-yet to be titled-

~Maria~

~Maria~

She was adorable. The way her cheeks redden when she tries to talk to me. The way she constantly bites her lip. Everything about her was adorable. Her smile. Her rosy complexion. Her laugh. Her paint stained overalls. Her obsession of books.
Stop it.
I'd been thinking about her again. Her name stuck in my head like a song that won't go away.
Gabriella.
I shouldn't think of her. I shouldn't think of touching her curly brown hair, or her eyes the color of onyx- of gold. Her eyes, her eyes were greedy. They catch you and won't let you go. Gold, like the very metal we long for so desperately. The very metal at the core of our Earth. Her eyes. Were without a doubt the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. The way she lowers them when she giggles. The way they light up when you talk about books, or music or anything, really. She's so- so lovely. She's never once caught me looking at her. But I always catch her.
Stop it! You have no chance.
I've seen the way Simon looks at her. It's a look of pure want. A look I've never mastered. I just get so nervous.

One day in health I caught her looking at the floor. No light, no happiness. She looked utterly empty. I had hardly recognized her that day and, something in my chest cracked. That day I really saw her. She was broken and fighting so hard. I knew that look.

And then the storm hit.

When I saw her looking up at the sky, tears in her beautiful ebony eyes, that thing in my chest shattered. How could the world allow something so pure and full of life be so broken?
I lost it.
When I got home that night I cried for hours. And the next week after that I couldn't even look at her.
I knew it then, that I was falling.
And when she followed me into that storage room the day before winter break I plummeted.
"Merry Christmas!" She had shouted in my face, clearly too nervous to come up with anything better. I laughed harder than I had in months.
And the shattered thing deep within started to heal.
I saw her goofy, crooked smile and knew I had to get out of there before I did something truly stupid, so I stepped around her, and told her to have a happy break.
Idiot.
I just hoped she'd be at Simons party in a few days. They're very close I can't see why she wouldn't be.
Gabriella.
My mouth tested her name, and I smiled.
If she was in fact at his party I knew I wouldn't talk to her. I'd be way too nervous. But it would be very nice to see her.
Gabriella.