Caught By The Light

When I Watch

He grabs my shoulders and stares deep into my eyes. He pulls me into a tight embrace. I hug him tighter, and he does the same. I began to hear a strange noise that seemed to be coming from.. well, everywhere. Then-
I woke up.

I turned over to the alarm clock that was obnoxiously blaring louder and louder at my side.

I quickly switched off the excruciatingly loud time telling box, dragged myself over to the bathroom, and brushed my short wavy hair.

Walking down the stairs to the kitchen, Pawl jumps up to lick my face. But, being the short wiener dog he is, he misses by a good four feet, and instead rams into my shins. He bounces back, unfazed and happily skids away.

I walk over to the fridge and grab some juice. I then jog up the stairs - being careful to not spill my juice - and change clothes. I put on a pair of black, worn skinny jeans that, because of my short height, scrunch up at the ankles, a baggy black and white striped long sleeve shirt, and some black chucks.

Checking the time, I quickly run down the stairs, nearly missing a few steps, grab my jacket, backpack, lunch, and dart out the front door.

Everyday on the way to school on the opposite side of the street, I see him.

His name is Cole.

Cole is an average height boy with dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. You will usually find him wearing either tan or grey jogger/jean type pants, and you will never not see him wearing a sweatshirt - in a variety of colors.

I don't interact with Cole much... I just observe at a safe distance from across the street, and occasionally from across the hall at school.

This would be the point at which you'd probably be judging me for not actually talking to him. But if you knew me, you would know, socializing with other specimens is not my forte. I prefer to watch at a distance as if I am watching some cliche teen flick or non the less, a TV show or movie about other people's lives.

When I catch feelings for another human, I usually find myself spending most of my time worrying about if I'll get the chance to actually talk to them. I think about how I would react if the opportunity did show itself... but, then I totally scratch that though and go straight back to just observing.

After I enter the school building, I immediately walk to my locker, place my lunch inside, sit on the floor and lean up against the wall.

This is one of my favorite spots. It's right next to the garbage can but, I can see most everyone in the area from this spot and do some watching and observing.

I enjoy watching people interact with their friends. My favorite is when I once in a while see Cole walk past with his friends to his first period. Today would be one of those days.

I am sitting against the wall as usual, watching people, when I see him enter the pod. Binder in one hand, other hand in his sweatshirt pocket. He is smiling and laughing. His laugh is quite shy. Very quick, but just enough to be heard and appreciated.

I then catch myself staring. I think about how stupid I would feel if he caught me staring at him. I try to casually shift my gaze to something else, but sometimes I forget to define the line between looking and staring. So I make my stare into something more casual, to make it seem as if I am just simply looking.

He goes inside his first period class. The first bell sounds, and it's time to go to class.

Oh, I almost forgot. It's Amanda, by the way.