Austin’s POV-
It was Monday afternoon and Pandora was surely home from school by now. I tried forgetting about her since she said she didn’t wanna see me again, but something about her stuck with me. I needed to see her again and show her that I was a good guy. I grabbed the keys to my car and got in the driver’s side, backing out of my driveway. I drove down the highway and parked in front of Pandora’s house; the real one. I shut off my car, walked up to her front door and knocked.
“Pandora, it’s Austin!” I shouted. “Are you home?” I looked through the door window but could only see a little bit because of a lace curtain. I squinted my eyes and looked through the holes of the lace, deciphering whether or not she was home. I heard a little noise come from the other side of the door. I pressed my ear against the cool wood and strained to hear any little noise. I heard the noise once more and realized that it sounded like someone was crying. I stood on my tippy toes and peered in the window once more, seeing a pair of black sneakers sticking out. Pandora was trying to hide from me.
“Pandora, I know you’re in there! I can see you!” still no answer. “Please let me in… I’m not going to hurt you.” I rest my forehead against the glass and kept my eyes on the shoes. She pulled her knees in tighter to her chest, trying to hide her shoes from my view. “Why don’t you want to talk to me? I didn’t give you a reason to distrust me, did I?”
“Please leave Austin…” her voice begged from the other side of the door. She sounded weak.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Maybe I can help.”
“Please just go back home Austin. I don’t want your help.”
“Why must you be so stubborn,” I whispered, sighing. I turned around and looked around the street, wondering what to do now.

---

Pandora’s POV-
I sat on the other side of the door, waiting for Austin to leave. Finally it was quiet. Maybe he left. I wiped my wet cheeks off on my sweater sleeve and stood up on my knees, peeking over the bottom edge of the window. Austin was digging around in his car with his back turned to me. What was he getting? As soon as he slammed the car door shut and started walking back up to my front door, I turned around and sat down on the hardwood floor; hugging my knees to my chest. I heard his footsteps on the other side of the door for a moment before everything fell silent. Was he still out there? I was afraid to look. I looked down at my black painted toenails and squeezed my eyes shut, letting the rest of the warm tears fall down my cheeks. Something small slid across the floor. Should I look? I sighed and opened my eyes to see a little folded up piece of paper lying next to me. I straightened my back and turned to look out the window. Austin sat up against the other side of the door with his legs stretched out in front of him. Why couldn’t he just leave? I rolled my eyes and grabbed the piece of lined paper, slowly unfolding it. I read what Austin had written in his chicken scratch writing.
‘Are you okay?’ I stared at the words for a little while. Austin seemed to have no problem waiting for my response. I grabbed my backpack that was lying beside me and dug around for a pencil. I took one from my pencil case and scribbled down a response.
‘I’m fine.’ I folded the crinkled piece of paper back up and slid it under the door. Within a few seconds, it was returned to me with more writing on it.
‘Since you refuse to talk to me, I at least deserve to know why you’re running away from me.’
‘I already told you.’
‘I’m not that kind of guy and you know it. You’re not fooling anyone. So tell me again, why are you running away from me.’ I decided to leave it blank and send it back. A couple minutes went by and he passed it back under the door. ‘Please let me in.’ I sighed. Maybe if I agreed to let him in, I could get him to leave me alone. I stood up and brushed off the back of my skirt, opening the door. What happened next was something that I never would have guessed. I guess Austin just had that effect on me.

---

Austin’s POV-
The door my back was resting on opened up to reveal Pandora looking down at me. I quickly stood up, happy that she had finally let me in. I took in all the features on her face, slowly feeling pain in my heart. Mascara and eyeliner ran down her cheeks. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. Without hesitating, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to my chest; holding her small frame up against me. I thought she’d push me away, but to my surprise she wrapped her thin arms around me and cried into my shirt. I gently planted a kiss on top of her head and ran my hand through her black soft hair.
“I hate crying in front of people,” she mumbled, still letting tears fall.
“You don’t have to be scared to cry in front of me.” She nodded as I put my hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her away from me. I wiped away the tears that fell, with my thumbs. “Let’s go inside.”

Notes