Loving Him

That day started like all the rest.     The early morning sun was hidden behind dark and gloomy clouds, the streets of our city bustled with signs of life the cracked pavements covered with the first signs of winter. I stood outside my favorite convenience store attempting to eat an entire can of salted chips and blend in with the littered bottles around me. Across from me to the right was a group of older men smoking jovially. At that point in my life ditching school had become so commonplace for me that I rarely even got reprimanded by teachers anymore.     So I wasn’t really worried about much as I stood outside the store. Although a tiny part of me had been hoping to go to school today, or at the very least go home, even from such a distance the call of my bed was tempting. However I couldn’t go home yet, to deal with my mother and her ‘friends’, and I couldn’t go to school.     So there I stood staring out towards the street.     I oftentimes found myself doing these tiny mindless things. They required less thinking, all I needed was to breath every now and again. I just stood against the building barely breathing watching the world move around me in a slow roll. Cars drummed by in a haphazard pattern, every single sighting would erupt a type of excitement that would fester for as long as the car was in sight. Morbid at best it felt like my chest could barely contain it, but once the car was gone so was the thrill.     “Hey if you don’t have anything to do, why not keep me company?” The voice came from the smokers only area. My nose scrunched in disgust, the smell of alcohol and smoke it always repulsed me, if I could I always tried to avoid it—not that I was ever really successful for too long. I didn’t know his name, but I recognized him as one of my mother’s ‘friends’. The acid spilled from my mouth before I could even rethink it, I knew instantly I’d be paying dearly for the disrespect.     With a sweet smile and an air of arrogance, I said, “I would rather die old man.”     It’s not like I didn’t mean it, but he still got so angry. The old man started to cross the distance between us a furious look on his face, he seemed completely prepared to beat me into next week. Not that anyone would bat an eye. Thankfully he didn’t even make it halfway before a heavy hand pushed him back.     Suddenly a third person had entered our little equation.     I noticed two things right of the bat with the stranger. The first being that he, despite being built like a wall and being more than foot taller than me, was probably around my age. His hair was styled nicely too like he’d been properly groomed, probably raised far away from this little neighborhood.     What was a guy like him doing all the way over here?     Second, despite the way he so harshly shoved my potential assailant and the way he looked well built, he was hurting. No, his eyes weren’t red-rimmed or tearful—in fact, their violet glow seemed ablaze with some other emotion far from sadness—and he wasn’t black and blue, his tan skin seemed almost too perfect. I could just tell, something deep within him had been damaged. I’m a hound when it comes to these types of things. With people, I can pick them apart just with one look.     I realized it even before the stranger turned to look at me, his skin so smooth his eyes a shade of blue that bordered on violet. His jaw clenched brow furrowed he looked…nervous. The boy swallowed stiffly.     “You…” He started to say only to swallow again and stop.     I would remember a face as handsome as his, “Sorry but have we met before?”     He shook his head the motion sending the raven black strands atop his head to fall over his forehead. “You…will you…for a while now I’ve liked you. Will, you…will you go on a date with me?”     I wonder if my face got red, my mouth certainly dropped open in shock. How could someone who obviously didn’t belong here suddenly confess to me? I could only stare as my brain began to process his words.     That day had started like the rest, but just outside my favorite convince store a stranger looked me in the eye and confessed.     Of course I had no choice to respond to his nervousness.     “No.”