Every day, you went to the park. It was the end of summer break, and every other week you were immersed in a different book. Fiction, Non-fiction, Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Biographies, Auto-biographies, Folk-tales- if the library had it, you read it. You would always sit at the same exact table under one of the many green gazebos. Bugs would try and get into your bag of chips or fruit- whatever would satisfy your need to snack that day- but you swatted them away without looking up. There were always other people at the park- catching up with old friends, playing on the playground, walking their dogs, or kicking around a soccer ball. It was quite loud some days, but you didn't mind the white noise as you found it quite relaxing. The wind blew your hair just enough to keep it from falling in front of your eyes, and on hot days it brushed against your skin just right to keep you from sweating. There were several water fountains sticking up from the ground around the park, but few of them worked and you would occasionally find yourself distracted because you were amused by all the kids that came up to get a drink, and were rejected yet again by the fountain that refused to give anyone it's water.
It was a bit more crowded at the park this day, most of the gazebos were filled up with groups of friends and families having picnics. But like any other day, your nose was buried in your book. At first you didn't hear the small knock on the table, but you noticed it when it occurred a second time. Looking up from your book, your eyes landed on a tall boy with glasses. His brown hair was parted on the right side, making his bangs fall far to the left. His neck and a small inch of his chest were exposed form his low-cut gray sweater. His lips curled up slightly and his eyes dove into yours.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" He stuttered. "The table I usually sit at is occupied." He flashed you a shy smile and held us his book he'd been planning to read.
"Yeah! Yeah, go ahead."
You tried to not sound too nervous, but you were caught off guard by him. You weren't expecting anyone to come talk to you, especially a handsome guy. The bench dipped a little when he sat down, shifting your weight up a bit. When you looked back up at him, he had already delved back into his book. A wave of confidence almost took over and you thought about asking him what book he was reading, but you knew better than to interrupt a concentrated reader. You went back to reading your book, but found yourself yet again looking at him through your eyelashes. He was gorgeous, glowing in fact. There were so many words to describe him, yet you couldn't string any of them together. Even when you did, it didn't do him justice. His eyes snapped you out of your trance when he caught you staring at him, and you darted your eyes back to your book, pretending to know your place. For a few minutes, you could feel his eyes on you. Neither of you had turned the page in almost fifteen minutes, but you said nothing.
About an hour of awkward silence and random page turning had passed, and you decided it's been long enough and about time to start a conversation. Your heart started beating a little faster but you took a silent deep breath to steady yourself.
"What book are you reading?" You asked the boy. He told you the title of his book, showing you the cover. He said a sentence about the main idea of the plot, making sure not to spoil anything.
"Have you read it?" He wondered. You had never read the book, but you've heard of it and read the back a few times but never got around to picking it up. It was about a girl in her mid-twenties who goes on a trip to find her soldier-fiance who got deployed to the Middle East and went missing. It is mostly political and cultural, but one of your friends read it and was obsessing over it because in the beginning there was this very graphic chapter, and you figure out that her husband is dead and she's pregnant. There were a few other sexual spots in the book, or at least that's what she told you.
