A river of green, diluted watercolor surged to the edge of the dam, stopping slightly when Drew realized that he was about to break down in front of his friend. The thin sheet of glass against his eyes refused to break. Never before had my curiosity been roused as much as now. Noticing that I still had an hour left on the bus, I approached him.
Stuttering a half-hearted “hi”, I sat down next to him.
“The doofus has a little girlfriend.” His friend shouted.
“Not to be sexist, but some of these boys need to recognize that we’re in 9th grade now, not 7th.”
“I totally agree.” Drew said, averting his eyes from his shoes. After a moment of silence, he held out his hand, saying, “My name’s Drew.”
“I know that.”
“How?”
“I’ve heard your friends yelling to talk to you across the bus.”
“Oh,” he bit the inside of his lip, “what’s your name?”
“Lilac.”
Bright red burned onto his cheeks as he said, “That’s my favorite color.”
Drew took out his bottle of kool-aid just as the bus made a violent turn. To my dismay, the cap was off. We both held the same expression as we looked at the blotch of red covering the front of my white satin skirt.
“Ha, period blood!” His friend pointed at my skirt.
“Boy, if you don’t shut up, my skirt won’t be the only thing soaked in red.”
“No, it should be my face soaked in red. I’m the one who spilled it.” Drew said.
“If anything, your friend is way worse. And mistakes happen. I can get a new skirt.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Anyways, what’s the matter? I notice that every time you stop talking, your eyes go to a dark place, like there’s an endless tunnel that you can’t escape.”
“How do you know?”
“I know because I know how it feels to not feel wanted and like my opinions don’t matter. Even though your mouth might stay shut, your eyes are a door to everything within you. It takes a skilled person to not have their emotions show through their eyes. But when I look into your eyes, I see bottled up emotions and a love for someone that you never got to express. I’ve been through the same thing. If you don’t want that douche of a friend anymore, say so. If you keep pretending, all of your emotions will flood out at once.” And just like that, the white caps of the waves that resided in his blue-green eyes pushed over the dam, the pressure of the tears breaking the glass that had once been plastered against his eyes.