Romeo, Romeo, Grow a Pair, Dear Romeo

The simple "hi" made me jump. I stared at her for a long moment; she was standing less than three feet away from me. I couldn't say anything to her. I didn't know what I could say. She wore a dark purple button up shirt over a matching purple tank top, long, tight jeans, and black and red sneakers. Her hair was loose around her head, the dark waves seeming almost ominous in the diminishing light. My uncle Frank told me to bright Leigh out for a last walk before we went out to do something or other and instead of taking her for a walk, I just sat on the front porch, pining over the girl of my dreams. When she said "hi" to me in that assertive yet gentle voice, I almost died.

"You live here, right?" I nodded, not able to find the words to say to her. What could I say? I didn't want to sound like an idiot. I didn't want to do something stupid…. "And….that's your dog?" I nodded again, glancing at Leigh. "I call her Buddy." She said half-heartedly, as if she had given up trying to talk to me.

"H-Her name is Leigh," I stammered out, scolding myself for letting my voice crack. "Like Vivian Leigh." I finally had the courage to stare right into those big brown eyes of hers. She walked towards my porch, making my eyes follow her every move. She sat down quietly and pet Leigh's head. I inched my hand away from the dog's fur and let her pet her alone.

"Gone With The Wind is a long-ass movie." She said, gaining a grin out of me. Even now, I don't know why that was so funny but the way she said it, the way she tried so hard to talk to me…I had to grin. "Thank goodness," she breathed gently, her smile wider than before. "I thought you were going to frown at me all day." I looked away, ashamed, trying hard to hide the blush that fell on my cheeks. I was so happy she liked my smile…"Sorry," she muttered while biting her big pink lips. "I shouldn't assume everyone smiles as much as I do. I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do if I don't smile." I looked at her, staring at that small smile that graced her lips and fought the nerves that rose in my stomach.

"It-it's a nice smile." I muttered to her as I stared. I couldn't get enough of her. I couldn't get enough of the freckles that were scattered across her delicate cheek bones; the glow in her eyes when she smiled; the sharp, white teeth that chewed into tender pink lips. That smile I longed to see spread across her face while she looked away, her long black hair falling in front of her face.

"Thank you," she murmured politely as she bit her lip again. "I'm sure if you smiled more," she added as she looked up at me. "Yours would be nice too." I smirked and blushed, just thinking about how she might like my smile.

"Leah!" The way her mother screeched it made me hate the name. It sounded so angry and vile that it didn't even seem to fit the girl of my dreams. I hated the thought of it being her name. She glanced at me and stood.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I'll be right back." While she left, I stood, looked around and tried to figure out what I was doing. It was my chance to talk to her, to be with her, to see her smile at me….I rubbed my hands together. I moved from left foot to right foot. I turned around in my place. I wondered what I was going to do. I sat down quickly when I heard a car race down the street.

The girl rounded Uncle Frank's truck and I watched her. Her hair was flying over her shoulders, her eyes staring at me like she were staring at something absurd. Did I look strange? Did I look nervous or silly? Did I look….what did I look like? I started to run my hand through my brown hair but I couldn't move under the weight of her gaze. Instead of sitting next to Leigh, she moved to sit next to me. For a long moment, I stared at the ground and she was silent.

"Would you like to walk buddy with me?" she asked again. I looked at her for a moment, still not used to the beautiful sound of her voice. Leigh put her head in the girl's lap and I couldn't help but stare down at her. She looked at me as if telling me I needed to do this. Telling me I needed to be away from the house, away from everything familiar and to go with this mysterious, beautiful girl. Part of my brain screamed at me, telling me no. Telling me she was a siren leading me from my safe ship.

"I don't even know your name," I mumbled, staring into those big eyes of hers.

"It's Leah," she said smiling as she offered her hand to me. I wiped my hand on my leg discreetly and shook her hand gently. The palm of her hand was smooth, though I could feel the rough parts on her hands.

