Last Summer

It is the last week of summer and my vacation in London was coming to an end,I cant't believe how time flew by in a blink of an eye at least I'm glad I can say I spent my summer pretty well.

I knew I wouldn't have done it alone and I owe it to my friends who took their time to be with me and share my crazy adventures,it had been a long hard semester all the pressure from school,the assignments,the hardcore teachers and not forgetting the exams had weighed me down to the depth of the ocean luckily I cleared all my papers and I can't wait to start a new semester,a new year and hopefully a new chapter in my life.

Having a busy school life you don't get enough time to socialize let alone be in a relationship which has been the furthest thing from my mind for two years now.

I haven't had a lot of boyfriends or been on a couple of dates like most people would proudly talk about,I remember having my first boyfriend when I was in 10th grade it wasn't pretty serious but at least I had a story to share with my peers,when you're 16 and you don't have a boyfriend you feel like you're out of this world especially when everybody around you is dating someone.

At that age I felt like I was obliged to be in a relationship regardless of who it was,I didn't think about the consequences or the characters of the person as long as we were dating everything was okay.

My first relationship wasn't rocky or sour,when you're sixteen anyone can tell you what you want to hear and you'd be too blind to see the actual truth.After months of dating we decided to split up because of the distance that was in between,he got transferred to a new school,far from home but that didn't stop us from been together until we realized it wasn't working so we both decided to call it quits,turns out distance can cut off communication with the ones you love,it's like bluetooth the closer you are to a connected user the stronger the connection and the further you are the weaker the connection becomes until you're no longer connected so that's what happened.

My second relationship was one kind of a roller-coaster ride,everything about it was so daring and despite seeing the dangers,the cautions,the signs,the fire you'd still want to jump in it just so you know how it feels to get burned.They say too much of everything is bad and that's exactly what happened to me.

It was my last year in high school and when you're in that moment you feel like you've already crossed the road to maturity and you feel like regardless of the mess you make you'd be strong enough to fix it.

Kevin is the name,everything about him was so daring his bad boy look had all the girls turning heads,he's blue sparkling eyes could make any girl sink in them,he was a smooth talker and that gave him an easy way to talk to girls.He usually wore a leather biker jacket and tight jeans each time he came around,even though he wasn't from my school everybody knew and loved him like he was one of us.

When I caught his attention I felt like I was the prettiest girl in the world,the way he looked at me made me feel beautiful and so confident.It wasn't long after we started dating and it became the news headline in school everyday,everybody wanted to know our daily moves and shockingly the people that weren't talking to me started getting closer to me.

When we were not insight we'd be closer than ever and he'd tell me everything I wanted to hear.I was so naive and he did no wrong in my eyes,our relationship reached a point were it felt too good to be true and despite hearing the warning signs from my friends I would shut them off just to avoid any complications with Kevin.

*

My friends and I were still roaming the streets of Paris,I can't believe summer is coming to an end.We went to the beach side and saw a couple of people playing volleyball,there's something about it that gives excitement each time I see people playing.Back in high school I was in a volleyball team and I loved how we would compete with other states,growing up in Arizona I didn't have much exposure to life and other things but after joining the team it gave me an opportunity to travel the world.

"don't you want to try?"

Alexa said as she put her hand on my shoulder,I've known her for quite sometime and she already knows just how much I love volleyball.

I got up and even though I was nervous they cheered for me and that was enough to boost my confidence.Ever since my break up with Kevin it shattered me and made me loose trust in most people,it took away my self esteem and the need to love again.I walked up to them and for a moment everybody stopped and stared at me then one good looking guy asked me a question.

"you wanna try?"

"ah yeah sure"

I said hesitantly,he handed me the ball and stepped aside to watch me play and rate my score later on.

The players were quite skeptical but after making the first shot their doubts started degrading,the ball kept coming to my face and each time it did I would hit it right back at the other team but harder than them and everybody would clap for me.

"looks like you're a pro aren't you?"

"no I'm not,I used to play in high school but that was it." I said as I pushed my side hair behind my ear then he continued.

"what's your name?"

"Liz"

"Good to meet you Liz,I'm Shaun"

Upon saying his name he let out a beautiful smile that melted me away at the spot,I hadn't felt that way in a long time but despite of how good he was I wasn't looking for a relationship let alone a friendship with him,we kept silent for a moment as we starred in each other's eyes then a girl that was standing next to me interrupted,

"eh- er- hem,aren't you forgetting something?"

