Poems of Love

Meeting Him

Ronnie's POV 

"Bye Mom!” I called out as I closed the squeaky back door of my modern-looking old house.

“Have a great day, honey!” she hollered out the window, then continued cleaning the glass.  

It was a breezy Monday morning and I rushed down the sidewalk on my way to school, struggling with textbooks in my arms. Then I slowed down into a walk to give my legs a break. I continued walking by familiar surroundings I see every day. Green, pine forest trees lined up behind the houses.  Mockingbirds chirping their songs. White clouds looking like marshmallows in the baby blue sky. The bright sun shining its joy. Everything’s being happy… and I liked that.

My name’s Ronnie* Rivera, short for Veronica. I’m a Junior. I have auburn hair and hazel eyes that sometimes change into light colors. I’m originally from Puerto Rico. Most of my family lives there and a few live in the U.S.  I live with my mom.  We have been living in Texas like almost our whole lives which can be kind of hard because I always wanted to go out and explore the other parts of the world.  

I also have an older brother named Alejandro; he's in the U.S. Army.  So he's lucky that he gets to travel, but at the same time, I hope he is being careful and safe.  

A few minutes later, I peeked at my watch. It was displaying 7:50 a.m. The school doors open at 8’o clock so students can go in to attend tutoring, go to the library, hang out with their friends, or whatever they like to do.

My best friend, Angie, always expects me to be there on time so we can spend all of the free time gossiping about celebrities and so on. If I’m not there, I owe her a Snickers bar from the school's vending machine.  If I'm there first and she comes late, she owes me a Kit-Kat bar.  

I don’t know why, but my legs decided to take off running. The mild breeze was slapping against my face. It was more difficult with the heavy book bag on my back and textbooks in my arms. My book bag kept making a thumping noise that had always bothered me. I continued running and running and running—

“OOMPH!”

My body had slammed into another.  I ended up on the ground, and my books were scattered around us.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” the guy exclaimed. I noticed that his head was hooded by his black hoodie. Only his mouth was visible. He was wearing blue skinny jeans and a clean pair of red Converse shoes. The guy also looks almost as tall as an average basketball player… Probably about 5’7. He was carrying a black military-looking bag and a black and white journal entitled, “Stuff” in nearly neat cursive.

I mumbled something as the hooded guy helped me pick up my books. He carried two of them (I was carrying three books) and awkwardly grabbed my shaking hand to get me up on my feet.

“I’m like super sorry, like really. I apologize for the accident. I think I wasn’t looking where I was going either and, and—”

I chuckled quietly and spoke up, “No need to keep apologizing, dude. You’re already forgiven.  I know you didn't mean it on purpose.”

“Oh okay, haha. Thanks. So where are you heading to?” We both began walking at the same pace.

“Um…”

“I’m sorry… I mean, I shouldn’t ask that to a person I just met. By the way, nice outfit.”

I looked down at my red and gold cheerleader uniform which was layered with a gray hoodie on top.

“Oh, thanks, and it’s totally fine,” I said. “But I’m going to school, obviously.  You know, Lincoln High?  Today's the pep rally so the cheerleaders have to wear their uniforms for the whole school day.”

“Wow, that’s nice ‘cause I go to the same school too,” the guy smiled. “Home of the Lions, haha,” he added awkwardly with a fist pump in the air.

I chuckled and looked down on the ground at my white Converse shoes. This guy is really nice, I thought. But he didn’t really bothered to take off his hood. I wonder what he looks like.

“Are you new to the school? I’ve never seen you around before,” I asked.

“Actually, I’m not. You just never noticed that I exist,” he said with his head down.

I gave him a confused look and tried to remember.  

“I’m in all of your classes except World History. I always sit in the back," he finally mentioned.  

Ahh… No wonder, I thought.

I took a look at my watch again. 7:57 a.m. “Uh-um,” I stammered and chuckled at the same time, “I gotta go. My friend’s expecting me there ‘cause you know, bright and early! Chocolate in our brains; it makes us cray-cray!”

I realized that I just said something that sort of doesn’t make sense, according to the guy’s reaction. Oh wait, I can’t see his face. It’s covered, but how do I know he’s puzzled?  I feel stupid today.  

“But I never got your name...!” I heard the guy call out as I took off running again towards the school which was just half a block away.

(C) sweet_turquoise

* Picture of Ronnie on the side >>>