For nearly two months, I noticed the same girl sitting across from me in the college library. We never spoke. Sometimes our eyes met, and both of us immediately looked back at our books as if nothing happened.
One afternoon, I returned after lunch and found a small folded paper inside my notebook. It said, "You have been reading the same page for twenty minutes. Either the subject is difficult or you are distracted." I looked around and saw her trying not to laugh.
That note started everything. We exchanged handwritten messages for a week before finally talking. Three years later, I still have the first note in my wallet. She says it is embarrassing. I think it is the best thing anyone has ever written to me.