Brown.

The first time I found myself staring was when she had just thrown a temper tantrum. I was angry at her because she had gone behind my back when I had given direct orders not to, and she was angry with me because she thought I underestimated her. She was right; I did underestimate her, till I saw the glint in her brown eyes. The sunlight reflected a blinding mix of caramel in that dark brown of her irises for a split second before she turned away, fuming at me.

The second time I found myself staring was when she was giving me a look from across the room. The lecture for international relations was thirty minutes in and I was so tired that I almost slipped from my chair when I caught that chocolate brown gaze eying me disapprovingly. I lazily smirked back and I saw the edges of her eyes crinkle. In the dim yellow of the lecture room, her eyes reminded me of the hot chocolate my mum used to make for early winter morning breakfast.

The third time I found myself staring was when I was laying on the floor and she was sitting next to me, concentrating on the indie singer belting out outdated tunes. She was mouthing the lyrics silently and I almost guffawed because God knows, she had the weirdest taste in music. But then she looked down and caught me staring at her. I had never seen brown twinkle like moonlight but in that moment I realized that chocolate rivers in heaven must sparkle when the sun shone on them. She raised an eyebrow skeptically and I closed my mouth, forgotten words hitched in my throat.

The fourth time I found myself staring was when she was laughing at one of our friends who had made a very lame pun. Her sense of humor sucks, she laughs at the randomest things and she loves puns, which I find a bit dumb. She slapped the table with her eyes wide open, a laugh about to emerge from her mouth when she glanced at me for a split secong. And in that second, the world stopped. I could see the brown irises warm and bright, reminding me of the damp earth after a much-awaited summer rain. Her eyes were an endless soil for the flowers of emotions to blossom, and I discovered an unearthed treasure in that gold glint against the dark brown.

The fifth time I found myself staring was when she smiled at me. It was our last day together before I went home to another city forever, and she went her own way. I have no idea till this date what world she lives in. I think she came from a land unkown where birds talk, flowers have instant healing powers and the sky changes color everyday, because I imagine that only a world that magical can hold an entity like her. Anyways, I remember her running towards me excitedly as I clutched onto my graduation cap. She didn't speak but I remember those shining brown eyes talking to me. A simple look in the earthy orbs told me that it was going to be okay, that I was going to be okay, that those brown eyes looked at me with a respect I had never experienced before. That those brown eyes - warm, lovely, homely - had held the same reverence for me throughout the years. And for the first time in years - perhaps out of the fear of departure - I unashamedly kept staring; voracious in my desire to know the enigma of that brown of her irises which rested snuggly against the white of her eyes, catching a gold sparkle whenever light struck them.

I found my home in that color of love and respect, even though that girl with brown eyes is long gone somewhere.