Him.

“It was less than a second, maybe half a second, but it changed everything.” Looking back, it was the moment that changed everything, but at the time it felt like just any other awkward stare down.

It was late May and summer was practically breathing down my neck. I tried to keep my balance, as I was digging my boney knees into the backs of my two friends to keep our human pyramid aloft for the picture.

He was two people over and one level down from me. He was sweaty and gross and the thought of liking him, like he liked me, was out of the picture. The thing was, I felt bad seeing him like that. I wanted to give him a chance, I really did, but I just could not. After just minutes of finding out he liked me, my friends had broken the promise of keeping the secret from me. This was over three months ago, and still I felt nothing toward him.

SNAP! The picture was taken and I fell to the ground. Alex ran over to grab her phone, as we all crowded around to see the picture. My mouth was open, I was laughing, but it was almost this evil laugh that was just god awful. “If that’s not the appitamy of hotness, I don’t know what is Bri.” Of course Alex jokingly called me out, like always, but that’s how she was and how our friendship worked. I laughed too, mostly because I did look a little evil. Everyone laughed too, except him.

Our next group activity was something, more or less, like soccer. Me being the only non-athletic person in the group, decided to be the ref; also known as, sit in the grass on my phone and not get a ball kicked at my ankles.

After flipping through all of the social media apps I had accounts to, I glanced up at the game. I’m not sure why I looked right, when the ball was on my left, but I now think it was for a reason.

He was staring at me. The thing was, it was not a creepy stare. It was a pleasant “hello” stare, that made me see him differently, almost as if I was looking through a new lense. I smiled back, and he again smiled too. I looked away blushing. What was happening? Was I actually falling for him? At that moment, my life was forever changed. I finally understood what love at first sight meant.