Short Stories + Contest Entries

Dream Girl

Based on a true story.

From the day I got over the "cooties" phase and realized how wonderful the female species was, I knew what I wanted my future wife to look like; Natural blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes.

That was it, case closed and hands down. It was just that easy for me.

Why those exact traits? Well, the answer to that was obvious. It's the opposite of me. Chocolate hair and crap brown eyes are a curse, but light sunflower locks and bright sky jewels are precious, carved to perfection. Might I also add the most attractive traits on a girl? Not saying girls who lack both are ugly, but they weren't so much beautiful. Not eye candy material. Not to me.

So here's eight years old me, walking down the street with a cute girl named Liza, a beach blonde with rich ocean eyes. And I loved it. Of course, nothing happened. She was a friend. Yet, even so, I couldn't help myself from lying awake at night to secretly name our children and pick where we'd live after getting married.

As I got older and arrived at middle school, a beast of emotions took charge on the simplistic ones, but the same traits were still favored to me. Only blondes, only blue eyes, and never anything else. Crush after crush, girls would swarm me with all types of luscious blonde colors and different shades of blue. Each one drowning me with unexplainable desire. Nothing else grabbed my attention. Anything else was a turn-off, it was unattractive, it was a disgrace.

Until I met her.

No one told me high school was going to be hell. No one warned me that I would practically live and breathe depression. But there was only one period that I felt at ease, and she was in it. I wouldn't know until much later that she would be the highlight of my every day.

And it all started with a haircut.

A month into the groove of high school, my mom decided to pay a wacko to cut my hair against my will. My shaggy hair went from covering my eyes to barely sweeping my face. It was an ugly look with fatal consequences. Kids I knew and old friends from my past joked and laughed at the new style, but one girl thought otherwise.

She sat at a desk in the way front of class ever since the first day, and her hand wrote gracefully on paper at the speed of light. Since the very moment I saw her, I couldn't unsee her. She was a challenge, a rival, an unexplainable mystery, glimmering like a star. The killer part, she wasn't even blonde!

Seeing how she wrote without difficulty annoyed me. That and the much attention I'd give her, considering how she was far from what I liked. Because of this, I'd try to beat her to class, start on the bellwork first and hope to be victorious and write as much as her. But there was no use. She was just that girl. The girl every boy could drool over, but never touch. She was unaware, not interested, and worked independently. She was what many people would call untouchable.

That specific day with my new haircut being scolded proved to me something I wasn't informed about. It was hidden inside of me and I never even knew.

I entered last period, just praying to be home and end the nightmare when she turned. As if she knew I walked through the door, she greeted me with a precious smile.

"Ray, right?" Her angelic voice was like no other and I was addicted to the way she said my name. I nodded.

Her pencil touched her lip, tracing her genuine smile, then she pointed at me in observation. "You got a new haircut, I really like it."

Just as she said it, she settled back into her seat and continued to write. Her magic wand disguised as a pencil puffed my embarrassment and anger away, leaving me more confused than ever. She was the only one who complimented me, the only one who noticed me in a positive light, and this was a problem.

Because this girl that caught my eye was no blonde. In fact, she was exactly what I never thought I'd be interested in. Each wave on her head was as dark as my soul, yet a spark of natural red shimmered under the glow from the bulbs of light sprinkling from above. Her eyes were not brown or blue, but each day I found myself more and more mesmerized by the transformation of hues they created.

My attraction to her upset me, but I couldn't undo it. She wasn't what I wanted, she was what I needed.

Her color-shifting orbs held a depth of sparkle which won over any blue shade I've seen. Her hair was more radiant and luminous than any blonde, and she didn't even have to try. She was perfect.

All those details and continuous analyses worried me beyond belief, but there was no freedom from her captivity. She topped any girl I've laid eyes on, but I didn't want her to. That's when the obsession started.

Every chance I got, I would use all my might to picture her with the glistening yellow hair I love, and when that didn't work, try to understand why she was all of a sudden the center of my mind. She was the total opposite of everything I've dreamed about, so why was I so interested in her? I didn't know, but I knew I had to remove her from my head.

Still, imagining her blonde was repulsive and destroyed the loveliness of her. Even thinking about any other girl was unattainable and shameful. With these puzzled emotions, I stayed away from her and gaped from afar, but even that became impossible.

A group project of four became the assignment that changed my life. She was paired with one other girl, and her gaze locked on mine. Again, her genuine smile made me dizzy, and I wished for her to say my name again. Hearing her voice in class was soothing enough, but when she spoke just for me, warm blood rushed all through my body. A warmth I devoured whole.

"Excuse me, but do you think you and your friend could join us? We could work together and make a group of four." The sound of the heavens called to me and I couldn't resist anymore.

That's all it took for us to become friends, and that's exactly what stopped me from looking at any other girl again. I didn't want to change her or ask why anymore. She was just her, and that was the only explanation I needed for being interested in her.

So when she officially introduced herself as Melanie, I smile. I had found my dream girl.

No, she was not what I was expecting, not even close. She was more than that.

Sometimes the "perfect" person you're looking for is not who you expect. Don't be shallow and don't have specific traits for your future lover, because life will always have another plan for you.