Time is merely finite duration. The steady ticks of the clock's moving hands, passing minutes. We never realize how much time we have, until it's just about to run out. When we run out of time, we wish we could have done more in the little we had. B...
"Destiny!" Cora sighed happily. I rolled my eyes. "You can't seriously say you believe in something like that," I said, shutting the hardcover book in my hands and looking up at the blonde girl before me.
"I do," said Cora with a glint of defiance. "Grow up, Cora," I exhaled, standing up to leave. "What do you mean, 'Grow up, Cora?' Why is destiny such a childish thing to believe in?" she questioned, walking quickly to match my pace.
I always walked quickly. It was pointless to drag my feet against the floor when there was respect to be earned and success to achieve. Shaking my head, I spoke crisply and bluntly. I wasn't going to beat around the bush, because that was definitely not my style. "Destiny is like believing in Santa Claus, or unicorns. You've heard about it, read stories about it, but it's never made an appearance in your life."
"But Santa delivered presents the first 15 years of my life, didn't he?"
I stopped in my tracks and looked at her intently. "Do you really think that an obese old man with eight flying reindeer can slide down your chimney and place presents underneath your glittering Christmas tree?" I asked incredulously. "Don't forget, he can travel around the entire world and deliver presents in under a night, going completely undetected by anyone and everyone. The only 'proof' that he came are the presents he got for you and the half-eaten cookies you oh-so-lovingly placed out for him with a glass of milk."
Cora frowned, but it paled in comparison to my own. "Aspen, you're unbelievable. Did you even have a childhood?"
Considering that my mother left me when I was six, and that my aunt who'd raised me as her own daughter had died eight years later, no. I didn't have a childhood. But those were my griefs, meant to be shared with only me. "Excuse me, I've got to go," I said to Cora before speeding away.
When I was 14, and fresh out of middle school, I'd made a choice. For the sake of my dead aunt, and to kill my mother with guilt for leaving me, I pursued accelerated education. By my junior year, I was doing college freshman-level mathematics. My teachers knew I was an exceptional student, and they believed that I would do incredible things in the future.
I planned on studying business, and that was why I was a sophomore at the best business college in the United States. Stanford University.
I sighed as I continued to walk down the street to my apartment, the hubbub around nearly bursting the thin bubble that was my patience. As I walked down the busy streets of Stanford, the California heat crawling up my skin, my reflection in the display glass of a furniture store caught my eye.
I saw a 19-year-old girl with pretty brown curls that cascaded down her back. She had frosty blue eyes and a pointed nose. Her creamy white skin and her gorgeous face could serve to be the cover of a magazine. She had a perfect sense of style, that was both professional and fit for the climate. A light blue blouse, denim jeans, and tan wedges, with a brown purse slung over her shoulder.
Aspen Stewart. The powerful, beautiful young girl she was, starving for success and pinning professionalism.
I pulled out my sunglasses and walked away from the Aspen that I saw. That Aspen might be what the outside world saw me as, but I knew that it was far from the person that I truly was.
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i don't believe in destiny. i don't believe in love.
