1. From across the restaurant he sees her. The girl in the light pink sweater, her hair floating out in fluffy curls to frame her features. She's been here before, surrounded by football players and cheerleaders and he's always wondered how someone like her ended up sitting at the same table as all of them. Sometimes he can tell she's wondering the same thing. He likes to watch as someone tells a joke and her eyes light up with glee. It's hard to ignore those eyes. Even from across the room.
She doesn't go to his high school, and even if she did it's obvious that she has a boyfriend. A big, football-playing boyfriend who keeps his arm around her all night and lets his eyes wander to the chests of the other girls at the table. Whenever Jim catches him doing this he rolls his eyes in disgust and stuffs his hands into the pockets of his polyester apron. But the girl in the light pink sweater never seems to notice.
He doesn't even know her name. He's been praying for the day when she'll come in alone, sit down at the counter or at a table in his section all by herself. He'll make small talk. Maybe it will be right at the end of his shift. And he'll offer to join her for dinner, and by the end of the meal she'll be so absorbed in her conversation with him that she won't even notice when he pays for both of them and then they'll sit in his car and talk for hours and at the end of the conversation she'll say, "This was really nice. We should do it again sometime." And he'll smile and nod and then soon enough they'll be dating, and he'll be the one with his arm around her, stealing kisses from her every so often as they sit close together in the corner of the booth. Only his eyes will always stay focused on her, and he'll be too busy trying to make her laugh to pay attention to anyone else at the table.
But she never does come in alone.
Tonight she leaves her sweater in the booth where they always sit. He notices it as soon as he comes over to bus the table. Grabbing it quickly, and resisting the urge to bring it up to his face and see if he can catch the scent of her in it, he jogs out to the parking lot.
She's already in the car, but her boyfriend takes it from him with a, "Hey, thanks, man."
"No problem. You guys have a good night."
For a week he curses himself for being so slow. Maybe if he'd made it to the parking lot sooner he could've given it to her personally, introduced himself, shook her hand, something.
2. There's a guy that looks at her sometimes at the restaurant Roy and his buddies like to go to after their games. His name is James; at least that's what's printed on his nametag. She's pretty sure the guy doesn't know that he's staring, and she's totally and completely sure he doesn't know that she's noticed him staring. But she has noticed.
Just last week he brought her sweater out to her in the parking lot. It was really nice of him, and she's especially grateful because it's her favorite sweater. She can't help but think of him when she wears it now.
She supposes it might sound creepy, which is why she hasn't told her art class friends about him yet. But it doesn't feel nearly as creepy to glance over quickly and catch him turning away as it does when one of Roy's friends leers openly at her from across the table. She's developed a little earlier than most of the girls in her high school and she knows Roy appreciates it. Sometimes she wonders if that's the only reason he's going out with her.
But it's not. Roy is sweet and affectionate and they've been best friends since he moved in across the street from her in second grade. They only started dating officially a year ago, but she's always known she was in love with him. She's just surprised sometimes that he hasn't ditched her for some ditzy cheerleader yet. So she clings to him carefully as he kisses her goodnight and she promises him they'll do it soon every time he asks.
And she watches the boy at the restaurant when his back is turned, wondering to herself if kissing is the same with every person, or if it changes.
3. One time when he goes to the movies with his basketball buddies, she's there walking out of a theater with a couple of girls he's never seen before. Her sweater and her curls give her away, even with her back to him. As he stands in line waiting for popcorn he bounces on his toes, trying his hardest to come up with some excuse to go talk to her, but everything he thinks of sounds too ridiculous. And finally he has to settle for watching her walk outside, hoping against hope that she'll turn around and see him, knowing that even if she did there's no way she'd recognize him. They've never even said hello.
4. At the beginning of her junior year, she and Roy break up for three weeks.
They've been bickering constantly and finally she says she's had enough and she gives him back the necklace he gave her for her birthday.
An hour later she's driving aimlessly around town. The tears have stopped, but she doesn't want to go home quite yet. She doesn't want to have to explain it all to her parents, even though she knows her mom will pull her in for a hug and say that everything will be okay.
It won't be okay. Roy is all she's ever known.
Without thinking she drives to their favorite restaurant. She parks, and for a minute she just sits in the car. It feels funny to be here without him, without the groupful of laughter and inside jokes and squishing close together in the backseat of someone's car. It doesn't feel the same. Numbly, she thinks, it never will feel the same.
She wonders if James is here. For a long time she considers going in to check. But it doesn't feel right to be here now. Maybe in a few weeks after everything has settled down. Maybe then she'll come back and introduce herself and tell him thanks for returning her sweater so long ago. Maybe they'll talk and she'll smile and he'll laugh. Maybe someday she'll test out her theory about kissing, and if he's better at it, maybe they'll make out in this very car.
But for tonight she has to leave. It's too soon. And these thoughts she's been thinking are scaring her too much.
Three weeks later she's sitting next to Roy in their booth again. But it doesn't matter because James is nowhere to be seen.
5. It isn't until the middle of his junior year that he gets his chance. He's in the public library looking through the slim collection of videos for something that isn't a documentary or in a foreign language when he sees a flash of that familiar light pink turn the corner into a row of books a few yards away. Trying not to look conspicuous he walks slowly toward the same row to confirm that it really is her.
When he gets there she's crouching down to read the titles on the second shelf up and he takes a second to compose himself while trying to look as if he's nonchalantly perusing a shelf full of books on pottery. Normally with girls the words come easily, but with her he feels like everything he could say is stuck in his throat, choking him with the unspoken awkwardness. She stands up and he knows it's time to say something before she can get away.
"I like your sweater," he says, cringing internally.
"Oh, um, thanks." She bites her lip for a second. "I, uh, I like your jeans."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh," she nods with a small smile, and he can't help but grin back at her.
"Thanks."
Then they're nodding and smiling again and he that thinks maybe this will actually work out okay after all.
"Well, see ya," she says, turning around to walk out of the other end of the row.
"Um, wait, what's your name?"
"Pam," she says, turning around and giving him a look that's something between wonder and confusion. Faint traces of an awkward blush linger on her cheeks.
"Oh. I'm Jim."
"Cool."
"Well, see ya later, Pam."
"Okay, bye, Jim." She waves, sort of, with her hand near her waist.
"Bye." He says it quietly to himself a few minutes later. He's still standing in the same row of books, trying hard to memorize everything about her and everything that just happened as her name drums itself into his head over and over again. Then he smiles to himself, because maybe, just maybe, this can finally be the start of something.
