The Beautiful Monster

His hair was black and cut short with a slightly shaggy look to it. It fell into his face slightly as he hovered over a plate of grilled chicken and vegetables. He wore a black button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark, fitted pants. A silver necklace hung around his neck.

He looked like someone her parents would tell her to avoid at all costs. Even if he was peacefully eating, he had a reckless look to him. Why was it that the things she needed to run from lured her in the most? Maybe she wanted to get back at her parents. Maybe she wanted the risk.

The boy suddenly glanced up toward her, and his eyes locked onto hers.

Alyssa knew that she needed to look away immediately to spare herself some of the embarrassment of getting caught staring at him, but she couldn't even budge for a few seconds. It was like his brown eyes grasped her, refusing to let go.

The side of his mouth curled up in the faintest of smiles as he peered at her. He almost looked amused before he glanced away from her.

Just like that, the trance felt broken. Alyssa could move again. Her eyes shot down to the few pieces of sushi that she had left. Suddenly, she wasn't all that hungry anymore. She felt a pull to look up at him again and see if he was looking at her, but she told herself to resist the urge. She didn't want to seem weird.

She almost felt like she had to fan herself. Heat spread across her cheeks as she poked at her sushi, trying to act normal. She could admit that she was awkward, but a single interaction with a stranger had never affected her like this before.

It weirded her out, and she decided to abandon her dinner and leave before she did anything else that was awkward. She stood from the table, slung on her book bag, grabbed her plate and her cup, and then started walking.

Unfortunately, she had to walk past his table to get to the plate and garbage disposal. She kept her head down, but she knew that she couldn't trust herself. Her eyes strayed to his once she got close, and her arms suddenly felt weak.

Her grip on her plate loosened, and one of her chopsticks rolled off the edge. She gasped as she watched it drop, embarrassment already flooding through her. To her shock, the boy suddenly reached forward and snatched the chopstick out of the air. He did it with such speed and ease that Alyssa thought she imagined seeing him catch it.

The boy dropped the chopstick down on her plate with a small grin.

"Careful now," he said.

Alyssa could only stare into his eyes and nod. She did need to be more careful. She could've spilled her drink on him by accident or dumped her sushi on the floor. That was a mess that she did not want to clean up. She could only handle so much embarrassment at one time.

"Thanks," she said before hurrying away from him before she dropped everything in her hands. Every curse and insult to herself ran through her mind as she put her things up. Did she have to be so awful in public?

Yeah, the guy was really cute and a little mysterious, but that didn't mean she had to freak out. She almost felt like she hardly had any control over her body, like she was weak to him. No other guy had ever caught her eye like him, and she didn't even know his name. She would probably never see him again either.

Alyssa couldn't help but feel a bit sad at that thought. Everyone else just breezed by her. He was one of the few who stuck out to her, but he was gone in the breeze too. It all happened so fast, but what was she supposed to do? Strike up a conversation after she just embarrassed herself? She wasn't bold like that.

She could tell this year was already going to be a long one. She thought freshman year was tough, but this one was itching to prove itself as a worthy contender. Day one was over, but she felt the exhaustion of a full week. Hopefully, the next day would be better. She counted on that.