"Patrick," I said smiling ever so slightly to myself. She stood and stared down at me.

"So how's that walk sounding?" I stood up, staring down at her. She was maybe five foot eight at most, her eyes gathering up at my five foot eleven frame. Her smile grew, I hadn't known then why but it was because I was taller, which she apparently really liked. I smiled a little more at her.

"I'd love to go for a walk." I muttered shyly as I looked down at Leigh. She looked down as well and started away. I quickly followed after her, staring at her while we walked. "So Leah…." I muttered as I stared at the ground. I loved the sound of her name already.

"Yes?" she prompted. I looked at her and muttered out an apology. My cheeks turned a bright red. I hated to think she might find me weird or creepy.

"I just…" I laughed a little and looked down. I looked back up at her and smiled. "Never mind." She laughed as well, and looked down at Leigh.

"Now that he smiles," she said. "I sort of missed his handsome scowl." Leigh barked loudly and Leah glanced up at me. I shook my head.

"You're a lot funnier than I thought you'd be." We walked down the hill to the Pumping Station.

"You didn't know I was funny?" she asked as she and I crossed the street to start into the park. "I'm the funniest person you'll ever meet!"

"Tell me a joke," I said as I grinned.

"What do you call a penny in the gutter?" she asked as she smiled.

"What?"

"A dirty penny." I stared at her, wondering if she was actually serious but when I found she was, I started to laugh.

"That was awful."

"So I don't have an official punch line as of yet. I'm working on it! And! It did make you laugh." I laughed as she held up a finger to me.

"Try again." I ordered gently as I smiled more at her. I enjoyed it a lot. She sighed a little and rubbed the back of her head.

"Alright alright. What did the Island Gobbling Sea Monster say?" I shook my head and stared at him.

"What?"

"These islands are Philippine me up! I need Samoa Tahiti!" I grinned and shook my head at her again.

"You are not funny at all." I said as I kept an eye on Leigh, who was way ahead of us, frolicking in the grass. Leah pouted a little and crossed her arms before stopping where she was. I turned to look at her and she stared at me defiantly.

"I am too funny." She argued as she stuck her tongue out. She looked so adorable. I couldn't help but stare at her. She turned away from me though and looked at the water. With the sun falling in the sky, the orange tainted the sky and turned her tan face a dull color. Her hair was a red and brown color now, the sun staining it. It looked so beautiful. Well, she looked so beautiful then, in the sun, her eyes focused on the water like the water would save her from someone or something. I walked over to her and timidly reached out my hand.

"Leah?" I asked as I placed my hand on her shoulder. She looked at me slowly, her eyes catching some light. She looked like something out of a movie.

"Sorry," she said as she walked down to the hill. "I like looking at the scenery. In a movie once, the main character said, 'When you get old, all you want to do is look at the scenery'. I know I'm not old but we all have those days you know?" She looked back at me and I couldn't help but look confused. She forced a laugh. "Sorry, I blame the books I read for making me so depressing." I didn’t find her depressing. I wanted to know what she meant by that. What she meant by her being depressing. What happened to her to make her 'depressed'?

Leah sat down in the grass, running her hands through the lush green earth and leaned back on them. She looked at Leigh, who was running around like crazy. I sat down, placing my arms on my knees and leaned forward.

"Sunsets are beautiful." I muttered as I watched the sky ahead of us change from the bright red and orange to a dull purple and blue. She nodded and looked at me, her chin on her left shoulder. She offered a smile, something small and gentle like her.

"A lot of things are beautiful," she said softly, as if speaking too loud would hurt her. "I only wish I could have more chances to see them." I wanted to say something that would make her happy and thanks to my cousin demanding my attention on girly movies, all that I thought up were adorable things. It made me sick. I looked away and chewed on the inside of my cheek, wondering what I could say. When her eyes were finally off of me, I gathered my courage up.

"What made you come over?" I asked her.

"I'm not going to be around anymore and I wanted to say goodbye to her." She said as she looked at Buddy and smiled. "She's a great dog and I'll really miss her. I used to have a dog but she ran away."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said as I looked at Leigh.

