"So do you think that Sunshine Golden Boy of yours is from around here?" Alya brought up the topic, looking around in her purse.

We had just parked outside the mall, which was such a lucky find, since we never expected that the mall would be so packed in a Monday afternoon. The last thing that I wanted to do was to bump into people who used to know me, and probably wonder why I shot back up here again after leaving for New York. I'd like to spare them the sad story of my solitude there. "Could you check the front compartment for me? And Rose, check the pockets behind the seats?"

I rummaged through the contents of the compartment, going over three and a half pairs of sunglasses, several parking tickets and a half stick of gum, despite the fact that I had absolutely no clue of what I was looking for. Rose patted the backs of the seats, but to no avail.

My friends just couldn't get over the fact about the cute boy I met on the plane. I mean, it was a coincidental non-story, but the thing about best friends is that they make me feel like even my smallest insignificant stories sound like celebrity gossip.

Rose then said, "Nothing here, Alya. You must've left it at home."

"I swear I never do," Alya retorted.

"What exactly are we looking for?" I asked.

"Alya's credit card. We were just talking about it," Juleka said. "Didn't you-"

"Maybe your head got a bit more bumped than you might have expected," Alya shrugged.

Dr. Moreau did mention that I may have some memory lapses from time to time. It was quite normal, and it should go away as my head heals. It's just the first time I've ever really forgotten something so recent as a minute.

"So, about that boy...?" Alya asked again.

"I have no clue. I mean, I wish I had at least the slightest idea," I shrugged with a deep sigh. "He probably got fixed up somewhere else, or maybe he's already out and about with his drumsticks and all."

"Oh, he's a drummer?" Rose clasped her hands together. "That is so romantic!"

"What's so romantic about a drummer?" Juleka asked.

"I don't know, but I know when they're around 'cause I know the sound of their heart," Rose replied. "And it's such a beautiful song."

"Huh..." Alya smirked. "Never seen this side of you, Rose— this drummer-infatuated side."

"Isn't Rose just infatuated with everything?" Juleka snickered and Rose let out a light huff with her blushing cheeks.

After staying and chatting inside the car for nearly twenty minutes, the girls and I finally stepped out into the parking lot. Alya did find her credit card in her purse, so we headed up for the top floor to the cinemas.

"Yeah, well, how do we send out a massive search party, if all you have is a generic tall and cute description? How tall was he? Big eyes, what?" Alya asked once more.

"I don't know," I groaned. "I was too busy hanging onto my life to notice."

"So, what are we watching?" Alya asked, turning to Juleka and Rose, whose decisions would always tend to clash.

"There's that new screamer movie." Juleka pointed to a grim movie poster with a girl with bloodshot eyes.

"Or that romantic one." Rose tilted her head towards a bright blue poster that looked like one of those Miss Dior advertisements.

While they were busy debating on which to watch, I walked on over the snack area. I haven't really eaten since the lunch period, so I was definitely famished. Approaching the counter, I looked at the LCD menu that they had on the walls. And I saw him.

A hundred-watt smile.

Tall. Skinny.

The boy from the plane.

And he's looking right at me.

And before I could stop myself, I was skimming through the crowd towards him. He was behind the snack counter, but he didn't seem to be manning the register.

A big smile spread across my face as I greeted him, "Hey! Hi again. Remember me?"

"Oh, it's you!" His face lit up with his signature flashy smile. I missed that. I missed him, his face. Everything.

That warm, giddy feeling somersaults into my stomach again. Where does he learn how to smile like that? I mean, it looks absolutely breathtaking for him, but on anybody else, it would look goofy.

He adjusted the red cap on his head, with the cinema's logo on it, as for the rest of his aproned uniform.

Underneath the broad daylight with some LED movie posters, I saw his face in a better light. He really did have golden honey blonde hair, and his eyes were effervescent green, just how I imagined I would find him again. He was still smiling at me as I had a loss for words.

"Are you alright? I mean, you disappeared after the crash, and you weren't at the hospital. I was... looking for you," I managed to say.

His green eyes lit up with a twinkle. "You were?"

I immediately felt myself turning into a bright red tomato.

"Well, kinda. I mean, it wasn't me, exactly, but my nurse—" For god's sake, Marinette. A diversion, quick! "So you work here?"

He looked down at his apron with the cinema logo, then back up at me. "How awkward would it be if I didn't and I was wearing this?"

I laughed. Right. Stupid, Marinette. "It seems like a fun place to work. Well, except for Film Frenzy Fridays, I suppose," I said as someone's shoulder rammed into me.

