My mom was to come home in twenty minutes, and I still hadn't gone to the store for the groceries. She was going to kill me. I'd decided to stay in the library after school because I needed to finish an essay in English, a very significant essay; it was worth 60% of my overall grade, and Mrs. Damask was intent on torturing us till the end of May came around. As soon as the essay was saved on my flash drive, I whirled around to look for the clock in the library, hoping I hadn't taken half of my afternoon. Twitching slightly, the lean minute hand slowly made it's way to the twelve. The hour hand yearned to reach the six. I was very, very late.

I ran out of the school waddling like a duck, for my messenger bag brought me down only on one side, and I held my keys on the hand opposite it. I pressed the Unlock button, and I heard my black Ford F-150 beep twice from the end of the student parking lot. I shrieked in complaint of the idiocy of my decision to stay after school. I waddled all the way, opened the door, shoved my stuff in the copilot seat, and practically hurled myself in. I was irritated to the core; I backed out of the parking lot, and sped my way to the nearest grocery store, which in this case, happened to be Wal-Mart.

I think I'd have taken less time going to the next town over and coming back, because it was packed in there. People going every which way, pushing, shoving, apparently they were having rollbacks today, and I was the only person who hadn't known. It was total chaos. I made my way through the swarm, and found the hygiene section. What had my mom wanted? Toothpaste, shampoo, her cough drops...

As I scrolled down the list in my head, with toothpaste already in hand, I crashed into someone, and I fell to the floor. All I remember is waking up, what seemed like hours later, into the strong arms of a stranger. He wore square, black rimmed glasses, and his light brown eyes were magnified behind them, as were his long eyelashes. His face was olive colored, and his arms were too. His expression was worried, and I heard no sounds of rushing people, but the faint sound of trees rustling and birds chirping. The words that managed to leave my mouth were about the most embarrassing words I'd ever heard myself say.

"You're beautiful..."

When the story was told to me of how this happened long after, I was sure I'd been on something that Autumn day.