Train rides have always calmed me down. The soft vibrating under my feet, mixed with the swoosh sound the train creates when driving is like a soft melody to my ears; and watching the many different people ride the train has somehow become a hobby of mine over the years.

It's interesting to see some people walk around with their eyelids half closed while others - usually children - are full of adrenaline, jumping around and teasing each other. Watching girls giggle while typing something in their cellphone makes me wonder what they are doing; hearing bits of conversation has me smile at how great their weekend was. Sometimes, though, simply watching people as they listen to music is also very amusing.

However, on a certain day, I was not thrilled to ride the train. My knee hurt a lot because I had fallen the day before during P.E. and the train was as usual filled. When I took a step forward, pain shot through my leg, and I bit my lower lips. The people around me were pushing like every other morning

I tugged at my scarf to hide my pain as I entered the train and looked for a seat. As expected, no seat was available and just as I wanted to turn around and look for something to grab, I felt someone bump into me.

Involuntarily, I stepped forward and once again my face contorted in pain as my knee hit the suitcase of the person in front of me. I pressed my lips together.

Maybe it would have been better to have taken painkillers with me.

I looked up to distract myself from the pain, and my eyes were met with a pair of chocolate brown orbs, halfway hidden behind wavy strands of hair, that were of a lighter, slightly reddish brown. Still, the vibrancy of those eyes was very evident.

Half of the boy's face was hidden behind his colorful scarf, but his cheeks were visible, so was the rosy skin.

As though I'd been cast under a spell, I continued to gaze at those captivating eyes for the following minutes – and maybe I would have done that for the whole train ride. However as the train made an abrupt stop, my knee once again hit the suitcase from earlier, snapping me out of the daze. The impact was really strong, causing me to press my lips into a thin line in pain.

When my eyes went back to the boy, I noticed that he was looking at me. Just as I wanted to turn away, he nodded at me, giving me questioning look. He reached out his hand and motioned to the seat he was sitting on, gaze still locked with mine.

He was offering me his seat.

I immediately understood and nodded back, giving him a thankful smile. Slowly, I made my way to the seat, avoiding to bump into people – luckily there wasn't a big distance between us. When he stood up, I realized that he was quite tall, and glanced up at him. From close, the color of his eyes was even warmer.

Sitting down, I softly said, "Thanks." When I looked up again, I could see his eyes shining and crinkling - he was smiling.

For the next minutes, I continued to occasionally glance at him. Had he recently begun using this train? I didn't remember seeing him before.

Three stops before mine though, he exited, and I was left with the image of his vibrant eyes and the colorful scarf right in front of my inner-eye.

-

The next day I rode the train, I unconsciously craned my neck to look for the boy in the mass of people. But I didn't see him.