The First Time They Met
By C.C. Black

     She still remembered the first time they met.

     The girl stood on the side of the road, her
backpack and lunchbag next to her in the bushes.  She
was waving frantically, trying to get even one of the
drivers on the busy road to stop.  She was just about 
to jump into traffic to stop it, when she noticed a
driver slowing after he’d passed her.  He’d pulled 
over to the side of the road, and was getting out.  
As he walked toward her, she ran to meet him.  
“Please, sir, I found a wounded dog by the side of 
the road!  You have to help me!  I don’t know how 
much longer he’ll hold on!”
     The man stared at her.  “A dog?  You stopped me 
for a dog?  Forget it.  I have more important things 
to do.”  He turned to walk away.
     She stomped her foot on the asphalt.  “How can 
you say such a thing?!  How can you leave another 
living creature to die?!”  Her braids whipped around 
her head as a sudden wind blew up.
     He turned around and looked at her coldly, red 
hair blowing in the wind, while she stood, defiant. 
Finally, he looked hassled and sighed.  “All right. 
I’ll help.”

     He still remembered the first time they met.

     “I stopped, because the girl looked like she 
might be stranded and need a ride.  I guess it was 
the pigtails.  They reminded me so much of...  Well,
anyway, I decided it wouldn’t be too bad if I drove 
her somewhere, just because she looked like she was
lost, waving her arms as if she thought someone would
actually stop.  So I pulled onto the side of the road
and got out to help her.  She came running up to me,
frantic, and told me about this dog.  A dog.  Who’d 
been hit by a car.  I thought she was joking, then I
realized she was serious.  Well, I wasn’t going to 
help a stupid dog, so I told her so and turned to walk
away.
     “She did the most incredible thing.  Instead of
bursting into noisy tears, like I thought she would 
do, she did something completely different.  She 
stomped her foot and screamed at me.  Yes, screamed at
me.  She was furious that I would just leave a wounded
animal to die like that.  I almost turned around and
told her if she felt so strongly about it, I would put
it out of its misery.  In fact, I turned around, about
to tell her just that, when something stopped me.
     “Those eyes.
     “Those eyes... they were... amazing.  They were 
a turmoil of emotions, sadness and hate and fear and
anger and so many others.  They were so... 
expressive.  They reminded me of... Well, I don’t 
know why, but after seeing those eyes, something in me
couldn’t say no.  So I said yes instead.”

     She had hated him when they first met.

     The girl sat in the backseat of the car, petting
the poor dog’s head as they drove to the nearest
veterinary hospital.  The animal was feverish, but it
understood that she was helping it, and lay still as 
she patted it soothingly.  She glared at the back of 
the young man’s head, hating him for refusing her, 
even if he had consented after that.  She hated the 
way he looked so harassed right now, hated how he 
kept waiting for other cars to go in front of him,
instead of rushing to the hospital.  Hated the way he
dressed.  Hated the way he spoke.  Just hated him.

     He hadn’t liked her at all when they first met.

     “I remember the drive to the hospital.  The 
little witch had insisted we couldn’t wait for a 
truck or anything, we had to go right then.  I really
didn’t want to get my car covered in dog blood, but I
had no choice, with the way she kept glaring at me.  
She glared at me during the entire trip, with those
eyes.  I could tell she wasn’t happy with the way I 
was dawdling.  I was actually hoping the dog would die
and I could get rid of both of them, but the thing was
too stubborn to die.  And on top of that, the thing
didn’t even struggle, just let her pet it, like she 
was the most innocent little saint in the world!  
Well, that made me slightly pissed.”

     She had been shocked by him when they first met.

     The girl rushed into the hospital, begging the 
desk receptionist to call a vet in right away.  The
receptionist obeyed, and the vet helped her and the
young man carry the dog in.
     The vet pursed his lips.  “Hmm...  This is bad.  
It will require quite a bit of treatment, and I need 
to be paid before I can do anything.”
     The girl checked her pockets, then looked at 
the doctor.  “I don’t have any money...”
     The vet sighed.  “Then I’m afraid we’ll have to
euthanize this animal.”
     Before she could protest, the young man held up 
a check, filled out except for the monetary value.  
“Put in the correct amount of money.  I’ll pay for
everything.”

     He had shocked her the first time they met.

