Hopeless Love

My, My Love

Chapter 1
"When I first laid eyes upon your face
This song replaced all the others I had written
It's all brand new because of you
Feels like I've known you forever."
My My Love, Joshua Radin

Cordelia Conrad was sixteen when her father was elected governor of Maine, a title he had bribed and belittled to achieve. Cordelia was accustomed to a wealthier lifestyle already, but this meant so much more. There would be parties, notoriety, and living in the governor's mansion, known as Blaine House. It seemed to the outside world that Cordelia Conrad had everything a lavish young lady could possibly want. However, on the inside, Cordelia wished more than anything to be out of the spotlight and able to live the life she pleased without the judging eyes at school and the country club.

She was confident in herself and why shouldn't she be? She was the envy of every girl and boy at her private school. Standing at 5"6, she was petite in frame except for her full bosom. Her white-blonde hair hung in natural loose curls just above her waistline and a pair of blue eyes the color of Augusta's Kennebec River set beneath perfectly kept eyebrows. She didn't have a boyfriend, but that didn't stop the constant stream of flirtatious boys at her school from trying. Although outwardly, she was very sure of herself, in her heart she felt small and unworthy. Her parents, both coming from a long line of rich statesmen and company owners, only praised her for her appearance and never on her personality or good grades. To them, she was their prized only child and had rightly been brought up that children were seen and not heard.

It was during that summer that she happened upon Daniel Stephens at the boat docks when she was out for ice cream with her friends. She hadn't seen him in town before and thought that he must work on one of the lobster or shrimping boats that docked there often and sold to the local cannery. As he lifted the shipping crates off of the boat, she could see his tan skin and muscles contract under his white, stained shirt. His square jaw showed three-day-old stubble and his dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. As she and her friends walked past, the workers whistled and made inappropriate comments to them; everyone, that is, except for Daniel. Daniel looked up, but only locked eyes with Cordelia. She could feel her face grow warm as the eye contact lasted just a few seconds too long. She had never been so instantly attracted to anyone in her life.

"Come on, Delia," her best friend Olivia said, breaking Cordelia from her gaze. "Were you honestly looking at that dock trash?" She giggled, referring to Daniel and the other men.

"Of course not," Cordelia lied. "I'll race you all to the park," she exclaimed, skipping ahead of the group.

Her close social circle consisted of four girls: Olivia Hollingsworth, Beth Devereaux, Jacey Herald, and Julia Ellis. This group made up the bulk of the popular squad of the incoming junior class; the starting five on the basketball team and certainly the wealthiest of their peers. Their families had long been friends and business partners and the girls had been thrown together at events and in school since birth. To their classmates, the five seemed inseparable and as close as buddies could be. This, however, is never the case when five hormonal, sometimes vain, and competitive teenagers are put together. The five were superficial friends to say the least.

Cordelia possessed the least of these unflattering traits, which she could credit to her personal governess, Matilda. Matilda had been in Cordelia's life since she was seven and was Cordelia's saving grace as far as she was concerned. Matilda was in her mid-fifties and as motherly as could be, something Cordelia desperately longed for. She could swoop Cordelia up into the biggest hugs and make her feel as though everything was right in the world. She was also the one who taught Cordelia empathy toward others and that it wasn't acceptable to look down on anyone just because they weren't born as fortunate as you.

Matilda had lived in the city with the other "townies" as they were referred to at the country club, so she knew what it felt like to be snubbed by folks of the Conrad's type. She wanted more than that for Cordelia and had tried to be an influence on the young girl; albeit secretly. Now, she resided in the servant's chambers in the governor's mansion. Having no children of her own and never being married, Matilda looked at Cordelia as a daughter.

Cordelia's mother, Virginia, was from the south and could possess all the charm of a southern belle—when she wanted to. She had Cordelia in her twenties and had never been able to have more children, which meant she hadn't produced a male heir for the Conrad fortune. Cordelia looked very much like her mother, with her skin complexion and light hair, but that's about where the comparisons stopped. Matilda said that true beauty shined from the inside out, and Virginia most definitely didn't have the inner beauty that Matilda was referring to. As soon as Cordelia had let out her first cry as a newborn, Virginia had thrown her into the arms of other people to take care of. She was very critical of every decision her poor daughter made, and often punished Cordelia for not being more of a "southern girl" as she wished she were.

That afternoon, when Cordelia returned from her outing with her fiends, her mother was in the living room waiting.

"What exactly are you wearing, young lady?" Her mother boomed as Cordelia walked through the door. Her eyes darted up and down her daughter as someone would who was disgusted.

Cordelia looked at her denim jumper and black slip-on shoes and back at her mother, "Oh come now, Mother, it's hot outside and we only went out for ice cream."

"Nevertheless," her mother sneered, "you have an entire summer wardrobe in your closet that we spent hours buying in New York last month. I'll expect you in those from now on."

Cordelia smiled and nodded, a coping mechanism Matilda had taught her so that as many quarrels as possible could be avoided among Cordelia and her parents. "Of course," she replied and headed up to her room, her footsteps echoing on the staircase.

The next day was to be a grand event at Blaine House. Several stakeholders in her father's fleet of fishing boats would be there, as well as local council members. Per usual, Cordelia was expected to be present, small talk with the visitors, and play her part of the perfect daughter. While she was no amateur to these types of events, they always managed to put a pit in her stomach when she had to attend them.

As she laid in bed that night, her mind wandered to earlier in the day and to Daniel. Her heart fluttered as she thought of his dark features and muscular biceps. As soon as the thoughts crossed her mind, she brushed them away because dreaming about a local was pointless. Closing her eyes as she did every night, she prayed to God to help her be known as more than the governor's daughter one day. To stay strong and get through her last two years of high school.

What she didn't know was that miles away, laying on the deck of the boat, Daniel had made a makeshift bed and was staring at all the stars in the Heavens. His prayer, he thought, was to find someone to spend his life with.
His parents were still together and set a fine example for their son, and because of this, he longed to have his own family some day. As a shooting star shot by, he closed his eyes with his wish and drifted off to sleep.