Autumn Leaves

Amber Autumn Falls did not believe in love. Love was an abstract concept only found between the dusty pages of her Jane Austens on Sunday afternoons. Love was that beautiful magic thing that existed only in her childhood bedtime stories. Love was a lot of things, but it certainly wasn’t real. Real was her parents’ broken marriage. Real was Laurel crying her eyes out because her heart had been torn to pieces again. Real were those couples that kept on living their lives with their placid smiles even if they were dying inside; forgetting to watch the sunset and dance in the rain. Real was all Amber had ever known.

But then there was Ash. Ash did not fit into Amber's idea of love. For starters, he did not live between the pages of a book, but in the house facing Amber's and his white horse was nothing more than a rusty bike. He did not have sideburns like Mr. Darcy (thank goodness), and more importantly, Ash was real. But he wasn't real like her parents of Laurel's tears. He was fluttering stomach and racing heart real. He was sheepish smile and crimson blush real. He was the kind of real that made her want to snap their moments into her Polaroid and stick them into the museum of her heart forever. And as the the leaves slowly fell from the trees, maybe, just maybe, Amber was falling in love. She just hoped that didn't mean falling apart...