She felt herself flinch as the warm, rough flesh of his hand slapped against her cheek, her face turning with the impact as she fell to the ground. Slowly, she looked up to see him towering over her, his face burning red as his dark brown eyes bore into her. As the realization of what had just happened started to sink in, his face transformed into a look of shock. He looked at her and mouthed the words “I’m sorry” just as he turned and ran away. As she sat there, she could feel the hot tears trickling down her face. Suddenly, she felt a soft hand lightly grasp her shoulder. Shocked, she jerked away and turned to find a dark-haired boy standing behind her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, a worried look in his bright, blue eyes.
“Umm…yeah,” she stuttered, avoiding his eyes. “I, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? I, uh, I saw what just happened,” the boy said nervously, “and not many people are fine after something like that.”
“Really, I’m fine,” the girl replied as she started to get up. The boy reached out a hand to help her. As she grasped his outstretched hand, she was surprised that there was so much strength in a hand with such a light touch. “Um, thank you.”
As she turned to walk away, she heard the boy cry out, “Wait! Do you want me to walk with you somewhere? I could walk you home or something. I just, I don’t want to just leave you alone after that.”
“Oh…um, thanks for offering, but I’ll be fine,” she replied as she began to hurry off. As she walked across the familiar streets to her neighborhood, all she could think of was the boy’s eyes. They were such a bright blue that they reminded her of the ocean. She wondered if she stared at them for too long if she would find herself falling into them.