"The problem with fairy tales is that they set a girl up for disappointment." – Gossip Girl
1.3 DANIEL SUEDE
Ava always dreamed of romance, first love, and last kiss – the moment when she'd walk down the aisle and exchange vows she would have written the moment she knew he would be the one sliding a ring on her finger.
Grandma Grace had always filled Ava's head with stories of romance, the Lifetime and PPV movies they'd watch, and stories they'd read at the library, providing sources of love and relationships.
Literature was an outlet for Ava to grasp ideas and plot lines, tools used to create her own romance novels in her head. When she would lay awake late at night in bed, unable to sleep, Ava would pick up her computer and begin writing sensual and romantic short stories.
She had become addicted to the scenarios she'd muster in her mind throughout her day dreams and dreams, along with the pieces of literature she'd publish. Ava Grace failed at romance in real life, not once having a true "happy ending". So she fell into the realm of romantic fantasy, just as she had with Grandma Grace's bedtime stories – except this time, she was falling in love with her own stories because her writings were as close she would get to the real thing.
Ava blindsided herself from the very beginning. Her concepts of writing stories of love failed obtain a happy ending. They started out happy in the beginning but once she came to the rising action, her content descended. The couple would meet turmoil and tumble down in despair, the two would part and one of the two would be left broken and shrunken as ever.
Her stories consisted of hatred and heartache because she had no knowledge of what it was like to have a happy ending.
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Daniel Suede had been Ava's first crush, she was only five then. They had been neighbors and were in each other's class all the way up until grade five, her crush developing the older they became. Ava's family would often take care of Daniel and his two younger siblings, Anthony and Mae, as their parents were going through a horrific divorce.
Ava and Daniel had grown close within closed doors, their friendship maintaining secrecy once the doors opened. Ava knew Daniel couldn't be friends with her, she was Ava Grace. The Ava Grace who spent her first recess hidden within the library or nurses' office and lunch recess helping the janitor clean table and mop the floor.
She never minded helping out the staff, she loved it considering she got candy and good yellow tickets out of it. Many would make fun of Ava, including Daniel, calling her a teacher's pet but really, she was just a star pupil trying to pass the school day away.
Ava never minded that Daniel made fun of her during school, or so she thought. As days passed by, Ava found herself stuck in day dreams, using Grandma Grace's bed time stories as ways to decipher Daniel's actions.
