Like A Blinding Light

BOOK 1: Chapter 4

Ivan

We have ordered our food and were already seated in one of the booths at Leo's when Matt started explaining what held him up.

“You wouldn't believe me, man, but I think I'm in love,” said Matt, clasping his hands together atop the table and looked at me.

I raised my eyebrow. “You do realize that I've had heard you say that a thousand times already, don't you?”

“I also knew you'd say that. But this time, I'm serious, man,” he sighed.

“And you always say that, too. Okay, just tell me what the fuck happened?” I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest.

“I've met the coolest girl. I've met the most enchantingly beautiful and the amazingly coolest girl today.” He shook his head. “Damn, I don't know how to describe her properly.”

I chuckled. “Oh, it doesn't surprise me at all. I already know how dumb you are.” He glared at me, to which I responded with laughter. “You may want to start in the beginning. Say, how did you meet her?” To be honest, I've never seen Matt lost his cool like this. And I'm curious to know the story why this is happening.

“Right,” he nodded. “Okay, here it goes,” he reached for the glass of water on the table and drank from it before he continued. “I was at Dwinelle Hall at noon as I was waiting for John. He said he'd drop off his girlfriend at the building and we agreed to meet there. We were to work on a coursework as partners.”

I had met John and even played basketball with him on several occasions already.

“I was at the stairway, doing what I enjoy doing most— that is, girls-watching, but you already know that.” I laughed. “He texted me that he was still inside the building so I said I'd wait up for him.”

The milkshakes we ordered were brought in already so Matt had to take a pause. The waitress, Alice, who Matt used to flirt with gave him a seductive smile and a wink. But Matt hardly noticed her. Alice went away, blushing.

“Then I saw this brunette girl who has the... uh, how do I describe her? Damn, I don't think I'll do justice describing her but I'll try.” He took a sip from his milkshake and continued.

“She has the freshest, most beautiful and radiant face I've ever seen. She was bare-faced, an all-natural beauty. She looked innocent but seductive. And I'm not yet describing her when she was smiling, man.”

I enjoyed seeing this side of Matt, looking completely bemused. And I admit, his story was getting more interesting.

“I saw guys' and ladies' heads turned to look at her. She's probably a freshman as I've never seen her before. She also looked lost and her steps were tentative as if she wasn't sure where she was going.” He zoned out again that I had to prompt him to continue.

“I've never before seen a raw kind of beauty that commanded attention like that without even trying to. On the contrary, it appeared to me that she never wanted to draw attention. Does that even make sense?”

“Hmm... I can imagine a picture but not quite there yet. Go on.”

“What I was trying to say is that I think she was a very shy girl. To me, that just added more appeal to her beauty. But people were blatantly staring at her because we couldn't help it. Can you imagine how uncomfortable it must've had been for her?” He paused, shaking his head slowly as if the scene was playing again in his head.