Love Has No Age

· Chapter 1 ·

You could jump in front of a train and it would hurt less. That’s why I swore not to fall in love ever again. However, I think that’s something you can’t avoid; no matter how much I try, I haven’t been able to yet.

One thing I know about love is that it arrives when least expected with the person you never expected. It’s not that I’m an expert in love – because I’m definitely not – but is something you realize as it passes.

Let me explain from the start. I’m a pretty normal girl; medium height, brown eyes, black hair that goes all the way down to the middle of my back. Nothing out of the ordinary.

At school I’m exactly the same: a normal girl.

I’m not popular, but I’m not a loner. I have my group of friends; though not many, are very good friends, who are always there when I need them.

I was going to my best friend Natalie’s house when everything started. It was a normal Friday in October, not too sunny nor too cloudy. I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, as if something were to happen. I didn’t know if it was good or bad, I only knew it was there.

I stuck my hands in the pockets of my hoodie and kept walking.

I arrived at her house and rang the bell. They usually didn’t take long to open the door, but this time they were taking long, and that only made the weird feeling in my stomach grow. I rang the bell again and waited. Finally, I heard footsteps approaching the door. The door opened and I met a radiant Natalie.

“Hey.” I greeted her. “What took you so long?”

“I’m so happy you’re here!” She exclaimed. “I have to show you something.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house.

We went towards the living room, where her parents were, clearly overjoyed by something – or someone – else.

“Do you remember my little brother that went to England?” She asked excited. “The one I told you about.”

“Yeah, I remember.” I said, frowning a little. “What about him?”

“Well, he’s finally back!” She said with eyes full of happiness.

When I came to live to Atlanta last year, I felt kind of insecure. It's not particularly easy going into a brand new school (at least for me) with exactly zero friends to hang with.

But in my first day of school I met Natalie. It was actually pretty funny the way we met.

I was in the cafeteria, lined up to buy my lunch and Natalie was in front of me.

When she finally ordered, she asked for a cupcake with whipped cream on top of it that one way or another flew out of her tray to land in my new t-shirt, which I had been able to purchase with the money I earned by the two months I had been taking care of my old neighbor’s children in Chicago.

“Fuck.” I cursed under my breath, removing as much whipped cream as I could with a napkin.

“I’m so sorry!” She apologized, grabbing another napkin and helping me remove the whipped cream off my t-shirt.

“It’s okay.” I said smiling a little. Being that my first day of school, I couldn’t behave like a spoiled and capricious girl.

“Really, I’m very sorry.” She apologized once more. “Come on, let’s go to the bathroom so I can clean this up.” She told me, walking out of the cafeteria and towards the bathroom. Not knowing what else to do, I followed suit.

We got to the bathroom and I went into a cubicle, took off my t-shirt and put on a hoodie instead.

Natalie took my t-shirt away from me the second I put my foot out of the cubicle and she began rubbing it with a wet piece of paper. Harshly.