At First Sight

Confucius said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I guess the journey of a relationship begins the same way, although I am not really sure when my first step with Alisa occurred. In truth, there were several first steps; each leading to a walk in the rain.
One such step occurred the first time I saw her. It was at the conclusion of our sophomore year when the student body had been gathered for an assembly where girls would demonstrate their talents in hopes of landing a spot on the Varsity Cheer squad for the following year. I was mostly relieved to be somewhere other than Algebra class, and as such sat near the back so as not to disturb others while chatting with my friends.

I didn’t get too far into any conversations however, because Alisa Weaver was the first to audition. She was such a petite person, yet had a commanding presence on stage. Her enormous smile coupled with intense personal excitement over the opportunity to show the school what she could do, made it impossible for me to look away. Not only did she convey a uniquely positive energy, but she was beautiful. I am sure at the time I used the word cute. Once her routine was completed I turned to a friend sitting next to me and proclaimed, “I am going to get to know that girl.” The remainder of the assembly never entered my memory, but the thought of Alisa never left.

Several months later my freshman year of high school began. I’ve always made it a point to be punctual, which in high school usually meant I would be the first to arrive in a classroom. This punctuality meant I could-one, chose to sit wherever I wanted, and two, meant I could survey all of my classmates as they entered the room. Another wonderful “step” occurred when Alisa walked into my math class and sat on the opposite side of the room. Had I been more courageous at the time I would have changed my seat location to sit somewhere nearer to her. Instead however, I spent months gazing across the classroom at her, and learning nothing about math. Although one could argue that I would have learned little about math in the first place.
I never approached her in our shared math class, but often watched her as she would converse with those around her. She always seemed so happy, which seemed to draw other students around her. I wasn’t even near her, and yet her mannerisms had captivated my attention as well.