"Me too," she said. "But it's OK. It was a long time ago." I was silent for a second, wondering what else to say. She laid down horizontally, her feet towards me.

"What are you doing?" I asked. She lifted her head and smiled at me.

"I'm going to roll down this hill." She said casually as she lowered her head, squeezed her eyes shut and let herself roll. At the bottom, I saw her giggling like crazy. I did the same and when I was done, I laid sprawled on the ground, face up and eyes closed, breathing hard. "Pssst," she whispered, making my eyes fly open. "You're not supposed to pass out after you roll. You're supposed to laugh." I stared up at her. She was…It was my fantasy. In the flesh. She was there, staring down at me. She looked like Ariel from the Little Mermaid. She looked like an angel coming from the clouds. She looked beautiful. My breath caught in my throat and I had to breath heavier to get the air to my lungs. "Are you okay?" she asked, moving closer to me, her hand resting on my neck to find my pulse racing. Embarrassed, I moved her hand aside gently and smiled while sitting up.

"It was just…..déjà vu." I said softly as I leaned close. She stared at me, confused. Yeah I was too. What was I doing? What was I going to do? I wasn't going to kiss her. I couldn't. I licked my lips before stopping just inches from her face. "You're a lot prettier up close." I said as I felt my cheeks begin to heat. Her cheeks turned red and her eyes opened a little more.

"P-Patrick," she stammered. I placed my hand on her cheek, my smile fading.

"You're not a dream," I whispered, mostly to myself. "You're real." I stared into her eyes, almost wanted to scream for joy. I wanted to cry to the heavens a thank you that was better than any monk, clergy man or whatever sort of religious dude could think of. She was real. She was with me.

"Are you alright, Patrick?" I nodded and let my hand drop. I stood, turning away from her to head up the hill. I looked back and smiled a little.

"Are you coming or are you going to sit there?" I asked. She stood and walked over to me, staring at me as if I had gone crazy.

"You sure you're alright?" she asked me, making me nod. I stared at her before smiling brightly. I was better than alright.

"I'm great." Now that I have you. She and I walked up the hill and there, I looked at the sky again. It was now dark and the light was fading. She shook her head and looked back towards the way we came.

"I should go," she said. I reached out to take her hand and she let me take it. She stared at them, her cheeks burning.

"I don't want you to go," I said smiling, though I felt like I was going to throw up. "I want you to stay for just a little longer. I haven't made my cinematic move yet." She was silent and I swallowed hard. "This is so dumb," I said as I laughed a little and rubbed her finger with my thumb. I swallowed hard and moved closer to press my forehead against hers.

"You know," she said softly, moving back just a little. "I…we haven't been acquaintances for very long and I just think--" I kissed her then. I knew she was as scared as I was but I needed to do it now or I wouldn't have another chance. She kissed back gently, unsure of what to do. I knew she wasn't a pro and though I wasn't either, I had had practice. I pulled away from her and smiled.

"How about we go from here? I've waited a long time to do this." She smiled a little and bit her lip.

"Sounds good to me." She said as she kissed me again. I didn't have a lot of time to think but as we stood there, I thought, "This is where the movie would end. Right now, there would be some song and the movie theater would be filled with sobs and awe's. It would be fading to black and our names would appear. Like that dumb Hannah Montana song only awesome and not cheesey like that song." It was like that only, she pulled away, took my hand, and called out to Leigh before heading up the hill towards my house. I loved this girl and even now, I love her.

No matter where she is in the world, if I could find her again, I'd take her and I'd show her how much I still love her. Years cannot separate true love. I'm sure she's found others, I know I have, but none have meant as much to me as she did. None of them looked like her, talked like her, smiled like her. They were all beautiful, sure, but Leah had that graceful beauty that showed even with her clumsiness. I loved Leah. I still love Leah. My darling Cinderella fit for a poor excuse for a Romeo.