Hopelessly in Love

p r o l o g u e

I've always loved the rain. The way the world comes alive around me when it's pouring- the birds hiding under the trees to keep their feathers dry, people rushing in pandemonium to grab their umbrellas and find shelter so that the rain doesn't wet their perfectly styled, well groomed hair- highlights our disregard to noticing the world until something inconvenient dawns upon us and turns our attention to the little things; the pitter-patter sound of the rain to the fresh earthy smell.

I first fell in love with the rain the first time I saw him. It was only because of the rain that I noticed him. And for that, I'm glad. A few years ago when I was just beginning to explore the concept of love and relationships just like any young 13-year-old girl would do, I asked my grandpa how he knew that he was in love with my grandma. He told me this: "You know when you're in love when you see them smile... and your heart literally stops. It is then that you realize that you've never seen a prettier, more captivating smile before and probably won't see another one quite like it again. You fall in love with their smile. That one person's smile will make you the happiest person on earth even on your darkest day, and will keep you going even when you don't feel like it."

I remembered every single word he said that day and till today, grandpa's words have been my one and only definition of love, though I tried not to get caught up in the sappiness of the old man's world. After all, even love in the end was a dangerous little threat waiting to break your heart. Only time could tell.

The first time my heart ever stopped, literally, was that day in the rain when I watched him smile, Talon Mendoza. I kept telling myself back then that that's not how it was supposed to be. I had it all wrong. Boy falls in love with girl at first sight, not the other way around. But once I realized that my little crush was not going anywhere regardless of my futile attempts to deny and ignore it, I got over it and just watched. Not creepily of course. Because what else was a girl so hopelessly in love with one boy's smile supposed to do? I was convinced I was more so in love with his smile than the boy himself. Let's be honest, I didn't even know him, how could I just fall in love with him?

Just small glances at him during lunch across the cafeteria, where he usually sat with his friends, with is black hair falling slightly, covering the top of his bright brown eyes. This occasionally gave me the sudden urge to rush over and push the stubborn strand away so it wouldn't hide his strikingly gorgeous eyes that tended to light up in interesting conversations and crinkle slightly on the sides when he smiled too hard. He was always doing that I noticed... smiling. There never seemed to be a moment in his day when he wasn't sporting that smile of his, I and so many other people were in love with. Okay, I've really said that line way too many times already, I'll stop.

True to grandpa's words, Talon Mendoza's smile never failed to ease away my problems, be it how great of a problem it was, anytime of a given day. At first, I envied him for having that type of power over me, to be able to make me happy even when sometimes all I wanted to do was loathe in my self pity. As expected though, I got over it eventually and embraced the significant role he played in my life, even though he was and possibly never will be aware of. All I had to do was get to the end of my high school year and I would be rid of his pretty face haunting my dreams at night. That's all I had to do, simple as that.

Regardless of common misconception, my story isn't one of a shy loner girl with a huge crush on a popular boy at school, finally getting noticed out of all the odds one day and their cute moments together that gradually brings them together, falling in love. To my understanding, Talon never knew of my existence throughout highschool. I mean sure we had a few encounters of eye contact here and there where I may have come close to death because of an unfortunate heart attack triggered by his dashing smile. But much to my dismay, that's all they were, a tops five seconds of idle eye contact.

Though I was deep in denial about my feelings for dear Tay, I willed myself to believe that if by pure, sheer luck my high school crush and I were meant to be despite all the odds, fate will undeniably play its part in a twisted role of events that would maybe, one day open his eyes to notice me. I highly doubted that would happen. As my senior year of high school drew closer to its completion, I realized with wavering hope that maybe I'd never be able to get a chance to know the person behind that beautiful smile. I'd never be able to make him smile like that at me, or learn how a person like him could always be so happy, seemingly without a care in this world.

After this heart crushing revelation a few days before I graduated, I forced my head out of cloud nine where I was dreaming of the possible fantasies of Talon and I, and threw myself into more pressing matters in my life. Graduating, pursuing my dreams, summer job, hanging out with my family before leaving for college... moving on from my little obsession with the tall, brown eyed boy who sat three seats across from me in biology. You know, the important things. Forgetting about him was by no chance a simple task. Even after high school, I occasionally thought of him. Mostly when I was down or something was bothering me, the first place my mind would go to was to his smile and I'd feel much better in an instant. But by no chance had I expected to see that face of that smile in person ever again. Or so I thought. 

Hey guys!

There goes the prologue of my second book. In order to get more readers I would really appreciate the feedback and support if you guys please vote, share and comment :)

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