I stand in the back of the crowd and see him in the distance. He stands there with such pride and confidence and it makes me want to move my feet and float over to where he stands. When I think of this the previous occurrence holds me back...
Getting out of the small green Honda accord, I look down at my black and dirty converse. 'I should have cleaned these' I think to myself, but who's is there to impress? Getting out and carrying the birthday present and card in my hands, I am met by a round old lady with long black hair and a bright pink blouse. She greets me with a hug and puts her hand on my back and walks me towards the back yard where the party is being held. She says she wants me to "meet someone", but the only people that I see are either young children or adults in their late 40's and older. My mind goes into full on adult mode as I brace myself for an awkward and boring conversation with some adult. Walking up she calls his name and he turns around, and I notice his face is young like mine. The back of my mind said not to jump to conclusions, that his wife and or children are probably around here somewhere. He walks up about a foot right in front of me and looks down into my eyes and puts his hand in front of me. Putting my hand opposite to his, we shook hands and I noted to myself how soft his hands were. Being the awkward person that I am though, went in for a strong hand shake rather than a weak and feminine one. Once i realized this was a guy...my age...and he had been wanting to meet me. I was being set up, and this is my first impression? Give him a "manly" handshake. My eyes drifted down towards the ground and my face grew red before the hand shake had ended, but I glanced back looking for disappointment. Looking back I only saw a look of shock and utter brilliance flashing across his big blue eyes. He smiled and kept looking at me in those few seconds of shaking hands that felt like an eternity to myself.
After meeting "the guy", I felt all chances of knowing him had been thrown out the window because of my hand shake. The thoughts of how he must have believed me to be something I wasn't kept flashing across my mind. Going inside of the small house, I sat beside the birthday girl. She warned me of being introduced and expected to join the family, and I told her about my experience. Her salt and pepper hair bobbed up and down and her eyes crinkled at the edges as her eyes watered and sparkled with her laughter echoing all around. I smiled, her laugh was always contagious and filled with youthfulness and love. She shook her head and looked at me again as the introducer walked in.
After the food and games had started, I kept my eye on him. He ate and once the men were done they all got together to finish their game. He had started, but for some reason he dropped out and kept standing close to where I sat. My mind went to the wondering of if he wanted to talk to me. I wanted to talk to him too, so I walked over to where he was. Looking back down at my shoes I realized that beside me were shoes just as dirty as mine. I looked up and he was there beside me smiling. I smiled back, but the distraction of fireflies were too much for the young children to resist. They pulled us separate and we chased fireflies all around the yard. When I held a purple "bug house" in my hands he walked up carrying an tiny worm. He wanted to put it in the bug house along with the lightening bugs, but as he beat his hand against the little plastic container the worm held on for dear life. He seemed frustrated by this. His brows furrowed and he focused on the little worm, and began hitting his hand on the container again. My pulse fastened as I realized what I would have to do. Fearful of looking up at him, I kept my gaze on his hand and reached up towards his fingers. He began pulling back, but caught my drift, and put his hand back in my reach. Gently I put my thumb and my index finger between the worm and plucked him off. Putting the little green worm on the surface of the container, I looked back up at him and he looked at me. We smiled for a second. Then I turned away shyly and smiled to myself as I walked away.
Maybe first impressions weren't so important after all...at least not the ones that you thought mattered in your mind.
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