I was on my way back home from the university when I noticed a young woman in her early twenties. I realized then that there were three glances a man would give a woman he admired.

The first glance was cursory, just the gaze of a man minding his own life, leaving as quickly as it came. Hence, the reason for the second glance, which occurs upon realizing that something was off, and he jolts back to see if he'd seen what he thought he'd seen.

The third glance occurs when that glance lingers for too long, and the man finds himself rooted to the ground, unable to move from the spot or take his eyes away.

Long blue hair, pale white skin, a pair of sparkling cerulean eyes, trailing down which was a sculpted nose, then a pair of slender lips before the narrow chin that concluded her small face.

She was quite tall for a woman, with a slender figure too from what I could make out, though unfortunately, the coat she wore over the already thick uniform our university demanded left too much to imagination. The large purse she carried didn't help.

For a moment, I wondered to myself what to do. Should I strike up a conversation with her? Try to see if we could walk home together? But before I knew it, she was looking in my direction. No, she was looking at me! My heart leaped out of my chest, and I realized my mistake.

If the first glance was innocence, the second disbelief, and the third confirmation, then the overstaying of the third was the fourth, and that was a declaration, no, a confession! By standing here and staring at her so brazenly with starry eyes and my mouth hanging, I had basically confessed my feelings for her!

I might have been able to play things cool had I kept my calm, but the raising of my brows, followed by the flushing of my cheeks was hard evidence that no bribery could refute.

Panicked and unsure what to do, I turned around and ran away. A moment later, I regretted my decision. I should have just come clean and tried to talk to her! I had the perfect excuse too since I'd already been caught red-handed!

Why oh why did I run? Sigh. But it was already too late. I couldn't possibly turn around and casually try to strike up a conversation, now, could I? It was my first time seeing such a beautiful person too. Was this first love? But if so, what a quick first love! To think that I would trip right at the starting line!

I would've cried, but the mix of embarrassment and disappointment just made me want to hide in a hole instead! Fortunately, the dark clouds that have been stewing since this morning were finally starting to trickle. I suppose I could make do with the mist produced by the downpour instead of a hole.

That trickle would soon turn into a pour, so I took out my umbrella and unfurled it, but just as the fragrance of freshly wet grass was starting to fill the air, a new fragrance overpowered it.

It wasn't strong, merely closer, a gentle fragrance with the delicate notes of fruits. And when I turned to it, my jaw about dropped, my eyes leaping out of their sockets as my heart paused.

She was there - underneath my spacious umbrella, slightly hunched over, her hand on her chest, eyes cast down as she caught her breath.

"I-I left my umbrella," she said. "Do you mind if we walked together?"

I was starstruck, and it was all I could do to nod with the dumbest face I'd ever made while eeking out a barely comprehensible "uh-huh." Then she looked up, and a pair of bright cerulean eyes beheld me, her face beaming as she made the brightest smile I'd ever seen.

"Great!" She said.

I would have fainted, but I'd made enough blunders for the day to allow that to happen. This time, I was going to play it cool.

Yeah, right, there's no way I could play it cool! One moment, I'd seen the prettiest girl I've ever seen, then I was running away like some joke, then before I knew it, that same girl was asking me to walk together. Was this even real life?

"Excuse me," she said and huddled up close, but I switched positions with her to take the side of the curb.

She seemed pleasantly surprised by that, and in fact, so was I, as I didn't even realize what I'd done until after the fact. The umbrella wasn’t big enough that she could stand too far away, so we had to carefully toe that delicate line of just barely not touching.

Without thinking, I held my umbrella with my left, closer to the curb, and for a moment, I wondered if I should hold it with my right instead so that it was closer to her. But then it occurred to me that my hand was dangling along my right.

You know who else's hand was dangling around in that direction? Hers! I sneaked a glance at her - the best stealth I could anyway - and there she was walking beside me, her left hand dangling not too far away from my own right.

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"Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!"

I screamed in my mind, or so I thought I did, but then she turned to me and uttered a surprised, "Huh?" Before realization dawned on the both of us, and she broke into a giggle. I died.  Okay. Not really, but I did inside, and I swear my face was redder than Elmo's.

"You're a nervous wreck, aren't you?" She giggled.

"I'm so sorry," I said, mortified.

"Don't be," she smiled. "It's cute."

Ahhhhhhhhh! This time I got it right and screamed internally, but I might as well have screamed it for real because I had my right hand clenched into a fist, while my mouth was stretched wide open along with my eyes; my cheeks redder than a tomato by this point. I don't think we're getting anywhere at this rate, but then her next words easily broke me out of my reverie.

"I'm getting wet over here," she said.

And for a moment, I wondered if I'd heard that right, but then I looked at her and realized that she was indeed getting wet - by the rain.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just such a scatterbrain right now, I swear I'm normally not so---" I apologized. For the umpteenth time.