     “When we got to the hospital, the imp rushed in
like her best friend was dying, and practically 
begged the receptionist to call in a vet ASAP.  The
receptionist seemed like a nice woman, and did as she
was asked right away.  The vet came in, and I helped 
the two carry the dog into a treatment room.
     “When the vet looked at the dog, he said it was
badly hurt, and would need a lot of work.  But, he
needed some money before he could do anything.  She
searched her pockets.
     “I don’t know why, but her face... when she
realized she had no money, the look on her face 
bothered me.  A lot.
     “She told the vet she didn’t have money, and he
sighed and said he’d have to put the dog down.
     “It was that look that made me do it.  That look
that made me fill out the check and give it to him.  
I told him he just needed to put the monetary amount 
in, and I’d pay for it all.
     “I must have been insane.”

     She hadn’t asked him his name, the first time 
they met.

     The girl sat in the waiting room while they 
fixed up the dog.  She sat nervously, not bothering 
to read any of the magazines that were lying around. 
Every few minutes she would look over at the young 
man, and he would be reading something or other, as 
if he didn’t even care that the poor dog was hurt.
     But if he didn’t care, why did he pay for it 
all?  The girl was confused, and more than a little
shocked.  This from a man that had almost left the 
dog to die!

     He hadn’t asked her name, the first time they 
met.

     “It was an uneasy time, right then.  We sat 
about three seats apart, she and I.  She just sat, 
every so often looking at me, with this look of utter
confusion and shock on her face.  I pretended to 
read, while I watched her.  And I thought about why 
the hell I’d paid for the dog.  I couldn’t figure out
how that one look made me want to pay for the dog.”

     She had been grateful to him, the first time 
they met.

     The girl sat straight up in her seat as the vet
came out of the back room.  She was almost afraid to
hear what had happened, but she knew she had to.  “Is
the dog okay?”
     The vet sighed, and her heart tightened in her
chest.  Then he smiled.  “The dog is fine.  Thanks to
you finding him, he’ll make a full recovery.”
     She smiled, a smile of such warm relief that the
vet couldn’t help but smile wider in return.  “Oh, 
thank you, doctor.  Thank you!”  With the last thank
you, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around the 
vet, unable to control the happiness she felt.

     He had been infected by her, the first time they
met.

     “When the vet came out to give the verdict, I 
could almost feel her stiffen.  She sat straight up,
like there was an iron rod attached to her spine.  I
could feel the atmosphere change from worried to 
scared.
     “When the vet sighed, I almost dropped my 
magazine.  I could almost hear the cry of anguish 
that was fighting to escape her lips.  Then, when he
smiled, I felt the air turn from fear to absolute
happiness.
     “She beamed at him, thanked him, then hugged 
him, obviously ecstatic.  I almost felt jealous... 
then I wondered why.”

     She had admired him, the first time they met.

     The girl listened carefully as the vet listed
instructions for her, when she could visit the dog 
and such, but when he got to picking it up, her face
clouded over.  “Oh, I can’t keep it...  My foster 
mother hates dogs...  She’ll get mad at me for being
late because of one...”
     The vet looked worried.  “Well, we can’t keep it
here.  Boarding costs money, and while I’m sure your
friend is willing to pay as much as he has, I don’t
think he’d want any more money on the tab.”
     As she turned to look at him, he held up his 
hand.  “I’ll come and get the dog, when it’s ready.”

     He had admired her, the first time they met.

     “When the vet told us about when we could visit 
and when to come get it, her face fell.  I could 
sense the absolute pain she felt as she told us her
foster mother hated dogs.  Obviously, from the look 
on her face, her foster mother hated her, too.  I
felt... kinda bad for the little imp.
     “When the vet made the comment about my tab, I 
had to agree with him.  I could barely afford what I
was already paying for, and there was no way I could
pay for boarding.  However, there was one thing I 
could pay for.
     “The look on her face when I said I’d get the 
dog was amazing.  It was radiant, and beautiful, and
full of admiration for me.  I can’t say, at that 
point, that I admired her any less.”

     She had been surprised by him, the first time 
they met.

     The girl carefully looked the young man over as 
he drove her home.  He wasn’t as hateful as she’d
originally thought.  He was only being polite when he
waited for people.  And the way he talked wasn’t
disrespectful, it was just offhand.  She opened her
mouth, then closed it again, not sure what to say.  
Then she opened it again.  “Why did you do that?”
     He looked over at her, and smiled, which she 
hadn’t seen him done since she first saw him.  
“Because of you.”
     She puzzled over this for the rest of the ride.

