"You've changed my perspective in life."
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Love, as people claim, is the most valuable thing that a human being can ever receive in his lifetime. A thing so pure, it can bring happiness to even the loneliest individuals. Like a fairytale with a happy ending.
However, for Cole, it is an entirely different story.
Having been abandoned at age eight by his parents, he does not particularly grasp the concept of love.
By age 13, he experiences the first spark from the most beautiful girl in town. But, he is discouraged the moment she tells him that, "I do not like orphans," coupled with some boisterous laughter from her friends.
These things do not stop him. For the past 5 years, three girls manage to catch his attention. They want to seize his heart, he let them. But Fate is toying with him for all those three are caught cheating on him.
That is the last straw. He swears to never fall in love again.
So, why is he fiddling his fingers behind his back right now? Why, while looking at her greyish-green eyes, can he feel butterfly in his stomach? The goods ones, mind you.
He can literally smell her strawberry shampoo on her strawberry blonde hair even if he is standing a meter away from her. The pink tint on her cheeks cannot help but put a boyish grin on his face.
With a cough, he says, "So, do you have any plans on Friday night?"
Smiling shyly, she shakes her head. "None. Uh, do you?" She walks a few steps towards him.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm planning to take out an amazing girl out," he replied.
This makes her laugh so hard. She clutches her stomach with her left hand while his right-hand pats his chest repeatedly. He catches her hand to his and envelops it. Her laughter halts as he squeezes and constant surges of electricity run from the tips of his finger to his toes. Every part of him is tingling and as he stares into her eyes, the past few weeks flash into his mind like a cliché movie clip.
Cole walks into the classroom and every head turns to him. With a roll of his eyes, he sits on his usual table and pulls out his pen and notebook.
The same scenario always happens. He is not sure if it is his good looks or his brain. Who knows, really. He might be an orphan but he has a lot of good traits. Or so he likes to think.
He hears the door open and assumes it is the lecturer. However, a short lass sits down on his left, the third empty table around him. His head snaps on her direction and frowns when he realises that she is new.
Her arms are held close to her and within five seconds, he completes a pattern of her personality. Something he does not find amusing so he let her be.
But the girl has a different idea.
"Hi. I'm Katherine, but you can call me Kat," she greets him with a smile.
He only glances at her and turns his attention back to the board. It is supposed to be a social cue that means he has no interest in talking anymore. Yet, the anxiety of being the new girl wins over to keep her mouth talking.
So she asks, "What do you major in?"
Heaving a sigh, he turns his body facing her. "Let me tell you this. I don't have any interest in talking to you so if you don't mind, please shut up."
If Cole thinks that he is able to keep Kat off his back, he is wrong for the fact that in the next weeks to come, she will be able to worm her way in his life.
Her greetings that taste like sunshine melt the walls he built around him. Her smile that shines like the stars gives his dark life some light, enough for him to navigate his way around.
And the moment she confesses her adoration for him, he does not know what to feel. She is genuine and pure and innocent. All things that he is not never has been and never will be.
Not knowing how to reciprocate it nor understand what he really feels, he apologises. He tells her he does not feel the same way. Still, with the kindest smile, she manages to make him feel loved and accepted. And wait, and wait.
Until it, all boils down to the situation at hand.
She grasps his pale hand and says, "I hope you're referring to me." Then, as if she realises what she just said, she added, "Not that I'm saying I'm pretty but I was, kind of, you know-"
With a chuckle, he let his lips rest on her forehead for a few seconds. His eyes automatically close and he memorises the warmth that spreads out through him and the way their bodies fit like puzzle pieces. This miracle, as he calls it, is forever etched on his brain, and the swirls of her name engraved in his heart.
For someone who got denied of love, he never expected to find one in the most uncommon girl in the world. He used to think that it will be his destiny to live alone with a huge number of dogs, and maybe he still would, but with the addition of the barely 5-foot girl pressing against him.
He might not have felt the love he wants in the past, yet, he sure knows that now, he will get the love he deserves.
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Apologies for the grammatical errors.
