He had dark brown hair that was spiked to the left and matched his thick eyebrows. He had a square jaw line with a small bit of scruff. His lips were full and bit more rounded off and his nose fit his face. But my favorite feature was always his eyes. They were big, brown, doughy eyes that looked right into the depths of me. Those eyes could give me a look and I would immediately tell him what was going on in my life. The person those eyes belonged to was Dean. We met on the bus the first day of school and I had thought to myself, “I’m going to get to know this boy.” It wasn’t until early October that got his number, it had taken all my courage to do so because he was intimidating. He still is. Dean disappeared for a little while in the afternoons. He was playing basketball and running track. We didn’t really start talking until after my grandfather on my dad’s side had died in February.

When we started talking more and more and it eventually became flirting. We started hanging out and I really started to like Dean. We had a similar taste in music and food and I found myself becoming a part of his family. I even would text his stepmom, Mary, who I love very much. She treated me as if I was one of her own.

On a Wednesday, after a very hard strength training and swim practice, I had just gotten home when Dean text me.

“Hey, you should come over.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
“But I haven’t showered yet.”
“I don’t care just come over.”

So I walked over there in my black workout tank top and a pair of black shorts. My long blonde hair was wet and tied up into a bun and my pale fair skin was pink with chemical burns. When I got to his house, I knocked on the door and hear barking and the thundering of paws running to the door. There were shouts from inside the house and Dean opened the door a crack and I saw two muzzles of two dogs, one on top of the other. “You’re going to have to squeeze in.” Dean said to me as he was holding back both very strong dogs who were very excited to be meeting someone new.

I squeezed through the door while his dogs pulled to get to me. I closed the door once I made it inside and he released his dog’s collars. I was almost knocked over. One of them was a grey lab, she was the taller of the two. She was a puppy and was jumping all over me and nipping my arm. Her name was Elly. The shorter one, she was white with brown spots. She was a pitbull mix and she was licking my knees and feet as I tried to follow Dean through the house. Her name was Shelby.

Mary greeted me with a happy “Hello” and asked if I would like anything. I said thank you but I’m okay. I followed Dean to the couch and Mary went outside on the back porch. We sat on the couch, he sat next to the arm rest and I plopped down right next to him. We sat facing each other and started talking. We probably talked about everything that night. I told him about all my jaw surgeries and about everyone that hurt me and all my successes. I did most of the talking but he talked a little about his family. His parents are divorced and both remarried. He spent most f his life living with his mother but his dad and step mom recently got custody of him and his younger brother. He likes living with his dad better than his mom.

During one of the stories I was telling him, he took both of my hands as gently as he could and placed them on his chest. I could feel is heartbeat, I’d never felt anything like it before then I realized his heart beat with the same rhythm as mine. I continued talking and he just started at me. He was giving me a look that I had never been given before. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked. “Nothing, no reason.” He replied.
I didn’t understand how someone could look at me like that when I was so disgusting. I was sweaty, with hair was wet and slicked back in a messy yet tight bun and smelling of strong chlorine. That’s when I really started to fall for Dean. He is a really nice and caring guy. He was worthy of my care and love. Dean helped me realize that I can be loved by someone and he helped me be strong and fell comfortable in my own skin. He made me a stronger person.