“She could tell from the first glance at him that he was no longer the boy who used to blush and freeze up in her presence. There was something strict and decisive about the way he ignored her as he briskly paced past her bus stop. For the slightest moment there seemed to be a hint of recognition from the corner of his eye, but just as soon he had already crossed the street and disappeared around a corner.
“He had always been tall and naturally wide-shouldered, but his body had fleshened out and now he loomed over innocent bypassers predatorily. It didn’t help the matter that he often chose to dress in black, and sometimes had the unfortunate habit of standing with his back perfectly straight and his head tilted back ridiculously far, which gave the impression that he was in the military, while staring with intense focus at some element in his environment. At such moments he liked to fold his hands in various ways in front of his belly and behind his back, perhaps imagining that he was Napoleon.