John sat in silence trying to eat his Monday mystery meat surprise, nervously glancing at the girl who sat at the table in the corner.
John knew he couldn’t keep going like this. He had to talk to her! There she was, sitting in the sunlight that surrounded her, making her look angelic. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders and her bright blue eyes scanned a thick novel. A pleasant smile sat on her face, she was completely absorbed in her book, not noticing the eyes that watched her day after day from across the room. She had no idea he existed.

Today was the day, John decided right then and there. Today was the day he was finally going to do something about this. He was going to talk to her. He had to, or he was going to go crazy, he just knew it. He had never met her before, yet he was so nervous. His palms were beginning to sweat at just the thought of talking to her. For some reason, she was different from other girls. For the first time in his life, John felt shy.

Just then, the bell rang and lunch was over. The girl quickly stood up and gathered her things, stuffing them into her bulging red bag slung over her shoulder. The bag was so full that she didn’t even notice her novel slip out of the side pocket and land on the linoleum floor. John shuffled his way around the maze of kids, empty chairs and tables to pick it up. This was the perfect opportunity, this was his chance! He had an excuse to talk to her, to introduce himself, to ask her what her name was, maybe even ask her out! Pushing his way through the crowd that was seeping through the doors to the cafeteria, John planned out his conversation in his head. He was going to hand the book to her smoothly and then casually mention his name. Hopefully, she would introduce herself. With luck, maybe the conversation could lead to weekend plans. He could say something like “Well, I am going to check out this sweet restaurant my friend told me about, I bet you would like it. You could come with me if you want.”
He gulped as the sight of the girls shiny black hair came into view. He took a deep breath and swallowed and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

“Er, umm, you dropped this…”John stammered out, definitely not in the tone that he had planned in his head. He could feel his face starting to burn.
A smile spread on the girls face as she reached out and grabbed the book from him.

“Thanks,” She replied with a sweet chirp. She turned and continued her way down the hall.
John just stood there stunned at what an idiot he was, why hadn’t he said anything else? He lost his only opportunity and on top of that, he must have looked so dumb. Shaking his head, John tried to forget about it.

“Oh well, I guess there’s always another chance tomorrow,” he mumbled to himself, and trudged along the hall way.
***
Tina glanced across the noisy cafeteria. It was another boring day in school for her, another boring day until lunch, anyways.
“Where is he?” She whispered to herself. Just the sight of him made her day a bit more exciting, even if she had never even talked to him before.
“There he is.” She sighed with relief. A boy with shaggy blond hair picking at his lunch came into view. Just then, he glanced up from his brown food tray. Afraid that he might see her looking at him, Tina buried her nose into the latest novel she had checked out form the library.
She had always loved to read. Tina always liked to feel like she was one of the characters in her books. She could be anything when she read, she could be brave and outgoing and live a life filled with romance and adventure, nothing like the life she lived now. She couldn’t even talk to the boy that she had had a crush on for the past year. She wanted to meet him so badly, but she could never work up the strength to talk to him, so instead she spent her lunches reading about people she wished she could be.
Tina didn’t set down her book for the entire lunch period, she was completely absorbed in far off places. She was finally forced to shut it when the bell rang. She didn’t want to come back to the real world, but she knew she had to because she had an algebra test next period. She quickly gathered up her things; she couldn’t be late for class today. She shoved the remainder of her sandwich into her bulky red bag hanging on her shoulder and then stuffed her book into the front pocket. She stood up and quickly scurried to the door of the cafeteria and down the hall.
Suddenly, while she was trying to remember the quadratic formula, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She slowly glanced behind her, and then whirled around in shock, it was him! She felt her stomach drop. The boy she had been dying to talk to all year. She looked at his hand and to her surprise, her book was in it.
“You dropped this,” He said in a voice that made her heart beat faster.
“Thanks,” she answered back, trying to sound as nice as she could. She whirled back around, because she didn’t know what else to do, thank goodness her algebra classroom was right there. She made her way to the door, now annoyed with herself. How could she let that opportunity slip away?
“I guess I always have tomorrow,” She thought to herself. Tomorrow was another chance to be the girl that wasn’t she and not afraid to talk to boys.