She was beautiful. She was a brunette; her hair was long and straight, and her eyes were a soft blue-gray. They examined each other for only a second, but Matt felt a kind of attachment to her right away. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he felt he had never met anyone like her before. His heart started to beat faster.
“I’m so sorry,” he exclaimed, offering her his hand—which she took right away.
“Aw, it’s fine,” she laughed. She had a gorgeous smile and a lovely voice. Matt’s heart beat even faster as he helped her to her feet. For an instant, he was frozen there with her hand in his, but he quickly recovered by clumsily gathering up the contents of her purse. She knelt down to help him.
“So, what’s your name?” he asked her smoothly, his composure regained, “I’m Matt Jackson.”
“I’m Julia Stanton,” she smiled. They took a break from their task to shake hands. After they secured Julia’s belongings, they agreed to spend the day at the mall together. Since he had seen the contents of her purse and her CD choices, topics came up easily, and their conversation was relaxed and comfortable. They discussed everything from their schools’ rivalry to their future plans, and by the end of the day, Matt felt like they had made a connection. She seemed to enjoy herself, and he was hopeful that she might be the one to fulfill his pact with the Reaper and free him from this world.
When the two had their fill of the mall, Matt walked Julia to her car.
“I had a lot of fun today, Matt,” Julia gushed as she unlocked and opened her car door. “We should hang out again!”
“I’d like that,” Matt smiled.
“Could I get your number?” She bit her lip slightly. Gosh, she was beautiful.
“Well…” Matt stammered as he formed his answer in his mind, “I don’t have a phone at the moment. Mine broke, and I don’t have the money to replace it. But, would you like to meet me at the diner in front of your school tomorrow around 4:15?”
She smiled, “Can we make it 4:45? I have volleyball practice.” He nodded, and they said their goodbyes.
For an instant, Matt contemplated leaning in for a kiss, but Julia was in her car before he had a chance to act on it. He watched and waved as she drove away, then stood silently in the parking lot trying to make sense of the day’s developments. Here on out, he would concentrate on Julia only. He had to make her love him, or at least like him enough to kiss him. It may not be easy—Julia was intelligent and rational; she didn’t seem like the kind of girl that would kiss someone without being certain about it. Since he had never fallen in love, he had no idea how long it would take. Should he try to make two or more girls love him at the same time in case one didn’t work out? No, that was too underhanded… Besides, if he had to spend a lot of time with just one girl, Julia didn’t seem too bad a choice.
