I was slaving away in Shoprite a few days ago when something out of the ordinary happened. This guy who works there came on my line to cash his paycheck, and I told him to go to another register because I was on express and technically not allowed to take checks. He went on the register next to me, and we began to have a little polite conversation. A few months back, I had been doing my math homework while on break, and asked him if he knew anything about precalculus. He didn't, but he tried his best to help me. Another day I saw him walking around the store with a cowboy hat on. He worked in produce, and he intrigued me.

Anyway, the day I was talking to him, he was wearing these aviators, and I told him they were hot. He said it was his last day because he had a summer job working as a garbage man, and I interjected that I had always wanted to ride on the back of a garbage truck. Then he said good bye and left, and I continued scanning.

A few minutes later, I looked up to find him standing there, looking unsurely at me as if he had something to say. Let me stop and describe him. He is young, not much older than me, has reddish hair and is not unattractive. He is lean and puts grapes into packages. He is mysterious; the type of person, who if you saw on the street, you'd want to stop and talk to him. There he was, just standing there, and then he opened his mouth.

"By the way, I always thought you were cute."

And then he left. I'll never see him again, because when he comes back in the fall, I'll be in college. I don't know his name or where he's from or anything about him. But he captured me. Oh man. I have been fanasizing about him for two days straight. So vague. So elusive. How I want to call him. But I can't, and I'm kicking myself for not saying anything right before he left. This could have been the perfect man who I have just let slip through my fingers. I hate myself. Putting my faith in all these clowns, then when someone good comes along I just watch him walk right through the automatic door. I always had this feeling about him. It was a good one, and it was subtle, but it was there and I was right. I'll never forgive myself for this.