Luke slipped on his sunglasses as he walked out of his house. The door shut easily and he fiddled to lock the door with the keys, then shoved them in the pockets of his black skinny jeans. It was bright out and the sun glared down at him. Good thing he wore a tank top with huge arm wholes. It was a plain brown, simple, but he liked it. His black converse scraped against the chalky side walk as he headed down the street of his cul-de-sac where his two-story house stood. Luke's features were sharp and confident, yet warm and welcoming. His brown eyes had a sort of determination to them, yet they were kind and encouraging. He had short brown hair that swooped up a bit at the front. He wasn't very tall but not short either. Luke reached the end of the sidewalk and stopped, waiting for a car to pass by. He crossed the street to a sidewalk with soft, green grass right next to it, staring at the gentle blades. Luke loved to walk in this grass. It was just a habit of his, and it gave him a sort of delight. Now Luke walked through it to the mailbox. His mom eventually told him to start getting the mail. Luke didn't have a problem with it. He didn't argue, he just had something new to do every day. Luke looked up and started walking. The metal box was only a few feet away but someone else was already there. Luke was slightly disappointed, he generally didn't like to talk to people but pretending someone didn't exist was just as awkward. He thought about stopping but it would look creepy to just stand a few feet away, waiting for them to finish getting their mail so Luke kept his pace steady. He could see it was a girl. All he could see was her long black hair and plane black shirt and jeans. He reached the mail box and the girl looked up at him. Luke's breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were a gentle green and her face was soft and round. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

"Oh hey." Luke said as calmly as he could.

"Hi." She looked down quickly, then at the mailbox. Her's was already open, the mail still inside. Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out his key.

'Don't be weird man. It's just a girl.' He took off his sunglasses and hung them from his shirt while he opened his mailbox. Luke focused on the hot metal box, trying not to look at her. He noticed from the corner of his eye that she was glancing at him.

"I'm Luke by the way." He opened the slot and turned to face her. He held out his hand and she stared at it.

"I... uh... I'm..." she paused for a moment, seeming to contemplate something.

"Ryan." She shook his hand gently and returned to looking into the box at the pieces of paper.

"What school do you go to?" Luke asked, trying desperately to prevent the conversation from ending. As he did so he reached inside the mailbox.

"Carter."

"Really? Same. Funny I haven't seen you." He emptied the contents of the mail box, closed it, and locked it. He turned to face Ryan one last time.

"Well I hope to see you around some t..." suddenly he noticed her shirt. It was a My Chemical Romance Danger Days shirt.

"Excuse me? Um. Your shirt is fucking awesome!" Ryan's head shot up at him. All her nervousness seemed to wash away at that moment.

"Thanks. What's your favorite album?"

"Revenge! Fight me!" Luke laughed and Ryan smiled.

"My god... You actually are a killjoy! Mine's Bullets but Revenge is honestly art."

"Yea it's art! I mean seriously you can't argue with "Thank You For the Venom" or freaking "Helena" for that matter!"

"Ok sure but um... 'Early Sunsets Over Monroeville' is undoubtedly the best song EVER."

"Man... well I can't argue with that." Luke laughed and looked down. He could feel his eyes squinting from his smile. He looked back into her eyes. They were shining with enthusiasm.

"Never let them take the light behind your eyes..." Luke mumbled and Ryan smiled even wider.

"I heard that... common that was worse than an unexpected g note!"

Luke burst into laughter and Ryan did too. Their laughter died down and there was a moment of silence.

"Uh... hey I know I barely know you and this is kind of sudden but... do you want to exchange numbers or something?" Ryan frowned.

"I mean just so we can fan girl about Mcr and stuff... like as friends." Luke hurried to add.

"Sure" Ryan mumbled self-consciously. Luke frowned but gave her his number anyway.

"Well uh... hopefully I'll see you tomorrow." He said. All she replied with was

"Yea." Luke waved a goodbye as he crossed the street. That was strange. One second she was shy, the next she was excited and confident, and after that she was awkward again. Did he say something to upset her? Luke didn't understand. He tried to think. He thought of her eyes. He thought of the gentle way she smiled, how her eyes lit up when she talked about Mcr. How her hair covered her face. She was beautiful. But something seemed to bother her. A secret pressing down on her shoulders, on her lips. Not letting her smile, not letting her shine. Instead it sunk her like a boat. It pulled her down so she couldn't breath. Instead water filled her lungs and as she tried to call for help, all that came out was a muffled cry along with the splashing of water. Luke shook his head. What was he talking about? He didn't know her at all. He couldn't just make these assumptions. Yet something about her made him feel a strange sadness. Empathy for whatever she was feeling. Luke sighed as he got to his house and opened the door.

"Anything in the mail?" A voice called from inside.

"Nah" he replied and walked into the kitchen. His mom sat at a table, looking at her phone.

"Not anything important that I saw." He set the stack of papers on the counter and headed up the stairs to his room. He unzipped his backpack and ruffled through folders, papers, and notebooks to take out his homework. Luke stared confused at various math problems but his mind was elsewhere. Everything back there had happened to suddenly. He tried to shake it off. He focused on graphing the problem but multiple times he drew points in the wrong spots.

"Ugh." He swept aside the paper with frustration and grabbed his phone. He slid through his contacts until he reached Matt.

Hey man something happened. I just met this girl at a mailbox...

no. Delete.

Dude do you have girl advice...? 😅

No.

Dude I just met this girl and she's really confusing

No no no. Luke deleted the message and threw his phone on his bed. He leaned back against the wall and rubbed his temples. Why was she like that??? Luke sighed. He didn't know. He couldn't read what was in her brain. He tried to ignore it for the rest of the day but she stuck to his thoughts like a spider web.

"Who is this girl???"