Inevitably Visible

The Day I Met Ryder Smith

**Elena's POV**

I met Ryder last year. I remember everything from that day. It was a winter day and I had decided to wander around the mall. It wasn't long after I got tired of walking in my favorite blue shoes. I sat down in the parking lot outside of Barnes and Nobles. I pulled out my phone and started texting my best friend Michaela. I looked up after I heard footsteps coming from the bookstore. That's when I saw him.

Ryder. He was wearing a leather jacket, jeans and converse. He had beautiful brown eyes. His hair short, just long enough to reach his neck. He had an arm full of books he had purchased from the store. Our eyes locked and in that moment it felt as though I had never seen anyone more perfect than him. It was weird to me that someone like him had noticed me. I was usually invisible to everyone. But Ryder, he noticed me.

He made his way over to me. He sat next to me and said "Hi, my name's Ryder. I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I just saw you here and I couldn't leave without at least getting your name." My thoughts were all over the place. You, bothering me? Like that's possible! I mean c'mon seriously you're- "You don't have to tell me. I can see you don't want to talk." He began to get up until she said "ELENA! My name's Elena." There was an awkward pause until Ryder finally turned back around and said "Alright, Elena, are you up for a little trip to the mall? I mean, we don't have to buy anything. We can just walk around and talk. Get to know each other better." I couldn't help but smile like the biggest idiot in the world as I said "Sure, yeah I'd love that."