When They Looked At Each Other (Short Story)

                          When They Looked At Each Other

Jessica stepped up onto the stage and James held his breath. She was, James thought, and not for the first time, that Jessica was really pretty. Her hair was long,curly and brown and she wore a pretty dress covered in flowers. She had a gold bangle on her left wrist, and her shinning blue eyes were like the river when it shone in the sunlight. She looked beautiful. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. 
James was too fixated on Jessica that he didn't notice Mary, Elizabeth, and Lilly looking at him and then looking at each other. They all knew James liked Jessica but, according to Jessica, his feelings were not returned.
There was something about James's staring, that stopped the girls whispering among themselves about it. James's lips were just slightly parted, he would not move his eyes off of Jessica, and the way it looked as if he was hardly breathing made the girls stop themselves from whispering. They looked away from James, as they knew that the moment James was having was to private for them to sit and watch.

Jessica, who was the first to start in the talent show, looked around the audience. She didn't know everybody watching and she suddenly felt nervous. She started to wish that she had never signed up for this. She just felt she would faint at any moment. She wanted to see someone she knew in the audience to make herself feel more comfortable. Everyone was watching her. Waiting for her to start her performance. Her face went pale. Her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for a friendly face. She hoped she didn't look as frightened and scared as she felt. Then, she didn't know why, her eyes rested on James's face. She was about to look away but when he smiled, she couldn't make her eyes move away from his face. She smiled back, even when she tried to tell herself not to. She didn't like James, in the way he liked her and she didn't want to put the wrong message in his head but she couldn't move her eyes away from him.

She took one last deep breath, opened her mouth and started to sing her piece. She looked round the audience but her eyes always seemed to find their way back to James. And each time she looked at him, her heart felt as if it had just missed a beat.

When Jessica had looked at James he couldn't help but smile. His mind at fuzzled and had gone blank. He couldn't think about anything or anyone else but her. And when she started to sing, he was stunned and amazed. She not only looked beautiful but her singing was amazing to. She was like an angel. Like a fairy princess. James's gaze, or stare which would have been a better word for it, was almost pleading. He didn't want to look away. He never wanted to forget the way she looked up there on stage, looking beautiful and singing. 

The words seemed to fly out of Jessica's mouth as she sang. She looked at different members of the audience but her gaze always fell back on James. The smile seemed to be glued to her lips. There was a warm spreading across her body, but she knew it had nothing to do with the heat of the lights of the stage .

When Jessica had finished, she looked directly at James and the world seemed to stop. He just looked at her as if a spell had been cast upon him. They looked at each other and smiled, and they both knew they shared a very special moment with each other just then.