He watched as she tossed her fiery red curls over her shoulder. Still watching as a few minutes later, tied it into a messy knot at the nape of her neck. As she leaned forward, a few strands escaped, but she just ignored them, and pulled the sleeves of her plaid shirt up.

Pierce slowly yanked his gaze away from her as the door creaked open. A librarian walked passed him, glaring. He knew it was time to go. He packed his belongings into his already stuffed backpack and walked out the door of the library.

It was a short walk home, but he didn't want to go. He crossed over the road and walked straight, looking for the path that lead to the forest. Pierce lived in a small town, and there was a lot of forests and creeks. He walked deep in, heading to his usual spot.

Listening closely for the sound of water, he closed his eyes. He could feel the warm sunlight on his face, and he smiled.

And then, in the distance he heard a shh sound. He Opened his eyes and followed the sound until he found the bucolic creek he had been searching for.

He sat on a nearby rock and closed his eyes, imagining the girl, Angela. He saw her behind his eyelids, her lithe figure spinning in a perfect pirouette as she danced gracefully across the stage.

He sat there for ages, just thinking of anything and everything. Finally leaving at sunset.

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*******

"Angela," said a voice. I turned, startled, and saw the librarian. "Closing, hon." The women smiled warmly. "Oh.."

I got up and strolled out. The sun was beginning to set. She hurried, trying to get home before dark. After a while, she managed to get lost in her thoughts, and forget where she was going.

She thought of the boy, Pierce. With the dark hair, that was almost black. She remembered being shocked the first time she looked at him. His emerald eyes shone out from his slightly tan skin.

She came back to life when she bumped into something, and stumbled. She felt arms around her, holding up. She looked up, and found herself inches away from the very boy she couldn't stop thinking about.

He pulled her up gently. "Are you OK?" "I... I'm sorry, I guess I was lost in thought," she laughed nervously. He smiled and her stomach churned. When he smiled, his whole face lit up, and his eyes sparkled. At least, when he truly smiled. She'd been watching him. He smiled a lot, but it was never real, and it was sad. She had so desperately wanted to see a real smile.

"Where are you headed? It is getting dark, you don't want to be walking around." Angelica looked up and saw genuine concern on his face."I was... taking a walk," she said. "Can, I join you?" he asked, sliding next to her. She could finally breathe now that he wasn't so close and she couldn't get lost in his beautiful eyes, so she couldn't marvel at his long eyelashes and cherry red lips.

"So... Angelica, right?" His voice brought her out of her haze. "Yeah, and Pierce?" "mmhmm," he said. They stopped at a large tree, its branches twisted around wildly. "Wait here." He managed to climb up and sit on a branch. He held out a hand to her. "There is a foothold.." He pointed to a dent in the tree.

She ran her hands over the rough bark and tried to pull her self up. Pierce grabbed her arm and helped her up.

Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers, and she couldn't tell who kissed who. It was just like all the romance novels she read. There were butterflies in her stomach, and she couldn't breathe right.

This, she knew, was love.