“Hi!”
Had I known what I was in for, I would have done my best to -- well, I wouldn’t have been the same without this experience so I most likely wouldn’t have done anything differently. Somewhere, I had hoped she wouldn’t have said anything as she sat next to me, but that was the old me, but I knew she would. Only a brainless zombie of some sort would not have noticed my glaring.

“Hi!” she tried again.
I looked up. None of the thoughts that I just went through didn’t appear at this point. They are only there as a part of my flashback on this memory, this treasured memory of mine, as I rediscover, take it apart, examine the good bits with a smile, put it back together and remember it with a smile.
As I looked up, I was approached by a gleaming smile. Not one of those Colgate smiles they want you to have, but rather a shy, genuine smile. A smile that, if directed at you, make your stomach want to fly off somewhere that isn’t here.

“Hello?” I cautiously said. I was sitting on a bench on a rather busy route doing pretty much nothing than think deep, pointless thoughts. She smiled wider at the acknowledgement. The more I looked at her, the more I realized I had seen her around - but just in fleeting moments. She was one of those girls who you would get images of when you close your eyes, someone who stands out well enough to be remembered but still ordinary enough to be consider humane and reachable. The stupid poet I am would probably describe her as a human angel.

"Mind if I sit down?" She asked, making a move to sit down. I scooted over a bit and figured that the conversation was over. I was entirely too shy to try anything and the 5 minutes we sat in silence (it was probably more like 10 seconds), I couldn't think of one word to say. Thankfully, she did.

"I really like your t-shirt!" She said, turning towards me and looking at my t-shirt. I looked down, having forgotten what I was wearing. A girl in navy blue hair winked at me. I figured she was being sarcastic, since it kind of stood out with it's colours and not many agrees to seeing a scantily clad girl on a t-shirt in a public area. I told her just that: "Thank you, I really enjoy it too." I then started ranting "But don't you think it is a bit too much? Ya know, the colours, the half-naked girl etc?" I actually said etc. It was me trying to sound smart when I had nothing more to say. The sentence could have been formulated so much better, had I thought more about it - but it's when you think about it, you don't say anything.

"No, it's nice. I like the colours, makes it prettier. I agree it makes you stand out, but is that such a bad thing?" I thought she winked at me, but that was most likely just nothing. It usually is. I smiled a bit, a natural smile. It was a compliment and I knew it was. She smiled back, as if it was contagious. "I suppose not," I began, trying to think of what to compliment on her. It was just about everything, I had to admit, the more I looked at her. The self-confidence came up and I thought I was in control of the situation. I could either compliment all of her and come off as an awkward romancer or play it safe, as a new acquaintance. I go for the latter, since the first can be creepy, but little did I know, that I was not in control. "I really love your hair", was what I ended up with. She smiled and pulled on her dark red hair, probably trying to look at it. She was just as nervous as me.

"Really? I am not a fan of it, myself." she admitted. "Why not? It compliments everything about you." She tilted her head puzzled "Err, what I mean is that you wear it really well. It makes you look very cute." Her hair was shoulder length and quite thick. Her face had spots of freckles, which looked like they come out mostly in the summer. She looked, well, cute. Amazingly so. She even managed to blush deeply from the compliment. She stood up and reached her hand out.

"I'm Clara, but my friends call me Rah". she said, smiling. I stood up and took her hand. "I'm honoured, but my name is Simon and you can call me whatever you want". She giggled from my cheap joke and smiled wide, while still holding my hand. "I think I will call you just that, then - that okay, Simon?" she said with a wink. "Then I shall call you Rah, if that is okay, Clara." I said. Her acknowledgement of my jokes had given me a huge boost, a healthy kick to the stomach that really had me up on edge.