There he sat. Tall, lanky, curly hair.  There he sat staring at me.  And there I sat staring at him. I smiled, and he jerked his head away. But I could tell his reaction wasn’t one of disinterest.  Just shyness.  I waited, scared because his interest in me though acclaimed by my mother, was to me dubious at best. “I’m just not pretty enough...”  That was my chant that was my prime meridian, the invisible line that kept me bound in silence. What kept me from walking up to him. “If he likes me, he’ll say hi to me.” But he didn’t. And weeks went by. Standing at the bus stop, his brown eyes taunted me, begged me to converse.  But I refused; rejection became my enemy, doubt, my captor. And so there we were; standing at the bus stop, with our feet on opposite sides of our prime meridian, on opposite sides of our world. That is, until he crossed.

I’ve never seen someone so beautiful, so elegant, and so complex. Her eyes shone in the dark. They glimmered, the pinnacle of her beauty.  I couldn’t help looking at her. She drew me in like a magnet, unaware of her effect on me. I loved that. She came out of her house every day at 6:30am, lighting up the sunless day and lighting up my world. And yet, I stood unmoved, like a dummy, literally. My mouth would move. My body wouldn’t budge. I waited for her to speak to me, but nothing. Weeks passed. Agonizing weeks. Until one day, I couldn’t take. We stood on opposite sides of the Mason- Dixon line. Until I crossed.

He sauntered over to me. I stopped breathing. My mind raced. I looked behind me to make sure no one else was behind me. My mind flashed conversation starters. As he approached me I was struck dumb.  “Um.”
“Hi...”
My heart beat outside my chest so loud, I thought the world could hear it.  When he finally got his thoughts together, he said: “ Did you know you’re beautiful?” 

I couldn’t think. But I knew, knew what I had to do. I had to get this off my chest, before it exploded; she looked so surprised, so nervous.  She looked behind her. I saw the disappointment in her eyes, as her thoughts wandered, thinking: Where’s there beautiful girl behind me?” I smiled. There could be no one else. Ever. No other woman could make me feel this way. Her eyes were too captivating, her smile too radiant. “Um…” she stuttered.
“Hi “ I said.
Then impulsively I let go. I erased the Mason- Dixon line between us. “ Did you know you’re beautiful?”

I stuttered. “ Not really… but, thank you.” I couldn’t believe it. Here we stood together. Speaking. Our conversation lasted for years. We were forever in the same world.

She said:” Not really… but, thank you.” How could she think that? I had to reassure her.  She couldn’t think that way. “You are the most beautiful creature in this universe. And let no one tell you otherwise.”  Her eyes twinkled. We forever in the same world together.
“I’m Elijah.”
I’m Jasmine.”
And like that we became intertwined.

And like that we became intertwined.

Forever.
prime