I was walking around the lake when the morning was still learning how to breathe.
Mist hovered low, like the world had not yet decided what it wanted to reveal. The water lay calm, holding the sky without distortion. Trees gathered around the shoreline in patient silence, their roots gripping the earth as if they had learned long ago that stillness was a kind of wisdom. Somewhere to my left, a waterfall folded itself over smooth, ancient rocks, singing softly to the dawn. Birds stitched sound into the air, light and unhurried, as if nothing had ever been broken.
Peace is rare. The world rarely lets you learn it by simply being still—it prefers to teach in the hardest ways possible.
I have learned that emotional repetition can imitate love while quietly preventing growth. Each connection lingers like a kiss, sometimes sweet, sometimes painful, but never transformative. The warmth remains, yet nothing deepens. Nothing moves forward.
My body responded and my heart hoped, I began to notice what patterns cannot offer. They cannot choose me. They cannot protect me. They cannot grow with me. What once felt like intimacy becomes a cycle that erodes peace rather than build it.
You might wonder what makes me think that way.
Well my name's Amelia and this is my story.
5 Years Ago
Back in highschool, I was cheerful and a naive little girl who was small and needed protection. I was fragile but outgoing and people loved me for that. At least that's what I think. My social life was okay
I had friends who cared for me and we had the same ideas always laughing and playing and had no care in the world.
All was well , until my life as a 17 year old began to crumble and I felt very uncomfortable.
I remember thinking at that time that we human beings tend to make decisions out of impulsions and emotional vulnerability. Cause coming from a home that was already broken brought a huge impact on my life. Especially my ability to connect with people.
As for my family, that's a story for later.
I remember thinking then that peace does not announce itself. It arrives quietly and waits to be noticed. That it can feel safe. But even safe peace can open a huge crack that can develop into a large hole.
That was how Eliot existed into my life.
My best friend Lucia had a cousin by the name of Elliot.
Eliot's personality is quiet, grounded, and emotionally contained. He is not dramatic, not volatile, not overwhelming. He is the kind of person whose presence feels steady rather than stirring.
******
One afternoon , my friend group, 4 girls and 2 boys, and I sat on a table at the school cafeteria.
I was eating my food and minding my own business when Lucia poked my right now and used her eyes to signal the presence of someone at our table. I looked at the direction she was pointing at aggressively and I looked at none other than Elliot walking towards our direction.
You're probably thinking that my heart will skip a beat, or my stomach will contain butterflies flapping around or I'd be a blushing mess. Unfortunately for you, neither of that happened.
I was simply neutral. I mean the guy is handsome and tall and has a husky voice but I don't let looks fool me.
"Uhh yes you do" , Emily said. Who was sitting at the left side from where I sat.
Geez, did I say that out loud?
The girls in the cafeteria were squealing loudly, barely unable to contain their excitement.
Before I could roll my eyes at their stupidity, I sniffed a very sweet honey scent coming right above my right shoulder. I dared not to move, fully aware of who it was.
Abusively close to my ears, I heard him whisper with his lips, "I was unaware the little princess thought of me that way."
Words got stuck in my throat for I was unable think of anything else than for the ground to swallow me up whole. I was beyond embarrassed at myself for saying that out loud.
For what felt like eternity, Elliot simply chuckled and placed a piece of paper in my open palms and closed my hands. After making sure he left I let out an unsteady breath, one that I had no idea i was holding.
*******
The day passed by like any other and it was now the time that most students longed for, an end of classes. I was walking down the hallway with a certain number written on that piece of paper lingering in my mind. Just as I was about to get into the car heading home, I spotted Elliot standing near his car. He winked at me with a huge grin on his face and got into his Mercedes and drove off. The nerve of that guy!
I simply ignored what happened and got into the passengers seat in the black Royce rolls and instructed the driver to start heading home.
Once I got home, I sat on my bed and contemplated whether I should text him or not. Earlier today he gave me a piece of paper and on that paper was a phone number.
It was 7:25PM and it was getting late, so I decided to send him a hi message before it got too late.
I sent the text and went to bed.
*******
The sun rose from the East, declaring it's arriving by shining it's beautiful rays onto my face agitatingly. I woke up and did my morning routine and sprinted for school. The day went on as fast as I could memorize names of fast food restaurants.
After classes, I met with my friends at the main entrance gate ready to leave when Lucia looked at me questioningly. I stopped walking to hear what she got to say and she blurted out "What was on that piece of paper?"
Oh boy!
I tried to shrug it off. But she kept on insisting on me telling her. So I told her that it was just his number he gave me.
Lucia looked at me like she won a lottery. "Ahh! Yay, Amelia you should date him surely."
" I told you Lucia. I don't want to start things I'm not ready for."
"That's nonsense. You must certainly. It's not like I'm asking you to run away with him."
"You don't understand. Dating is for two people who are ready for marriage. If I chase after him right now, it's like plucking an unripe fruit."
"Sheesh, stop being so dramatic."
"I'm just being realistic."
My friends may not have Known this, but after the conversation I had with Lucia, I began to realize that even our closest friends can lead us into destruction. Very soon I was going to leave to a new city some 370 -390 km away. Due to circumstances I will explain later.
Before I could leave, I received a text from Elliot asking if we could meet up at the school basketball court. I bid my friends fare well and headed there. I wasn't sure what to expect or what he wanted to say.
I arrived there and saw him running to the basket, hands bouncing the ball and I watched as he jumped and the ball went through the basket and made a perfect score.
I admit, I was impressed by that.He looked in my direction and walked toward me, each step deliberate yet effortless. Once he got closer, he bent down to my level and smirked. We locked eyes and for a moment, I felt my cheeks heat up. He chuckled and stood straight.
"I'm surprised you came?" He said, amused.
"So am I."
" Amelia. You're pretty, you know that, right? And I admit that I really like you and would want to date you - To be my girlfriend."
To say that I was Shocked at that moment was an understatement. But I knew myself enough to know that I was not ready for any relationship.
So I politely rejected Elliot and explained that soon I was leaving for another city.
His response amused me, he just smiled at me and gave me a hug. I stood there buffuled, not knowing what I was supposed to do with my hands. After approximately 5 seconds had passed, he pulled away from the hug and said, " I hope where you be , by that time you're ready , he'll treat you rightfully."
He pecked me on the right cheek and turned to leave.
I knew I was wise enough to say no, but not wise enough to understand why saying no left a strange tug in my chest.
I stared at his retreating figure slowly disappear from my sight. Once he was gone completely, I too turned the opposite direction and headed to the entrance gate.
Thoughts spiraled in my mind through the rest of the day regarding what happened.
Eliot was steady, yes, but I would soon learn that even the calmest waters have depths you cannot reach. I felt a strange warmth lingering in my chest. Eliot's presence, quiet and unassuming character, had brushed against something inside me I hadn't noticed before—a door I didn't know existed, barely cracked, inviting me to step closer. It wasn't excitement, or butterflies, or anything that made my heart race. It was something slower, deeper: a recognition of closeness, a subtle longing that whispered of trust, of comfort, of a possibility I hadn't yet dared to name. And somehow, just by being who he was, Eliot had opened it.