"uh-no sorry,Liz this is

Melissa,Andrew,Mike,Hannah,Jake,Tory

and Brenda"

He seemed kind of nervous as he mentioned their names but that didn't strike anything odd to me,his friends patted him on the back made a joke out of him then resumed to playing.

After playing for a while I decided to go,everybody shook my hand including Shaun who seemed kind of nervous doing so,I was a few steps away from them but I could hear them chatting indistinctly then heard what sounded like a cheer,shortly after he came up to me and I could tell that he was nervous and I couldn't make a sentence out of what he was saying but I picked up something from it,

He wanted to spend some more time with me and show me some places around,he's charming french accent was too good to turn down so I invited him over and introduced him to my friends,they were excited to meet him and after the introduction my friends went the other direction and we went the other way.

Shaun and I talked and laughed a couple of times even though there were intense moments of nervousness.After been around each other for hours we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet the next the day.Later in the morning I received a call from Shaun and I was so excited to hear from him,I told my girlfriends about it and they were totally okay with me hanging out with him for the whole day.

I wore the best dress I could find in my suitcase,wore my favourite perfume and gave myself a new hairstyle,I don't usually do curls but for that day I curled my hair and painted my lips pink just to match them with my nails.Of course my friends thought it was odd for me to look that beautiful usually I would throw myself in a t-shirt,jean,sneakers and brush my straight.

I hadn't felt that good about someone and I knew from the moment I spoke with Shaun there was something about him I needed to explore.Upon reaching our agreed place of meeting I saw him standing right next to a lamp post and he was looking so gorgeous in his white t-shirt and black jeans.

I stretched out my hand to give him a hand shake and he went in for a hug(that was kind of awkward i thought to myself)

Instead of exploring Paris we thought of just sitting somewhere and chat for as long as we could,it felt good to open up to a stranger which I don't usually do but with him it was so easy.

I got so drowned in the moment I totally lost my self control,he would tell a joke and I would freely let out my laughter and lean my head on his shoulder or touch his hand and each time I did that he would look at me with a smile and I would quickly take my hand off his then look away awkwardly.

He stopped and stared at me for a while then said,

"I love it when you laugh like that

When he said that I felt butterflies in my stomach and excited at the same time,I was already falling for him even though I didn't want to.

"like how?"

"when you laugh like you don't care" I covered my mouth then asked him,

"is it bad?"

"no no quite the opposite,I feel like when a girl

laughs like that it shows off her personality and I

like that you're been real."

"my ex girlfriend had flaws she couldn't accept,

she usually hid a lot of things from me and it got

to a point where she felt comfortable with not

been honest with me,her whereabouts,who she

hanging out with,everything and broke our trust

because of her insecurities."

"I'm so sorry to hear that"

"you don't have to,it wasn't meant to be anyway,

but you.you're so different,so beautifully

unique"

After telling me about his ex I felt comfortable talking to him about mine,I told him about my last ex and how he betrayed me in the worst ways.After finding out about his other girlfriend who was in the same college as him it made me lose my trust in him and every guy I came across.

He then held my hand for comfort and I immediately looked at him but in a good way,after locking eyes for a minute or so we finally kissed,it all felt that like we were so glad we let out our feelings for each other.

Since our first kiss everything has been so good between us,I love how he treats me with respect,how our conversations flow and how he looks at me and makes me feel and this time I know it's genuine.

It was a bitter moment leaving Shaun behind but it's not like I had a choice,I had to come back to Arizona to complete my studies .I know it hurt him as much as it hurt me but he was so caring enough to understand,even though there's a long distance between us we didn't let that come in between us,we talk about our lives together after I finish school,we still haven't figured where we would want to live but as time goes on we'll figure it out someday.

For the first time I actually know what it means to love someone and even though it happened in a short period of time it was enough for us to know what we needed to know about each other,we've seen our imperfections and have accepted and loved them .

isn't it funny how you can fall for someone and love them in just a short amount of time?Shaun is not like my previous exes,he's not the cutest guy in school that every girl would drew over,he's not rich but he knows how to treat somebody in the most precious way and even though we come from two different worlds we bond so well and if there's one I'm grateful for is that Shaun taught me how to love.