A New Love

Aimee chewed on her pencil absent-mindedly as she stared out the window. She watched a hummingbird flit past and land on a branch of the overgrown bougainvillea that was planted in her neighbor’s yard. It suckled the nectar out of one of the bright orange flowers and in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

“Sure, leave me. Go enjoy the sunshine and the flowers while I sit here doing nothing.”

The notebook lying open in front of her on the desk, was all but empty, save for some scribbled doodles in the margin of the page. She was supposed to be writing an essay for history class about “The impact of the Renaissance on the Enlightenment Period” but putting pen, or in this case, chewed up pencil, to paper felt impossible. The Renaissance was stupid. A bunch of old guys painting and sculpting. How could that enlighten anyone?

After another few minutes of staring at the blue lines on the page, Aimee gave up. She decided that the hummingbird had the right idea, so she pulled on her sneakers and went for a walk.

The day was balmy, but gray clouds were building overhead. A slight breeze pushed her artificially red hair into her face. Pulling the strands back into a quick half-ponytail, Aimee shoved her hands into her pockets and meandered her way towards the small convenience store a few blocks from her house to go waste the little bit of change she had in her pocket on a soda. Maybe the caffeine would help her concentrate.

The streets were bustling. She walked past kids that were home from school for the summer were playing hopscotch and catch on the sidewalks in front of their homes. Next to them, sedans and SUVs made their way past on the street, slowing to a crawl as they slalomed around bouncing balls and children running across the street to retrieve them.

Aimee wished she could feel that carefree. She knew it was her own fault for not paying better attention in class. If only she had been able to focus more, she wouldn’t be going to summer school and doing homework on the weekends. She’d be able to run around with her friends and live up to the teenage girl stereotype she’d worked so hard to craft her image around. This was supposed to be the best summer ever. Her BFF, Jessica, had just gotten her driver’s license. They would finally have the freedom to come and go as they pleased…sort of. If only she hadn’t failed history.

“Why doesn’t anything good ever happen to me?” She whined, to no one in particular. “I’m supposed to be spending this summer relaxing. Getting myself ready for being a senior in the fall. Maybe I could be working and getting some cash so that I can get a car when I get my license. But, nooooo. Mr. Ribald has to decide my essays weren’t ‘well developed’ enough and now I get to waste my entire summer going to school?! Ugh! Life is so not fair!” she shouted, kicking a bottle that was littering the sidewalk in front of her.

“Ow!” the sudden exclamation yanked her from her ocean of self-pity. Aimee looked up from staring at the sidewalk and noticed a boy standing in front of her. He was probably close to 6’ tall, dark hair, dark skin and was holding a dented water bottle.

“Oh.” Aimee said, putting two-and-two together. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Hard to see someone when you’re staring at your sneakers. Here.” He handed her back the bottle.

“Maybe try not to hit anyone else?”

She accepted the garbage from him, politely.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I’ll work on my aim.”

“Nah, I think your aim is already pretty good. Maybe you should practice missing.” He said with a chuckle. She nodded.

“I don’t think I know you. Do you go to my school?”

He got wide-eyed. “You have your own school?! he asked, incredulously. “You must be really rich!”

“No, I—I meant…” she tripped over her tongue trying to find the words to correct herself. Unable to get all of the thoughts in her mind out simultaneously, she glanced at him, pleading with her eyes for him to understand. He was laughing.

“I’m messing with you! I know what you meant. God, your face was priceless, though. Do people not tease you often or something?”

She had no idea what to say. She let out a small chuckle and started to breathe again.

“I’m Michael.” He held out a hand. Oddly formal for a boy her age, she thought as she shook it.

“Aimee.”

“No, Michael.”

This time she could see the sparkle in his eye, daring her to fall for his trick. She replied in her best caveman impression.

“You Michael. Me Aimee.” Pointing with large gestures.

Michael laughed.

“Nice to meet you Aimee. I was just going to ride my bike to the store, but it looks like you are all out of water.” He waved vaguely to the dented old bottle she was still holding. “Are you on your way there, too? I could walk with you.”

Michael held the door open for Aimee. A wall of air conditioning hit her like a truck as Aimee walked into the convenience store. It was a welcome change in temperature from the humidity of outside. It may only have been a few blocks from her house, but she was already sweating. She supposed that could have something to do with how nervous she felt around Michael. The rest of the walk over, he continued to make her laugh. She had to think when she was talking to him, or risk falling into another of his verbal riddles. It was like sparring with her brain. No one had ever challenged her like that before. Most people just assumed that because she was young and put effort into her clothing and make-up that she was stupid. She was content to let them think that and somewhere along the way, she might’ve started to believe it herself.

Michael didn’t make those assumptions. They seemed to have chatted about everything on the walk over here. School, friends, the normal stuff. Also, Michael shared with her that he had just moved here from Toronto and he was nervous to start school in the fall. He didn’t know what it would be like, trying to start over during his senior year. He told her that at his last school, he wasn’t very popular, so maybe starting over could be a good thing. Aimee couldn’t imagine that he wasn’t popular. He’s handsome, funny, he seems smart. She started to wonder to herself what the other kids at his school were like if he wasn’t one of the popular kids.

They split up in the store to make their purchases and reconvened outside the door for the walk back.

Along the way, the conversation was just as interesting. Aimee was amazed at how easily it flowed between them.

The only exception was when she asked him why he moved here, he got quiet. He took half a second and Aimee watched as he seemed to struggle with something.

“I don’t know why, but I can tell that I can trust you.” He said.

For the first time in her life, Aimee wanted to be worthy of that trust.

