Closing my eyes, I long for our golden paradise, shining and bright with love, so different from this flat, barren land, baked dry by the sun. I taste the dirt on my tongue, put there by the hot wind that never stops.
My eyes are still closed when I slam into what feels like a brick wall.
“Watch it!” A tenor voice cries.
My eyes snap open, and I look up… up… up… as my breath disappears.
He’s tall and slim with brown hair that flops attractively over his lowered brow. He studies me with piercing blue eyes that have flecks of gold around the pupils.
His gaze is so intense, my stomach tingles. It’s a sensation low in my belly, a feeling I’ve never had before.
He’s the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen.
“I-I’m sorry.” My voice is soft, and I can feel my eyes are wide like a deer’s caught in a spotlight.
“You can’t walk around with your eyes closed.” His brow relaxes, and when he smiles, my heart skips faster.
His voice is like ripples in velvet, and he’s wearing a navy blazer with a golden patch on the pocket. It’s a fancy emblem, like he’s royalty or something.
Pointing to his jacket, I find my voice. “What’s that?”
He looks down, confused, then his brow relaxes. “It’s my school uniform. Phillips Academy.”
We start to walk slowly, side by side. I feel his eyes on me, and when I glance up, the way he looks at me reignites the heat in my veins.
“Are you lost?” He’s so different from the people in my new neighborhood.
“I’m going to my cousin’s house.”
More steps in silence. I don’t know why he’s walking with me. “Why were your eyes closed?”
I’m embarrassed, but for whatever reason, I tell him the truth. “I was thinking about my mother.”
He studies my expression, the slump of my shoulders.
“Is she sick?”
My lips press together, and I swallow the knot in my throat. “She died.”
Again, he’s quiet, thinking. “Mine too. A while back.”
A connection, a shared injury pulling us closer, a scarlet thread tied from his finger to mine.
“Wanna hear a joke?”
Not really, but I shrug. “Okay.”
“A skeleton walks into a bar. He orders a beer and a mop.”
I don’t laugh, and he tries again. “A horse walks into a bar. Bartender says, ‘Why the long face?’”
My nose wrinkles, and he keeps going. “A hamburger walks into a bar. Bartender says, ‘We don’t serve food here.’”
I stop walking and squint my eyes at this beautiful boy, shining like the sun, doing his best to make me smile.
His head tilts to the side, and he gives it one last try. “The sign outside our service station says, ‘Eat here and get gas.’”
Two heartbeats.