     He had been amazed by her, the first time they 
met.

     “I drove her home, after all that.  She told me
where she lived, and I drove her.  I could feel her
looking me over, as if she hadn’t really seen me 
before.  It was amazing, how embarrassed I felt.  I 
felt like she must have noticed that my shirt wasn’t
tucked in and one of my shoelaces was untied.  I 
thought it must’ve been impossible for her not to notice.
     “Then she asked me why I did it.  I thought it 
had been obvious, but apparently it hadn’t.  So I 
turned to her and smiled.  I told her it was because 
of her.
     “She looked so confused after I said that, like 
it wouldn’t have occurred to her in a million years 
that she had captured my heart.”

     She had cried, when they first met.

     The girl fought to hold back tears as her foster
mother yelled at her in front of the young man.  She
couldn’t cry in front of him, not after everything 
he’d done for her, but it felt so painful, as her 
mother yelled louder and louder, and she couldn’t do
anything.
     Suddenly, the yelling stopped.  She looked up,
surprised. Then she looked around, not seeing her 
mother anywhere.  Then she realized that the 
previously open closet door was closed, and there 
were muffled yells coming from it.  She looked over 
at the young man.
     He was glaring at the closet, but when he noticed
her looking at him, his face relaxed slightly.  “Come
on, we’re going.”
     At first she didn’t understand what he meant, 
then she realized it, and she couldn’t stop the tears
as she ran to him and hugged him tightly around the
neck.

     He had saved her, when they first met.

     “I couldn’t believe that woman.  I couldn’t 
believe it.  She wouldn’t stop yelling at the little
imp, wouldn’t stop berating her about not getting 
home on time and riding with a stranger and having 
blood on her clothes.
     “The girl was obviously trying very hard not to
cry, but the more she did the louder the berating got,
until I couldn’t stand it anymore.  In less than five
seconds, I swept the woman up, threw her into the
closet, closed the door and jammed it.
     “I will never forget the look on her face when I
told her we were going.  And I will never forget that
hug.”

     She had gone with him, the first time they met.

     The girl sat nervously in the second waiting 
room that day, wondering how many times she would be 
in this stupid office, and how long she would be
shuffled from house to house as a foster child.  She 
was almost 18.  She was almost old enough to be free. 
And they treated her like a child anyway.
     For a brief while, she’d thought she was going 
to live with the young man.  He had said they were
going, and she’d just assumed he meant home.  She 
hadn’t thought he’d drag her back to this office.
     She looked up as he walked out of the inner 
room.  She wanted to hate him again.
     He sat down next to her, looking calm and 
content.  Then he looked at her.  “They’re busy 
getting the machine to finish processing the papers.”
     She glared at him.  “I know what they’re doing. 
And I know I’m supposed to wait until someone comes 
to pick me up.”
     He looked back at her, confused.  “Pick you up?  
I thought you understood.  I’m taking you home.”  He
smiled as her eyes widened in shock.  “I’m adopting 
you as my little sister.”
     For the second time that day, she couldn’t stop 
the sobs as she hugged him.

     He had taken her, the first time they met.

     “It took a while for them to believe that I was
really adopting her, and even longer to figure out 
how to make the papers indicate I adopted her as a
sister, not a daughter.  When I finally got out, she 
had this look, like a trapped, angry bear.  She glared
at me as I sat down, glared at me while I told her 
that they were finishing the paperwork.
     “Then she said something that caught me off-
guard.  She snapped that she knew the papers were 
being processed, and she now had to wait to be picked
up.  I was very confused as I looked at her.  I 
realized she had thought I was going to send her to
another foster home.  Then I told her I was going to
take her home, and I grinned as she looked at me,
shocked.
     “When I told her I was adopting her as my 
sister, the flood erupted.”

     She had loved him, the first time they met.

     The girl sighed contentedly as she leaned 
against her older brother’s shoulder.  They were going
to pick up their dog, and she had never felt any
happier.

     He had loved her, the first time they met.

     “And that’s what happened.  We learned to live 
with each other as we went along.  She reminded me so
much of my real sister.  It made me feel alive again.
     “And you know, we still have that dog.”


Fin