To All The Boys I've Loved Before

1.4 Sampson Mitchell

"But if you can love me when I'm a beautiful day, why can't you love me when I'm a tornado?" – Unknown

1.4 SAMPSON MITCHELL

At age twelve during the middle of eighth grade, after of returning from being homeschooled, Ava had her first boyfriend.

Joseph Donahue – the boy who showed up twelve minutes late to homeroom every school day because he rode his skateboard to campus – who squeezed black weed flower symbolled plugs into his lobes and stole teachers sharpies to draw on his beat up Vans during break and lunch.

If it hadn't been for Ava's at the time best friend Mary Rose, then the two would have never met and bonded over overflowed cheesy jalapeños nachos, nor would the two have been assigned to sit next to each other during sixth period English. It was Mary, who spilled Ava's crush on Joseph to Mrs. Winters, and it was Mrs. Winters who played matchmaker and paired the two for the whole school year – project and research buddies for one hundred and eight days.

Joseph took Ava on her first date to see the film Cloverfield – accompanied by her older cousin, Viv, who sat near the two in the movie theater, eyeing Joseph every time he faked a yawn and brushed his arm over Ava's shoulder, only for Viv to lightly slap his wrist thus returning his arm back to the arm rest. Both Ava and Joseph would laugh at his failed attempt of being 'smooth' but Ava had forged a plan of her own, consisting of holding Joseph's hand inside their half empty extra-large bucket of popcorn.

Their relationship blossomed of innocence – puppy love.

They were together for the whole entire year, before Ava broke up with him just as freshman year of high school would begin. Temptations of older – mature – high school boys luring her away from the first boy to give her his heart.

Four years of high school, Ava only had three boyfriends – two of which she wouldn't classify as anything serious, the third being a different story; all three having one thing in common, the emptiness they felt once Ava walked away with their heart in her hands.

Come college Ava Grace swore she would focus upon her studies – the mindset of boys and love being pushed to the deepest parts of her brain; however, everyone, including Ava, knew boys were impossible for her to rid of and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't rid herself of Sampson Mitchell. Unlike her boyfriends from before, she didn't want to walk away with his heart, she wanted to keep it within her grasp, but he wanted to take hers for his own. Not intentionally, of course.

It was the last week of summer when Ava and Sampson crossed paths. She had been hanging outside of her house, her frame sprawled out on her watermelon towel laid upon the blacktopped driveway; soaking up the last bit of sun she could. Winter would be creeping around the corner and Ava wanted to bask in her sun kissed skin for as long as she could before winter would arrive and turn her light brown skin into a semi pale white.

The boom box beside her was ringing of her local Los Angeles music station, the sound of Adam Levine's voice drifting in the summer breeze. She was enjoying the last minutes she had left of daylight and lonesomeness, fore her parents and sister had been gone for the day – leaving the house to her, a day for her to relax in peace.

Her phone had been left on 'do not disturb', blocking her from the real world happening just as she breathed. If she had kept her phone on ring or at least on vibrate, Ava wouldn't have been surprised when her red headed friend, Dalton, showed up at her house with his bike underneath his bum.

She had noticed the red head once he called to her, but her gaze wasn't captured by the curly haired boy yelling her name. Ava's eyes had lingered up and over Dalton to his friend, riding his bike in tow. Her eyes fell upon the way his green orbs faded into his sepia chocolate skin. She could feel her pupils dilate and her cheeks redden when the boy shot her wink, clearly aware of Ava's immediate attraction towards him.