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the first day leah met charlie conway, she flipped. she first saw him from a distance, when adam and her were making their way to the bus stop for their first day of middle school. the unknown boy's fingers were tracing the ropes which tied the lousy sail to the collection of logs below, admiring the raft as it bounced in the melted ice from the summer heat.
it was when she got to the bus stop that she saw his eyes, and it was in that specific moment that she flipped. his eyes were dazzling - bluer than the pond next to her. they shimmered with the reflecting ripples of the water, and she was more mesmerised by his eyes than she ever had been by the secret beauties hidden beneath the pond.
"you like the raft?" leah asked as she approached, grabbing onto the sail herself. he looked so shy, and his hair was so shaggily shiny, and his snapback was perfectly crooked, and his cheeks were so pinkishly round, and she thought he was just so cute.
he didn't answer, not once. he only walked away from her. leah assumed he was just too shy to say anything, so when the bus arrived she eagerly followed and sat next to him. adam found a seat of his own as he started talking to some of the kids that lived on his same block.
"i'm leah banks," she introduced once the bus rumbled away, holding a smile to the terrified-looking boy beside her. once again, he didn't answer. "my brother adam and i made that raft with our older brother and dad a few years back. you're welcome to ride it into the middle of the pond with us!" leah grinned and invited the boy, falling into those dazzling blue eyes of his. she truly thought they were the most dazzling eyes she had ever seen in her life.
leah thought he was so adorably shy when he ran off the bus, pushing her out of the way. she hoped they would share some classes, because all leah knew was that she had flipped for the boy whose name she didn't even know yet.
however, all charlie conway wanted was for leah banks to leave him alone. it started on that same first day of sixth grade. his mum, casey conway, walked charlie to the bus stop early, as she had to go to work at the diner herself. charlie was left to waste time for a whole fifteen minutes. there was a raft sitting on the grassy bank, which is where he decided to wait until some other kids came by - charlie's so-called mistake. if he hadn't gone to the raft, charlie might've saved himself years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.
before he knew fifteen minutes had passed, this girl had come up to him with a beaming, toothy smile on her face. she was immediately way too eager for his liking.
"you like the raft?" she asked, grabbing onto the scrappy sail charlie was just holding. charlie quickly snatched his hand away before she accidentally touched it. the first day of middle school was scary itself, he didn't need a scary girl making it fifty times worse.
he moved to wait for the bus away from the strange girl, fortunately just as the big yellow vehicle arrived. charlie walked onto the freshly painted school bus, carefully choosing a seat not too far forward, but not too far back either. he was comfortable, until the same strange girl placed herself dangerously close to him on the bus. literally right next to him, compressing charlie against the window. before charlie could tell her to move, the bus rumbled and sped away, sealing her spot next to him.
"i'm leah banks", she introduced with the same cheesy smile, "my brother, adam, and i made that raft with our older brother a few years back. you're welcome to ride it into the middle of the lake with us!" leah smiled - and she wouldn't look away! no matter how many times charlie turned to look out the window, she kept her freakishly happy eyes on him. all the way to school.
before the bus even stopped, charlie pushed past her and got off as soon as possible, hoping to lose her on his trail. he desperately hoped they were in separate grades and had zero classes together, because all charlie knew was that he wanted leah banks to leave him alone.
