Li Wei readjusted the strap of his old, navy-blue backpack as he came out into the lively, sun-kissed streets from Yun High School in Yun City. Still at seventeen, he was just about the average height, with a lean physique that hinted at not really having taken to sports but one that was active enough to keep him from looking frail. His hair was a tousled clump of dark brown, falling just above his eyebrows so that it partly obscured a pair of eyes that always seemed to be off elsewhere. His friends enjoyed teasing him about them, calling them "daydreamer's eyes": soft, thoughtful brown, as if he was at every moment peering off at some faraway world.
The sidewalks were as jammed as ever, too. Horns shrieked; vendors hawked their goods, and the smells of hawker food wafted through the air. Today, Li Wei hardly noticed any of it. His mind drifted to the one thing that had occupied his thoughts for months, or perhaps even years: his so-called future.
To him, school felt like some kind of vortex of lessons he couldn't care less about, while ambitious and responsibility lectures coming from his dad boxed him in instead of inspiring him.
His father had another "discussion" planned for tonight, which, nicely said, meant his way of lecturing him about grades and the lack of direction. You're seventeen, Li Wei-you can't afford to just drift forever. The words sounded in his ears, though his dad hadn't said them as yet. Still, somewhere deep inside, he knew his dad wasn't wrong. He just wished he had something, anything which truly called to him.
Lost in thought, Li Wei hardly took any notice of the light changing at the junction. He stopped suddenly, blinking into the realization of how close he'd come to jaywalking. And then he saw her.
Standing across the street, waiting for the light to change, was a girl who looked as though she had come from another world. Her straight black hair cascaded down her shoulder, catching glimpses of the golden afternoon sun to make it shimmer like liquid ink. Delicate but strong, her face was framed by high cheekbones and a delicate jawline, her deep, thoughtful eyes seeming to hold a lot upon their depths. Even from that distance, Li Wei could make out their dark, intense color, like polished obsidian holding secrets he could not begin to guess.
Pressed by the crowd on every side, she alone wore her head high, her eyes straight ahead, her carriage gallant. Somehow she moved among them with that air of. apartness, a stranger touring the city. She wore a white blouse and dark skirt that fell soft about her knees; she was somberly elegant.
Her face composed, almost serene, as if her relation to the world was that of observer rather than participant.
Li Wei caught his breath; never had he seen her-a person who could make this chaotic city seem almost.still. In the next instant, she suddenly turned her head, locking her eyes with his, surging intensity throughout his body that made him miss one beat of the heart.
His eyes met hers, and for a fleeting instant, the world around him melted away. The cacophony of car horns and chattering voices, the calls of the vendors-all receded into the distance, leaving only the two of them in this odd, silent communion. Li Wei didn't know why, but she seemed to hold him with her eyes, as if she knew something he did not, some wordless truth that only she could see.
Then, in a moment, it was over. A green light, and she stepped into the crosswalk, her figure dissolving into the crowd, perhaps she had never existed. Li Wei blinked, feeling an odd emptiness fall in her wake, like he lost something he wasn't aware he'd looked for.
He shook himself back into reality, turned, and walked on home, her image seared into his mind. He could still see the way she'd looked at him-her face calm, yet piercing, the faint, almost mysterious smile that played on her lips just before she turned away. He didn't know her name, her story, or why she felt so different, but he knew one thing: he wanted to see her again.
That night, his father's lecture about his future seemed quieter, the words around him as he nodded absently. Li Wei was elsewhere; his mind replayed that moment on the street corner as he wondered who the girl was and why he couldn't get the feeling that she was somehow special.
For the first time in ages, he fell into a deep sleep with a slight smile on his face, an unusual near-to-hope-like feeling invading his heart. Perhaps-just perhaps-his life was not going to be ordinary all of the time.