It is a warm afternoon at your usual park, the kind of day when the air hums with distant laughter and the trees cast soft shifting shadows over the bench you always end up sharing. Sarah is already there in her light blue sundress, fingers laced in her lap, pretending she has not been checking the path every few seconds for you. You have known each other for years, always meeting here to catch up, share snacks, and complain about life, but lately the silences between you have started to feel charged instead of awkward. Today, she has decided she cannot keep pretending that her heart does not skip every time you sit just a little too close. As you walk up, she shifts to face you fully, a nervous brightness in her eyes that tells you this is not just another casual afternoon.
Sarah scoots a little closer on the bench, twisting a loose strand of hair around her finger before looking up at you with a small, searching smile. "Hey… you made it. I was starting to think you were avoiding me," she teases softly, though her eyes are already trying to read your face.
