AIM [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 23: Without a Word

Love can be built on friendship, first sight, lust, intelligence, what you have in common with someone, and even what you don't. I say it's when two hearts beat to the same rhythm at the same time, all of the time. But sometimes love fades and the fire burns the candle to the point where there is nothing but a pool of wax.  Like Benjamin and Abba.

Sometimes I wonder if I would have that love where the flame burns, but the candle never melts. I feel that way with Stefan. We could have that. But I think I need to find myself first. As much as I love Stefan and as grateful as I am that I got to meet someone so perfect, my life has changed. Too much is different now, too much too fast.

I used to think my birth parents were dead. I watched them die in front of my eyes. I felt the life fade from my mother's eyes. There was a time in my life where I spoke to nobody because of what happened to them.

I was put up for adoption. I didn't get to live with Aunt Suzanne or anyone I knew and I was expected to be okay with that. Then Clifford and Molly came along. Everyone had to deal with "silent Aimee" for two years, maybe even three. I had dark purple hair. I did it myself with a permanent marker, and I was grounded until it grew out. Honestly, I would have grounded me, too. The first time I spoke to someone other than a teacher - to avoid detention - was when Emma greeted me, with that sweet voice and innocent smile.

I was sitting on one of the benches at the primary school, being my gloomy, lonely self. Nobody stood within six feet of me, as though I was surrounded by some white hole. But something in Emma's heart said to walk up to me and offer me lunch. I reacted to her the same way she reacted to me: like a friend.

I remember how good that sushi tasted. Homemade salmon roses were, and still are, a Lincoln specialty. I didn't believe even a celebrity chef could make it the way they did. To this day, I don't eat sushi anywhere else. Anyway, I changed then and I've changed now. Ever since that day when I knew I'd made a friend, I was the Aimee that I was happy being. I was the positive, energetic, athletic, and fun-loving, ordinary teenager from North Hills, California. I play soccer for one of the best teams in the state, I'm the most popular girl in Ulysses S. Grant High - not by choice might I add - and even though Cliff and Molly are annoying at times, they're my real parents, and I love them both with all my heart.

So, love. Everyone has a different definition of the word love. No one sees it in the same perspective as anyone else. Kids have their parents, - well, most kids anyway - teenagers have crushes and "cuties" to stare at, adults, younger and older; get married, have kids, and get to follow their dreams. But when you see that old couple walking down the street holding hands, that's when you realise true love is eternal. That's the kind of love where the flame burns, but the candle never melts. True love is epic, and I want that with Stefan, but how could I expect him to love someone when she herself is lost?

I've been reunited with my past parents, I've fallen for a guy whom I've known for four days, - which is against my morals - I've broken out of the house even though I was grounded, and I'm in an arm cast! This is not me.

I didn't tell Stefan how much I loved him too, I couldn't. Not because I was unsure of my love, but because I was unsure of myself. That's why, without a word, I hugged him tightly in my arms. So he'd feel love in my embrace and not be hurt.

I wished that hug would last forever...