It was one of those moments, one of those seemingly random, but life-changing, moments. She was leaning forward a bit, peering politely and expectantly at me, waiting for me to continue my sentence. In all truth, I forgot what I was even talking about, but at that look of genuine interest that was shining from her face, my heart leapt from its place and flew to her.

I had never noticed it before, but she had a handful of light freckles sprinkled across her nose. They were adorable.

She really likes you, you know.

The assuring whisper from a close friend echoed in my mind as I took a split second to process the situation. I could, of course, try to remember what I had been saying, in that stretch of time before I realised how beautiful she looked – or, I could do something about this powerful new feeling.

Her hair was messy, but as I looked closer – my observational skills were apparently sharpened by the mad flood of adrenaline rushing through my veins – I saw that it was all carefully calculated. This girl, this lovely, funny, smart girl, must have stood before the mirror this morning and pulled, tugged at her hair until it looks suitably casual. God, she was amazing.

All within a second, I loved her tenfold.

Now she was peering at me, that sweet smile melting into one of polite puzzlement. Oh, what should I do? All the possibilities. And yet, there, in my mind, rung the voice of my best friend, over and over, She really likes you, you know. That six words, and an implied comma could change my thought pattern into this, that was astounding. But, all that consideration could wait. For now, her freckles and hair and beautiful eyes all called for my attention. Before either of us knew what I was doing, I leant in and pressed quivering (Why quivering? One would think that I would be sure of myself, for she really likes me.) lips to hers. Her mouth softened as she realised that this was no mistake; that I actually meant this to happen.

It was pure delight, and I never wanted to part.