The Boy On The Bench

The Boy On The Bench

Dear Diary,

He sat across from me. I caught a glimpse of his straight brown hair as it fell into his eyes, but only in the spaces between the blurs of people rushing by, people who made me feel invisible in a crowd of thousands. Still, he held my attention as he flipped the page of his book. He looked so enveloped in the words while people flipped skateboards and cackled, passing him, paying no heed.

I clutched a book of my own, absentmindedly rubbing the leather cover as I tried to pry my eyes from the boy on the bench. Sound began to dissipate as people dispersed, campus fell into soothing silence as professors started to drawl. This was my favorite time of day in my favorite season of the year. The time when leaves were adorned in colors of red, orange, and yellow as they lay strewn on the pavement, crackling and crunching as people stomped from place to place. The breeze held a twinge of prickling cold as it snuck past my wool scarf tangled in my coat.

As I nestled my nose down past the top of my jacket I noticed how this boy in front of me across the way looked up, but not at me. He looked up at the sky. He closed his eyes, and a smile tugged upward, accompanying his rosy cheeks. With his face pointed to the sky, blanketed in soft grey he inhaled deeply, chest rising. He seemed to be entranced, swaddled in the feeling of fall. Fall was a feeling that hugged your whole body and warmed your chest like hot apple cider.

I too closed my eyes, tipped my head upward, and inhaled. As I breathed deeply I let a giggle slip. How funny was it that this boy I had never met, that he and I were doing the same thing? As I lowered my head and opened my eyes I saw him. His eyes were golden brown, the same shade as my hair, and they seemed to be analyzing me inquisitively. I blushed, bringing the attention back to my book as I opened it and tried to read a sentence but it kept slipping away from me. I snuck a glance back at him, he was still watching. I didn't feel nervous or scared, but giddy and for some reason like home. He started to rise, gathering his book and his backpack. I sat up a bit straighter and closed my book, nervously twisting my ring and bouncing my foot. He made his way across the path and sat down next to me. I looked at him and he smiled, bringing warmth to this chilly autumn day.

“Alice?” he said, his voice deep and smooth like butter.

Okay, now I was a bit scared, how did he know my name? I searched for familiarity but I didn't find any so I tensed and said with a bit of a hush “Yes?”.

“You don’t recognize me do you? It’s ok, it's been a long time.” He said a bit disheartened.

“No, I'm so sorry. Where do I know you from?”

“We grew up in Silverton together, we went to the same elementary school, Mapleberry.” He said with a bit of hesitancy in his tone.

“Oh my gosh!” I sat up straighter and turned slightly more towards him and started to smile. No wonder he felt like home.

“I was a year behind you, but I remember you because, during lunch in the cafeteria, we would be the only ones reading while the other kids ran around screaming and jumping”.

I laughed as I said, “that does sound like me, why didn’t you ever come up and say hi?”.

He looked down briefly before bringing his eyes back to mine “I was always too afraid, and after elementary school I moved away and didn't know how to get in touch”.

My heart softened and I said, “well now you do”. I pulled out my phone and went to messages tapping the plus to add a new number. I handed him my phone and his eyes lit up. He took the phone and when he handed it back it said. “Hi, it’s Lucas” with a smiley face. “Well Lucas, would you like to sit here with me and read for a while?”. He smiled and faced forward, his arm brushing mine. He pulled out earbuds and offered me one side, I took it and tucked it inside my ear. “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young started to play and I smiled and looked at him. I met his gaze and then brought my attention to my book, the second book in the series he had just started reading. I shook my head slightly not believing the day this had turned into while the lyrics “When we were strangers, I watched you from afar” playing and putting me at ease.

Two years later,

I ran across the lawn as gracefully as I could, balancing in heels, gripping my diploma, and trying to keep my cap on straight. I ran to him, ran to the man who had filled my life with so much laughter and joy since the day I saw him sitting on the bench across from me. Lucas had changed my life for the better. Every fall we would sit on our favorite bench, the place where we reunited, where the universe had brought us back together. We sat there and listened to music and read.

I jumped into his arms and he spun me around, holding me to him like I was the most precious thing on this earth to him. That's how he made me feel, and today I was on cloud nine. He set me down, his musky cologne still lingering on my dress. He beamed at me, his brown hair falling into his golden brown eyes as he sank to one knee. I gasped and tears sprang to my eyes. I couldn't even see the ring he was holding, or catch the words he was saying. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart and that one quote from our favorite book the Alchemist “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”. And that was true of our story. I had wanted a partner, a person who saw me for who I was, and by fate or coincidence, I found it. I found him. Lucas. My Lucas.