beaming smile.

"It's nice to meet you Dan," I continued talking. I didn't want him to leave. I didn't want to leave. "You're in here a lot."

He nodded ever so slightly.

"I have a lot of free time," was his quiet response.

"Don't you have school?" I asked. He only looked about seventeen.

"Yeah." With a tiny nod. "But I don't have anything else."

Didn't have anything else. I felt like he might have been joking. What about friends? Family? After school activities? Surely he had to have something going on like that.

But then again, I reminded myself, Dan didn't seem like the joking type.

"Oh. Well maybe next time you come in here we could hang out," I suggested hopefully. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to be friends.

For God's sake, I wanted so badly to see him smile. I had just met the guy and I was already aching to see his lips turn up and light fill his eyes.

Dan just shrugged.

Was that a yes or a no?

I decided to be optimistic.

"Great! Are you coming in tomorrow?" I got another shrug. Well, it was better than nothing. "I really hope you do." He lifted his head slightly to look at me.

Surprise and wonder danced in his dark gaze. I saw other darker emotions, ones that I couldn't name.

"I should probably get back to work," I admitted reluctantly. He just looked back at the floor. "You can hang out as long as you like, at least until we close."

I saw him nod a bit. I gave him a big grin and pushed gently past him. I didn't turn around until I was behind the check out counter.

He hadn't come out of the corner. That meant I hadn't scared him off. That was a good thing right?

Dan didn't leave the book store until around four thirty. Like normal, he was rushing. And if I was seeing things correctly, he might have even been panicking as he dashed out the door and practically ran down the concrete path.