The Thing About Love- Chapter 1

          His face was the epitome of sadness. Like a little boy who accidentally let go of his balloon and watched it slowly ascend into the endless sky. I didn't know what to do. Im not good with consoling people. The phrase "That sucks" usually slips out of my mouth but its always for lack of better words. He sat back in the bench, his shoulders slouched and stared some more at the traitor of a letter.

 "God this is just what I needed." He said.

"They made a huge mistake not accepting you. You deserved to get in. Everyone knows that. Their idiots." I said.

 He laughed. Not his regular light hearted laugh but a cold and condescending one. He crumbled up the letter.

 "Im the idiot." He said coldly. "Thinking I could get into a place like that."

 He was about to toss the letter in the trash can next to the bench we occupied but i quickly snatched it.

 "Come on Emilia, give it back." he said his brow furrowing.

 "No." I said sternly "You have to keep this Dan. Frame it, because when your the scientist who wins the nobel prize for finding the cure for cancer, you can laugh and remember the fact that Yale didn't accept you."

 This made him smile a bit and just for a second that beautiful light was back in his eyes, but like a shooting star, it lasted just long enough to make you question whether you really saw it or not. I un-crumbled the paper, folded it neatly and handed it to him. He reached out and took it cautiously, as if the denial the letter held was strong enough to bite him.

 "How am I going to tell my dad?" He said, just loud enough for me to hear.

 Daniel's dad was a Yale alumnus and had his heart set on Daniel attending there. I looked up at the sky, not knowing what to say. Daniel's dad was a hard-ass. He pushed and pushed for Daniel to do better in school and football but Even when Daniel was announced valedictorian and named most valuable player, it didn't matter. Daniel's best was never good enough. The clouds in the sky seemed duller then when we arrived, which usually meant it was about to-

 "It's gonna rain. Daniel said "We better get inside somewhere."

 Just as I was about to get up from the bench Daniel grabbed my hand and kissed it softly.

 "Thank you." He whispered.

 He was smiling softly but his eyes looked tired and dull. I smiled back at him and tugged his arm.

 "Come on, its going to pour" I said.

  Holding hands we ran to the local cafe, making it inside just before the rain started coming down hard. We sat down at the table we always sit down in, the one we had our first conversation at, the one where he kissed me for the first time, and the one where we both said we liked each other a lot. Daniel scooted his chair closer to mine and we just sat there, letting the rain drowned out all the sound in the busy cafe. We sat there and just stared at each other. It probably looked quite peculiar to other people but to us it was just what we did. With Daniel, I didn't always need words. I reached over and grabbed his hand. I looked down at it and studied the lines going through his palm. I traced them subconsciously and he watched as I did it. Just barley touching Daniel still electrified me.

 "I love you Emilia." I froze. I stopped tracing his palm and just well, froze.

 "What did you say?" I whispered, barely getting the words out.

 I dreaded this moment, but I knew it would come. He loves me. Now there is no escape. Im trapped, and the worst part is, I love him back. My head started spinning and the room felt a hundred degrees hotter. Did someone just turn the air up? Why is it so hot?

 "Emilia? Emilia are you okay?" Dan said, the worry evident in his tone.

 "Yes, yea" I answered a little too quickly. "I just need some air thats all."

 I got up and walked slowly to the front door, trying to keep my balance.

 "But its raining." I heard Daniel say just as I was about to open the door.

I had forgotten about the rain. I hesitated only for a minute, and then walked head first into torrential downpour.

I regretted walking out of the cafe immediately. The rain felt as hard as rock hitting my skin and I was completely drenched within seconds, but I couldn't move. My body became an unmovable object because my mind was so focused on one thing. Love. It terrified me. I closed my eyes and bent my head back so i could feel the rain hit my face, each rain drop sending a dulled sensation against my skin. Maybe the rain could wash me away from here.

"Emilia! What the hell?" Daniel shouted as he ran up to me. "Why are you out here in this?" he yelled again. I hadn't realized how loud the rain was until now.

"Why did you say that? Why did you say you love me?" I said, raising my voice against the brutal percussion that was the rain.

"Because I do, I love you. Can we please talk about this inside?" Daniel said, he reached out to grab my hand but I pulled it away. "You cant love me okay?"

Daniel looked mad now. His brows furrowed like they always do when he's mad at me. "Why the hell not?" he said.

"Because you don't know everything about me." I said.

"I know enough."

"Enough is not everything Daniel".

Daniel's eyes saddened a bit. I always wondered what Daniel was thinking but right now I knew.

"Please just come inside with me." Daniel pleaded, stepping closer to me now.

"I can't." I said stepping back.

"Fine, you know what?" Daniel said, turning very serious . "I don't love you. Just the opposite. I dislike you very much, I can't stand you! Now I'm gonna go inside. I hope that convinced you enough to come inside too." Daniel turned to walk away then stopped half way and stuck his tongue out at me. "I cant stand you woman!" He yelled as he waved his fist.

I tried my hardest not to smile. No matter how upset I got Daniel always made me smile and right now that charming quality of his annoyed me. I stood there for awhile longer and watched as Daniel went inside and sat at our favorite table. He acted like he wasn't looking at me through the big storefront window but he's awful at pretending. He would scan the cafe and stare just a little too long at the window with an uneasy look on his face. I know I should go inside and console him. Tell him I love him, tell him I've always loved him since the day I looked at him, but I couldn't.