My pulse quickens and my knees start
to buckle. My palms get very sweaty, and I start
to blabber. I feel the adrenaline coursing through my system
at an unprecedented rate.
This isn’t normal.

He’s alluring, though.
His eyes survey me, and I wonder
how I chalk up to the others. He smiles comfortingly,
but I can still feel the heat of him, I can sense
his mass besides me.
His face frequently breaks into a smile,
a smile that makes me feel safer, and a little more open, and a little less scared.

His Jack-O-Lantern grin says trust him,
it says Ice Cream and Skittles and Peanut Butter Cups.
The smile is sunshine, but as cool as soft rain.
It is warm and inviting,
it says he spends a lot of time laughing,
and a little time frowning, too.
It says he’s scared, like me.
Most of all it says he’s glad to see me.
And I’m glad to see it.

I shy away from the unusual attention, but not
too far, I can’t stay away.
I wish he’d stop smiling, it’d be easier
to keep the smile off my own face.
It feels a bit unnatural,
the constant muscle contractions releasing extra endorphins.
But he still smiles.

He scares me because
I know he’s scared because
he knows that
I know that
we are enamored of each other.

He has a bow and arrow for hunting
that everyone uses. I try, but the bow is heavier than I thought.
Its thin, army-green and black frame make it look light,
and it falls from my arms quickly.
He takes the bow in his hands and stands as close to me as possible
behind me, without touching, holding it.
We shoot.

And the arrow finds its target easily,
deep within my chest.