Project Unfiltered [editing]

00 | prologue

"It's ironic how our hearts can still get hurt by something we've seen coming." -Unknown

***

mia // jacob

Every girl will always remember the names of each of her firsts. From her first crush, first car, first job, first best friend, and most especially, her first love. I think first loves are important because they are the first ones who show you what romantic love is supposed to feel like. First loves are the ones who you unconsciously think back to at random times of the day.  They are the ones who make you feel things that you haven't felt before. They are unforgettable, because no one can ever replace them. They're the kind of person who seems to stay forever embedded in your heart.

             My first love happened to be a boy named Jacob. Jacob Isaac Fisher.

            But before he was the first love of my life, he started off as a stranger. One I had met at a party.

It during my freshman year of high school, at the end of school party. I was the shy and introverted seventh grader and he was a confident cool ninth grader. While he had braces and played the violin, he wasn't actually labelled as a "nerd" or a "band geek". He seemed to fly above those stereotypical titles.

It was in the middle of the party when I noticed him at a table all by himself. I had never spoken to him before, but I suddenly wanted to. There was this force in me that drew me to him, despite never not knowing if he was friendly or not. Even though my social skills were close to non-existent, I took a deep breath, walked over to him, and tried to initiate a conversation.

"Hi. Jacob right? I don't know if you know me but I'm Mia." I said awkwardly. At surface level, I sounded calm, but underneath all that calmness was the fear and awkwardness that I tried to keep hidden. Our eyes met as he acknowledged my greeting. The expression on his face was first painted with confusion, as I was this stranger trying to talk to him, but it seemed to fade a little bit as he replied.

"Hey. And yeah, that's me." He greeted me back with a smile. I offered him a smile in return. I don't remember what we actually started talking about but we ended up talking for hours. There was nothing left untouched during that first conversation, our personalities just seems to go well together. I didn't think you could have such an instant connection with someone, but somehow, it happened between us.

I quickly learned that he was a math wiz, an avid gamer, and that he had a dog. He eventually learned that I had a love for baking, books, and writing. There were jarring differences between us but what stuck out to me was how easy it was to speak to Jacob. I felt like I could tell him anything. I think that's when I knew there was this connection forming between us.

And that was how it all began, my random bit of confidence ended up being the start of a very unforgettable friendship.

Even though I felt a connection, initiating follow-up conversations were a little bit a challenge considering I was too shy to try and approach him when he was with his friends. So I turned to chatting with him online. It was kind of like our little secret, our own place where we didn't have to worry about the people around us and we could be ourselves. So even if I couldn't tell him in person, at least I knew I would get to tell him later during our online chats.

It started off as an odd chat here and there to every day for hours. Eventually, he became my best friend. He was kind, caring, and fun to be around. He never failed to make me laugh with his jokes, to make me think when we talked about the real meaning of things, and to make me smile with the most heartwarming words.