With sparkling eyes, the little girl looked up at the older boy.

The rain had cleared for a moment, the sky shimmered in silvery streaks, and before her stood a boy, older than her, with a wide grin on his lips and eyes like she'd never seen before.

Blue. So deep, so unattainable. Like the ocean on a clear summer day. Like the first time you see the sea and hold your breath because it's too much, too beautiful, too far away. The wind rushed around her, making his white hair dance and the blue in his eyes shine as if the clouds themselves had created them.

She felt everything around her slow down. The noise of the schoolyard disappeared. The voices, the laughter, the children rushing by, everything seemed to fade. Silence fell over her little world. Only her heart was still beating. Fast. Loud. So hard she thought he must hear it. It hit her in the throat.

And all she could do in that moment was marvel. She had never seen eyes like those. Never a smile like that. Who was this boy?

"You're staring," he said, pushing his sunglasses up into his hair and grinning even wider. "Do you think I'm pretty or something?"

She had blushed. He had laughed. And somewhere between those first words, something began that would never fully let go of her.