"God, sorry!" The person said. I turned around to see a girl who seemed to be a couple of years younger than I was. She had cropped blonde hair, and well, two massive bags of the ultra-mega-super-de-duper popcorn and two drinks on her hip. No wonder she couldn't see where she was heading.

"It's fine," I said, about to turn away from her, when the girl's expression suddenly changes, like she was surprised, or maybe confused.

"Hey... umm..." She said. She was now looking at me that I could only describe as nosy and creepy. I wanted to go back talking to Sunshine Boy, who was also witnessing this.

"Am I missing something?" I asked with a scoff because there was no other reason for her to be standing there. It seemed to have jolted her, as she blinked and shook her head.

"Nope, I... um... you're fine. Sorry," she said, adjusting her hold on the bags. She hesitated for another moment, then said, "Okay... um, bye?" The girl scooted over to her friends who were just in front of the doors. She whispered something to them, then her entire crew suddenly darted their eyes towards me. I took a second glance at myself. I didn't have anything on my shirt, and my face was all clear from ketchup stains.

"That was weird," I said, turning back to him as a lady, who was wearing the same cap and apron ensemble as he was, reached for a bag of Cheetos in front of him. She glanced up at me. "What did you say, hon?" She asked, giving me a look that was both confused and impatient.

"Uh, nothing," I said, waiting for her to realize that I wasn't really talking to her.

She paused for a moment, then narrowed her eyes at me and went back to work. Was I disturbing Sunshine Boy from his work?

He was looking at Juleka and Alya, who seemed to be having a heated conversation about who was the best Power Ranger, now that they were in front of the Coming Soon section of the posters.

"Those are my friends," I laughed. "I missed them so much while I was gone."

He smiled again. I swear, if his smile was a drug, I would bathe in it. I found myself staring at him again, and he threw on an adorable smirk.

"Are you always this dazed?" He asked, a laugh escaping his lips.

"Not exactly." Coming back to my senses, I held out my hand. "I'm—" I started to introduce myself, but before I could even finish, someone was grabbing my arm and dragging me across the cinema's lobby.

"Alya! Why on earth are you yanking me?"

"And why are you spacing out in the corner of the lobby when you were supposed to be getting us the snacks? We were just about to enter the movies without you." We stop in front of the line where the tickets were being taken. "I know you aren't completely back to yourself, and you probably got your brain still swimming in soup, but I swear it's like you're nearly losing yourself back there."

"I found him!" I said, ignoring her previous statements. "Smiling slash Sunshine Boy! I just saw him."

She finally released her tight grip on my wrist. "So, you saw him here? Why would he be here? Did you talk to him?"

I nodded, and I felt my cheeks flush again as a smile spread across my face. "Not for long, but yeah."

"So, like, what's his name? Did you get his number?!"

"I was getting to it when someone dragged me away," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"But I didn't even see him," Alya sulked, her eyebrows furrowing. "Where is he?"

I looked back across the space, but there was a sea of heads and bodies in the way. "He's all the way over there at the snack area."

"We decided to go with that new Anime movie, and it sounds really nice, but like, we can blow it off to chat him up, if you want to," Alya nudged my shoulder.

I gave a deep, suffering sigh. "No, let's see the movie." The lady at the counter seemed like his boss, and she wasn't entirely psyched to see me hanging around. I didn't want Sunshine Boy to get in trouble, but I acted like I was about to do the ultimate sacrifice for Alya's benefit. "The things I do for you."

She rolled her eyes with another sigh, "Oh, Mari. The things I do for you. You have no idea."

We met Juleka and Rose about three steps away from the turnstiles, and the three of them spent no time to waste on proceeding with their expectations of the movie they chose. I was still mildly annoyed that I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to Sunshine Boy. Not to mention find out his name.

Unfortunately, we were cursed to minute-long conversations. For the first, an airplane tore us apart, and for the second, Alya dragged me across the lobby. But still, I was relieved that he was okay. And the fact that he lived around here meant that I might have a pretty good chance of seeing him again.

I put today's conversation back on rewind in my head.

I still can't get over his smile. The way it starts so slowly, and then stretches towards his cheeks, and then his green eyes adds to the playful aura. Maybe I am losing my mind over this boy, I mean, I'm even wondering how does the twitch of lip corners turn into his kind of smile that makes my stomach do a backflip combo?

Am I so starved for male attention, as Alya claimed, that I overreact and over think every time a boy smiles at me?

As we pass through the turnstiles, and the three of them head through the double doors first, I realized that it isn't that I was desperate, or lame, or lovesick.

It was because... his smile makes me feel something that I have never felt before.