The Boy with No Name

The difference in seeing, and seeing

I saw him at school over the next few years, at the shops, eating at Dan's Diner. But the next time I saw him, really saw him, was when I was 14, at the beach near my house. I was walking Scruffy, my Husky cross something, and typing on my phone.

 My brother hadn't replied to any of my texts, and I was worried about him. Last time he was gone for this long, he had ended up getting arrested. But I know he'll turn up, eventually. I was still trying to think of why my family was so screwed-up, when I ran into something, hard, and fell smack on my bum.

I looked up, to see what the hell I just ran to and blinked as his eyes met mine.

wait

his eyes?

A warm blush, crept up into my cheeks as i realised i'd just ran into him. He looked concerned and he put his arm on mine, and pulled me up off the ground.

"Shit, are you all right?" He questioned, looking in my eyes, searching for pain.

I replied hastily "Yup, sorry about that", and ran all the way back to my house, Scruffy trailing behind, not even daring to turn around. A feeling was in my gut, that i hadn't experienced before. Warm and fuzzy, like a small kitten was curling up on my tummy. I stop sprinting, and shook the feeling off.

I can't fall in love, not even like.

I just can't