Michael told her that his parents had divorced a few years ago and his mom moved here. He missed her, but he was just starting high school and his parents were afraid that a move would have been too disruptive. He had been living with his dad and spoke to his mom on the phone a few times a week.

Recently, he explained, his mom had gotten sick and needed help. It wasn’t safe for her to live alone anymore. So, he moved here, by himself, to take care of his mom.

Aimee’s eyes shimmered with tears. She turned away to blink them back, hoping Michael hadn’t seen.

“That’s so brave.” She told him, making sure her voice was steady.

“Not really. I’m terrified. But I’m not gonna leave my mom to deal with this alone.”

They walked in silence together for a bit after that. Aimee had no idea what to say. Silently, she reached out and held his hand.

Her heart was pounding. She had never tried being so forward with someone, but something made her just want to hold him. She wanted to bring him comfort and let him know he wasn’t alone. She wanted to fix everything for him and the fact that she couldn’t made her feel helpless. Holding his hand felt like the only thing she could offer.

He took it.

They walked hand-in-hand the rest of the way. Their fingers were interlaced. Michael’s thumb tracing over Aimee’s in a gentle touch that gave her goosebumps. When they arrived back in front of the apartment building where they had met, Michael refused to let go of her hand and instead kept walking.

“Where are we going? Isn’t this your place?”

“Yeah, but I’m walking you home.” He said matter-of-factly.

Aimee looked confused. “What?”

“I’m walking you home. Making sure you get there safely.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to. Then I get to keep holding your hand for another few blocks.”

Aimee was dumbfounded. It finally occurred to her that maybe he liked her, too.

“Besides, how else am I going to get to hear about what your school is like? I want to guess the name. Is it Aimee Academy? No, wait, Aimee’s High School for Exceptionally Beautiful Students?”

Blushing, she let him lead her in the direction he saw her come from earlier in the day.

“I mean, if it is Aimee’s High School for Exceptionally Beautiful Students, I am going to fit right in!” he grabbed his chin, angling his head so she could, presumably, admire his profile.

She burst out into giggles.

“Hey! What’s so funny?” he whirled around to face her. “You don’t think I’m beautiful enough for your school? Look again.” He demanded.

She did. She was taken aback by how he was looking at her. There was a smirk on his face, but an intensity in his eyes. Like he was absorbing every detail of her face and when their eyes met, she felt like she didn’t just see him, but that she could see into him. To who he was. And she really liked it. She wondered if he saw the same things.

She pulled her eyes away from his and took in his gorgeous dark complexion. She just wanted to touch him. To feel the smooth skin of his cheek under her fingertips. She held herself back and instead let her eyes continue to roam over his symmetrical nose and down toward his handsome grin. She couldn’t help but stare.

Aimee felt him staring, too. His eyes lingered on her lips and he found himself drawn to her. He took a step closer. She didn’t step back. He was still holding her hand, as he put his free arm around her waist and gently urged her closer to him. He leaned down towards those lips that were calling to him.

She could feel his breath as they both held their gazes. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. Her heart was pounding but she wasn’t scared, she felt a thrill run through her whole body as his lips brushed against hers. She melted into him and surrendered her mouth. His lips pressed onto hers and she hoped he would never pull away. As they stood there kissing on the sidewalk, Aimee could swear she heard fireworks. She felt a light tingle, almost like pins and needles go from the top of her body downward. A moment later, the feeling intensified. Suddenly, she pulled her lips off of Michael’s as she realized she felt…wet.

That wasn’t fireworks. It was thunder! It had started pouring. Michael released her waist, but not without one more kiss, and then they ran hand-in-hand back to Aimee’s doorstep.

They were soaked and laughing.

“Do you want to come in? I can get you a towel and you can wait for the rain to stop. My mom won’t mind. She’s always fine with me bringing friends over.”

“Nah. I’ve gotta get back. Besides, I don’t want to be your ‘friend’ Aimee, when I meet your parents, I plan to be presentable and not look like a drowned rat.”

Aimee got a chill, and it wasn’t from the rain. He was serious. He really wanted to see her again. She could not have been happier.

“Okay. If you’re sure.”

“Oh, absolutely. And I don’t mind the rain. It’ll just remind me of you.”

Aimee leaned forward from on top of the step she was standing on and kissed him again. A deep, lingering goodbye kiss, full of promises for the future.

As she went inside and trudged, dripping back to her room to change into dry clothes, she spied the open notebook on her desk and remembered she still had an essay to write. She couldn’t fathom how she was going to focus now. Idly flipping through the pages of her history textbook, her mind was racing with everything that just happened. She wanted to call Jessica and tell her everything. She wanted to see Michael again. She wanted to…wait. What’s this?

“The Art of Love in The Renaissance.” She whispered, continuing to read “…though art showcasing romance was rare in this time period, here are a few examples of how romantic love was depicted.”

 Thumbing through the next few pages she saw sculptures, portraits, decorative plates, all of couples in love. Something clicked. Her brain was now churning away, synthesizing the images before her and the feelings flowing through her body. They came together and as she picked up her pencil, they flowed right out through her arm and onto the page.

As the rain pounded away outside her window, she barely heard it as she wrote in a frenzied state for minutes…or hours? She couldn’t tell. When every last word was on the page, she sat up and breathed a sigh of relief. Reading back over what she had written, it was the best essay she had ever composed.

Aimee jumped as her mom knocked on the door to say goodnight. She didn’t know where the summer daylight had gone. Even the storm had faded away into a clear, starry sky.

She was exhausted. Packing up her books and supplies, she glanced over at her bed. She looked forward to climbing in and getting some good rest tonight. She looked even more forward to being able to drift off to sleep and dream of the day’s adventure. She hoped Michael would make an appearance. She couldn’t wait to see him again, to be able to hold his hand.