Girl in the Field

He sees her sitting there in the field. Flowers and tall grass surround her, yet she looks sad so he stops and he stares. He knows her but doubts she knows him. She doesn’t notice him at the moment so he uses this time to inspect her face. She is sad and thoughtful. Her brows knit together as she sits and thinks. She holds her knees close to her chest and he notices the soft shaking of her shoulders in a silent cry.

He can’t help but wonder what is wrong. She was what you could call popular. Her features were perfect: long blond hair that she often wore in a hat, a slim figure, and a soft face. She was the captain of the cheer team and the mathletes. She played basketball and wrote for the school newspaper. She stared in the school play but hated talking in front of class. He knew that she had had many boyfriends and suitors.

Her friends were numerous but the ones that she held close could be counted on one hand. Her family was small, a younger sister, and her parents. Her father was a lawyer and her mom a chef. At least that is what his friend had told him. Unlike the majority of the friends he had, he wasn’t popular. But she was, so he couldn’t help wonder what was wrong.

He couldn’t ask her though because he was the shy one, the nerd, the boy no one noticed with a broken family and lost sibling. He turned to walk away from her and she turned, hearing him. Surprised she stared at him. When they made eye contact, her face softened and she smiled. Her puffy cheeks and red eyes were evidence of her crying but her smile was a real smile.

And in that moment he noticed her, the real her. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she knew that as well. He could also see something else, a soft glow, a joy and mixture of sadness that stated to him that she saw him, really saw him. Then suddenly he knew what was wrong and he miss understood her. He smiled back and turned away, understanding everything now. Even someone whose life seems perfect knows pain. The sound of his soft shoes crunching the autumn leaves faded into the distance. Her eyes never left his back.

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