First Impressions

How you present yourself to people upon meeting can influence the way they think about you for a long time.

I splash through the puddles, sending drops of water flying against my legs, where they drip back down into my boots and squelch in my socks. There’s a loud crack of thunder, pushing me faster toward the shelter I can see ahead. Soaking wet and panting I reach the shelter and step out of the heavy rain. My jacket’s drenched and only making me colder, so I shrug it off and wring out the excess water before draping lightly around my shoulders again. I gradually catch my breath, leaning against the chilly cement wall. The rain is pounding on the flimsy tin roof above my head and doesn’t sound as though it’s going to stop any time soon. I sink down to the ground and pull my knees against my chest, and start to remove my shoes. I’m in the middle of shaking out my sopping socks when I hear footsteps hammering towards me. Probably someone else looking for cover. I lay the socks on the ground next to me, hoping that they’ll dry some by the time the rain stops and I have to make my way home. The footsteps get closer, and I look up to see a figure appearing in front of me.

He’s young, though still older than me; I’d say sixteen, tops. There’s raindrops gleaming in his dark brown hair and slipping down his cheeks, gathering behind long, full lashes. He carries his jacket over his arm, so it’s not nearly as wet as mine. He’s wearing designer jeans and converse sneakers with a grey V-neck top that fits him well; moulding to his wide shoulders and muscled chest.

Spotting me huddled into the wall, he produces an easy smile. “Hi, I’m Jeremy,” he says. Jeremy seems to look me over and chuckle. Bedraggled and wet, I must be quite a sight.  I smile back tightly �" I don’t appreciate the laugh at my appearance �" and tell him my name is Anna. “Well, Anna, I think we’re going to be stuck here a while together.” As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. The rain wasn’t showing signs of letting up any time soon. I sigh, and Jeremy sits down next to me. And I mean right next to me �" our arms were pressed right up against each other, though there had to have been at least another metre and a half of wall on his other side. I wasn’t overly impressed with this; Jeremy seemed to come off as over-confident and kind of obnoxious. I reminded myself that I’d only learned the guy’s name thirty seconds ago, so maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. A little voice popped up, telling me that if I had only met him thirty seconds ago, what was he doing invading my personal space? I wondered what his first impression of me was.

Author's Note

The reason my writing often is never finished, is because I always feel as though I've rushed the story a bit. I feel that way with this story, though I think if I gave it a shot, re-wrote it and got some advice from excellent writers like yourselves, it could go somewhere. :) xox

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

This one doesn't seemed rushed and yeah first impressions are imnportant and once we get to know a person, we sometims find out we're wring. I had eperience. :P A nice short story tat brings out the moral well.