And no, I don't remember exactly how many times. Give me a break, my brain isn't exactly suited for the mathematics, right now, is it? I literally can't even hold an umbrella right, as I'd apparently pulled away with it during my very stealthy celebration, exposing my escort to the rain when I was supposed to be protecting her.

So, I hastily corrected myself and huddled up close to her with the umbrella, apologizing in the process, only to once again freeze. My eyes opened wide, as did hers, and when I looked to where my right arm was, I realized it was wrapped around her waist, pushing her closer toward me.

"---Sorry!" I said in falsetto. "I didn't mean to!"

Still holding onto the umbrella, I immediately let go of her and raised both of my hands like some soccer player pleading innocence to a foul, while she broke into the biggest smile I've ever seen and then she guffawed.

She was laughing with her hands on her stomach, while I was radioactive by this point. Radioactive red. Then she took a step forward, and in the slickest move I've ever seen anyone do, pulled me by the necktie and said, "Are you sure you didn't mean to?"

My briefs about dropped. If after all of this, I still couldn't make a move properly, I should just hand in my man card! Gulping, I slowly reached out with my arm and nervously wrapped it around her waist.

She was dressed in thick clothes, no doubt at least four layers of clothing if she was following the university standard, but the softness of her and the way my hand sank into her small waist sent my heart aflutter. When I pushed her toward me, and I took in a breath full of her fragrance, the entirety of her softness against my own, I was about ready to pass.

God knows I couldn't be happier to be alive right now. I was already so enamored with her just seeing her from a distance, but now, here she was with her face so close to my own.

Those bright cerulean eyes, that flawless white skin, that pair of slender and glossy lips, parting into a smile to reveal her pearly white teeth. The sight of her seemed to pause time, and for a moment, it felt as though we were in a world of our own. Had I not known any better I might have kissed her right there and then, but this was reality, and we'd just met, so I just smiled.

"Shall we?" I said.

"Yes," she smiled wistfully. "Just 'till the bus stop."

"Alright."

It would be a short journey, those few minutes trickling by even faster than they normally would, but just for that moment - for that stretch of the street until the bus stop, I walked on cloud nine.

It was a scene straight out of a dream. Droplets of rain falling from the sky, water surfaces coming alive, the smell of freshly wet grass filling the air, and a thin veil of mist painting the monotony of the corporeal with a stroke of the unfamiliar ethereal.

Within that dreamscape was us. Just us. No cars humming, no subdued splashes, no muffled taps from the rain-kissed pavement other than our own. It was a world of our own making, a world birthed by the intersecting of our lines, where every step taken was accompanied by the sound of another, giving rise to ripples, connecting new segments in the line we now shared. My arm sank into her waist, and her body sank into mine, her subdued yet fruity fragrance filling my lungs. She was my world, and I would like to think that I was hers.

When our feet stopped and something else other than my umbrella sheltered us from the rain, and she left my arms, for a moment, we just stood there gazing at each other. What was she thinking? We were complete strangers, yet she chased after me, and now, here we were gazing at each other. Did she like me too? Did she really do all this just because she forgot her umbrella?

Then that distinctive low-pitched rumbling accompanied by the sharp release of compressed air resounded, and at last, our world shattered. The humming of cars, the subdued splashes, the muffled taps, all of it returned. "The bus is here," she said, but she just continued to gaze at me until the driver called out to her, then she smiled wistfully, thanked me, and turned to the bus.

By chance, I had found the brightest jewel in the world, and by chance, that jewel fell into my lap, but it was only for a moment, and now it was time to say goodbye. A chance like this might never come again. Our lines might never intersect again. This dream would forever end as a dream. A beautiful dream, but a dream nonetheless. A story that would end upon waking. Was I really okay with that?

This whole time I've basically been running around like some headless chicken. If she hadn't left her umbrella, if she hadn't spoken to me, if she hadn't pulled me along, then this dream would have never even come to be. But what was I to do? I have no business being with her, much less getting on that bus. I mean we're practically strangers and that bus is headed in the exact opposite direction of my house!

Surely, I couldn't get on just because, right? Get on a bus that's not headed in the direction I'm supposed to be going? Get on a bus just because the girl I like is on it? Get on a bus just so that I can be with her if even for a moment longer? Huh? Why can't I do that? No way, no way, it's too crazy! But the doors began to close, her cerulean eyes meeting my own one last time.

Last time? No sooner than that thought crossed my mind, something seized me, and my legs moved on their own. Before I knew it, I was flying through the air, landing just one step short of crashing into her, the driver yelling expletives, the bus door failing to close. Surprise was written all over her, while a dumb smile was plastered all over me.

"I just remembered. I need to get on this line too," I explained, and she giggled. "Do you now? Well, we might as well sit together then."