By Sophie Denmark, '20
“Hey-”
Maybe that wasn’t the best start…
“Olivia?”
He attempted to soften his approach with a question, but perhaps “Olivia” was too formal. Her friends called her Liv, but did she consider him a friend? He sure as hell hoped so. They’d been neighbors all their lives, after all, and for all that time she had treated him with nothing but kindness.
She hadn’t been facing him, and now spun delicately on her toes. Like a ballerina, he thought. Kyle admired everything about Olivia Bennett. From her curly penny-copper hair to her tiny dancer feet. Now she was looking down at him with her warm doe eyes and he had to look away. He hated how she had to look down at him.
“Hm?”
“Will you walk-” He choked on the k and had to clear his throat to dislodge the sound. “Will you walk home with me?”
A sweet smile turned up the corners of her small mouth with its single adorable dimple, but it was not the smile he longed to see. It was a smile of commiseration and those big brown eyes with their long black lashes were full of sympathy. Who wouldn’t pity a boy with Down syndrome asking his crush to walk with him?
“Of course, Kyle.”
Olivia did not choke on her consonants.
Maybe that wasn’t the best start…
“Olivia?”
He attempted to soften his approach with a question, but perhaps “Olivia” was too formal. Her friends called her Liv, but did she consider him a friend? He sure as hell hoped so. They’d been neighbors all their lives, after all, and for all that time she had treated him with nothing but kindness.
She hadn’t been facing him, and now spun delicately on her toes. Like a ballerina, he thought. Kyle admired everything about Olivia Bennett. From her curly penny-copper hair to her tiny dancer feet. Now she was looking down at him with her warm doe eyes and he had to look away. He hated how she had to look down at him.
“Hm?”
“Will you walk-” He choked on the k and had to clear his throat to dislodge the sound. “Will you walk home with me?”
A sweet smile turned up the corners of her small mouth with its single adorable dimple, but it was not the smile he longed to see. It was a smile of commiseration and those big brown eyes with their long black lashes were full of sympathy. Who wouldn’t pity a boy with Down syndrome asking his crush to walk with him?
“Of course, Kyle.”
Olivia did not choke on her consonants.