True Lovers

Chapter 1 Romance? No Thanks

Amber's pov:

I'd never been attracted to any of the boys in my class. Since I became a teenager, I knew what feelings and falling in love were all about but I never felt them. Only knew about them. And most of that knowledge came from watching romcoms with my older sister, Thea. I learned something from her experience since she started dating the golden boy prince of her high school. They're doing well now, they graduated and went off to college together and are probably lovering all over campus... ugh, too gross to think about. Whenever they came home, they were typical lovebirds around the house. I was still too young for all that.

But still, I never fell head over heels for anyone in school—I guess that's because I grew up with them and knew those boys inside out. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And then I sorta had a personal vow to not just go falling for anyone—I was waiting for the one.

But then he came into my life and changed it forever... and I fell in love and fell hard for the first time. And I knew he was gonna be my first, my last, and my only love.

If only he would love me.

~

"This skatepark is gonna be sick! I mean, the curviest bowls, the largest quarter pipes, the longest rails, and—best part—a free wall for graffitiing! Whoohoo!" Cassie, my best friend and partner-in-crime squealed in my ear. I grinned.

"It's gonna be a blast. So Ronnie, Trey, and Juno are coming, right?" I asked. Cassie nodded vigorously.

"Uh-huh! And Haruko is finally over her cold so she's coming too!" Haruko was my other partner-in-crime.

"Stellar, we're gonna have a ton of fun," I said, pumping my fist in the air. The reason I was so stoked was because a new skatepark opened up in town and it was supposed to be the coolest one yet. My friends and I were gonna be the first to break it in. It was the summer holidays and I had planned a whole two months of fun with them. I was fourteen, young, wild, and free. Ah, life was good.

Sure, at my age, some of the girls in my class had already started dating—their idea of dating was pretty tame though. Nothing but the usual love-texting, holding hands, lip-pecks, and sharing French fries and milkshakes from the same straw. Ew. Even my sister knew how to turn up the heat way better with her boyfriend—sure they were older, but you can't deny the romance. When I grew older, I wanted a nice, romantic relationship like that with the love of my life.

But until then, I was happy to be a kid just enjoying life like a kid would—none of that romantic mush for me yet. And might as well have all the fun in the world until school starts... gosh, I can't believe I'm about to start high school. I knew one thing for sure though—my friends and I were gonna dominate freshman territory.

"So, what are you waiting for, Amber, let's hit the streets!" Cassie said, jumping off my bed and racing downstairs.

"I'm coming!" I laughed. It was off to the skatepark for us. I told my mom I'd be back by eight, got on my skateboard, and wheeled out onto the streets with Cassie rolling beside me on her skates. We'd meet up with our friends at the skatepark.

"Sweet marshmallows, Juno said he's bringing his boombox!" Cassie said excitedly, checking her phone. "We're gonna pull some sick moves to some sicker beats! And Haruko's got the paint cans. Oooh, Trey's already arrived!"

"Awesome, we'll meet him there," I said, smiling in excitement. Yeah, it was good being young—there was so much to get excited about.

"Oh look, there's Trey now!" Cassie said, pointing ahead. Sure enough, I saw the familiar olive-skinned, black-haired goofball we called Trey standing outside the skatepark. His real name was Monterey but that was a mouthful to pronounce and he preferred Trey anyway. We'd sometimes tease him and call him Monte coz he hated it—well, I would do most of the teasing, I got a kick out of it.