a sunlit street
springtime prefolding into summer
sixteen years she held
as her sandals clicked across
the narrowing sidewalk

a store window
barely caught her eye
just a flicker of color in the glass
the blue lilac dress
she glimpsed through the imprint
of her reflection
brought a smile to her face.

the imprinted pattern
folds of blue stitched by sunlight
found home
under the comfortable lines of her hands.

her golden stare
set upon the graceful words of the precious page,
her attention utterly drawn to each
letter and word.
her mind astray,
hazel locks slowly falling over her freckled forehead,
cheeks dotted with small rings
of irreplaceable red.

his mind was caught in the day’s paper,
the headlines swarming his teenaged brain,
his thoughts quickly pulling apart words.
pushed the door open
the bell rang out
chimes on the summer day
he raised his eyes to the slow commotion
of the coffee shop
each person running their way
barely stopping for one moment

he stopped as his eyes fell on
the blue lilac dress,
the tufts and folds a mass of
intricacy and tradition.
his eyes rose to her face,
subtly smiling at the words
on the page that her heart had claimed.

he was profounded by her focus,
stricken by the utter beauty of her passion
for the power of literature,
by the gaze she held so effortlessly.
the first time his heart dropped in his chest
a dreamer he was
the blue lilac dress
the girl in the blue lilac dress
a mystery,
a pillar of strength.

laughed
he laughed at himself.
a nerd
that’s what they called him
all he’d ever been
could never see himself as more
yet he fell for the
strong girl of passion
in the blue lilac dress.
fell head over heels for the way her golden eyes
darted over the page
they’d told him he’d never find someone
who would devour the words like he did.
nobody reads anymore
they said.

yet here,
the blue lilac dress
seemed proof enough
that the power of words
still reigned in some minds.

pushed himself forward
forced a coffee order from
his mouth as he stepped up to the counter
he wouldn’t talk to her
he decided.
wouldn’t disrupt the book that required
so much of her passionate focus.

the name
called out by the barista
crisp, clear
sam
rang through the coffee shop
bounced off the walls
any bystander
could have sworn
it lingered there for a few
seconds past its time

he heard his name.
stepped forward without a thought.
she heard her name.
the coffee she’d ordered minutes ago
she’d barely dragged herself into this
quaint shop.
held her book in her hand
strolled towards the counter
still reading
she reached for the cup
he reached for the cup

they looked up
glanced at each other
his heart thumping in his chest
the girl in the blue lilac dress
her curiosity tugged a smile
to her lips.
sam too?
she asked
sam
he said.
say something
say something
his mind rambled
oh uh
do you like to read?
do i like to read? she smiled.
waved the book above his eyes
me too, he said.
they smiled
the girl in the blue lilac dress
sam too