Sarah Hunt glided across the well-lit coffee shop. Eliciting relatively no noise, each step she took was light and feathery, as well as calculated and precise Her body moved in a flowing rhythm, trained only to go in the ways she intended it to. She was a sixteen, nearly seventeen-year-old girl, who was in complete control. Her deep blue eyes glittered as she took her coffee from the barista with a quick smile. Sarah turned then and her wavy blond hair fanned out across her narrow shoulders as she retreated to the glass-paneled door. It was in the same manner in which she had entered the room, that she left it.



Through the window of the musty old theater facing the coffee shop, Sarah could be described as beautiful. Not in a striking way, but she was beautiful in the way that one could simply not stop looking at her. They just couldn’t seem to pinpoint what exactly was so special about her.



What most failed to see was the pain and bitterness that gave Sarah that fragile, tortured, beauty of her’s. She was a walking masterpiece, a walking tragedy.



But Luke could see her for what she was. Sitting behind the checkered counter at the Lexington Cinema, Luke watched as Sarah made her way across the street. He could see the way in which her movement was haunted, the way her smile never really reached her eyes. The moonlight and street lamps only illuminated the quiet beauty that surrounded Sarah.



When she first arrived earlier that day at the theater where Luke worked, she was clutching a film magazine in her hands. He thought it was odd that someone coming to see a movie would bring a magazine along. After Luke inquired about it, she carefully explained that she dreamed of becoming a director in Hollywood, and that she in fact had no intention of seeing a movie that night, but had actually been hired to help run the theater. Luke agonized over the fact that his boss, Randy, hadn't mentioned her, but tried to remedy the awkwardness by casually asking her how she thought working at an old run down theater would help get her there. He feared that he came off as condescending though when she looked at him with a pained expression. Only an hour later she declared that she was going to run across the street to grab some coffee, and asked Luke if he wanted anything. He didn't.



With a rush of cool autumn air, Sarah came sweeping into the lobby. She probably had not meant to make such a grand entrance, but Luke could feel the entirety of his attention being overwhelmed by her. He caught her eyes, but she quickly adverted her attention to the paint chipping on her nails. He wondered if she was still thinking about the comment he made early, but soon decided that he was being egotistical in thinking anything he could say would impact her that greatly.



Sarah rounded the counter and sat down next to Luke. Although her addition to the room could not be overlooked, she sat so quietly that it was as if she had never entered at all.



They sat like that for an hour, and then another, and another. Finally, they were forced to part ways and leave behind the theater. As he walked, Luke turned his head slightly and saw Sarah’s head turn swiftly in the direction that she was headed in. He was sure she had been looking at his retreating figure only moments ago, and wondered if she would be there again tomorrow for him embarrass himself in front of.