There he was again, standing in the middle of agroup of friends, as always. He ran his hand through his perfect hair and flashedhis perfect smile, the one that shows off every one of his sparkling white teeth.He caught sight of me gazing at him and gave his usualeyebrows-raised-to-the-hairline acknowledgment. I turned away, blushing.

He was so perfect, so cute, so smart. Me? I was just your average girlwith average looks and an average brain. But I knew we were supposed to betogether. We were both teenagers stuck in a boring rut, searching for a means ofescape.

I watched him again, his gaze now directed at that other girl,the one with the amazing looks and brain, the complete opposite of me. He hadthat puppy-dog look in his eyes. Oh, how I longed for the day when that lookwould be for me! He reached out to touch her, but she flinched and knocked hishands away. How could she treat him like that? I would have taken his hands in myown and held him, then together we would escape from this cruel, cruel world...

Someday I'll save you, I vowed. Someday I'll show you how much we needeach other. We're so alike; we both have yet to discover ourselves, living a lifesomeone else has chosen. I'll teach you there's more to life than the love of ashallow girl. There's more - like me and the way you feel hearing the leaveslaugh when tickled by the wind, the way the birds fly and the rainfalls.

"Someday ..." I mutter. "If only I were able tospeak two words when I see you."

It wasn't that I didn't know what tosay. How many times had I stood in front of the mirror practicing the exactwords? But when I was standing a few feet from him, inhaling the strength of thecitrusy cologne he doused himself with every morning, my mind turned into a wasteof empty space, and I knew my words would deceive my heart.

It's strangehow one human being could have so much power over me; all he had to do was glancemy way to turn my brain to mush, my legs to jelly and my mouth to ice. If only hecould read my mind, he'd know exactly what I wanted to say. But, magical as hewas, he couldn't.

I blinked back the tears as I watched him walk awaywith the other girl. I wanted to grab him, shake him, do anything that would makehim wake up and realize what a fake she was. Her love was untrue. My love wasbeautiful, pure, innocent and unmaterialistic.

It doesn't matter, though,I thought, dejectedly. Nothing mattered. Except him ...

Maybe I can't bewith him now, but if two people are truly meant to be together, they will besomeday, somehow, no matter what. So I guess it's true what they say - it'sbetter to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I'm glad I havehad the chance to experience something so beautiful and special. When he finallyunderstands how genuine it is to love, I'll be waiting with open arms.