He looked at her like she was the sun.

Creative Voices

By Vishwa Parma / Matthew Staff | Edited by Amanda Contessa

Brynn and Emily are sitting together in the library, studying. Brynn looks at Emily, her mouth turns into a pout while she is typing something on her laptop. She always pouts when she is thinking about something.  

“What happened?” Brynn asks Emily.  Emily looks up from her laptop and shakes her head. Brynn tilts her head; they have been best friends since middle school. He knows something is up with her. Emily knows that Brynn knows her all too well for her to not say anything.  

“I don’t know, I don’t get it when they say ‘he looked at her like she was the sun because most people look at the sun like this…” Emily scrunches her face and closes her eyes. She makes the kind of face people make when they look at the sun.  

Brynn smiles.  

“What? I am serious. It should be the other way around, like the moon. I look at the moon with all my love and amazement. But I have only ever squinted angrily at the sun” she says. Brynn scoots closer to Emily’s chair. David, a year senior to them is sitting right in front of them, admires this conversation between his juniors.  

“Hey,” Brynn nudges her shoulder. Emily groans. “Well……it can be stars too. ‘He looked at her like she was a star knowing already her true light died long ago, but she still shines bright to him.’” Emily looks at Brynn and passes a wistful smile. David closes his book, looks at both and says “I am sorry to interrupt, I couldn’t help but…” 

“Yeah?” Emily says.   

David presses his lips and looks at Emily. “He looked at her like she was the sun,” he says.  “In that, he never looked at her except in frustration. He basked in her warmth, he complained when she was gone, but he never looked…” 

Brynn and Emily stare at David.  

David continues “On days she was muted, he complained; on days she was stronger, he hid from her, he never looked at her until she was leaving. Then, in the beauty of the sunset, he wondered how he had never seen her before.” His face drops. Even all the other students at the table listen and look at him in amazement. Emily’s mouth is half-open. 

“Dude,” Brynn says. 

David shuffles in his seat again and flushes.  

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