It Begun Here

30 years ago…

It was love at first sight. Amelia Jonas hadn't believed in such things until she first saw William Mathews.

He was the most handsome man she had seen, and he had a genuine dimpled smile on his face. He had black hair, sea-like eyes, and was 180 cm tall.

On the day they first met, Amelia had gone to watch the baseball game at the university's playground.

She had seen William play, and her eyes couldn't get off him. It was like William had felt the eyes on him, and when he turned, Amelia blushed. It happened twice or thrice, and when the game was over, Amelia had been quick to leave so as to avoid him, but he had followed her.

"Hold on. Hello!" William had said while running after Amelia.

Amelia did not look at him, she just kept on walking as she smiled. In fact, she was fully enjoying the chase. Any woman would feel the same after all.

William increased his pace and caught up with her. He held her in one hand, and they both stood rooted where they were.

There was a rush of electricity, and Amelia felt butterflies all over her stomach. She felt her throat go dry, and she dumbly looked at William and smiled.

"Won't you say anything?" William asked, and Amelia smiled more. "Anything other than your name because I know that."

Amelia wasn't surprised that the guy knew her name. In her sophomore year, she had been ranked among the most beautiful girls in her class, and the list had somehow gotten around the school.

Deciding not to appear too dumb so as to spoil her reputation, she cleared her throat to talk. She didn't know the guy but she knew that word easily spread around the campus and that if she did any dumb thing, it could spread like wildfire and people would call her pretty but dumb.

By then, the two were walking towards the main gate, and they had both been carried away that they didn't realize they were out of the school campus.

"I have to go," Amelia said shyly.

The truth is, she didn't want to leave him. She wanted to soak up every little time she had with him.

She realized that she was being unrealistic as she didn't even know the guy, and maybe he didn't want to see her again.

How was it possible that she wanted so much to be with him?

"You can take my number," William offered, and Amelia shyly obliged. She took her phone out of her purse and wrote down the number." I will be waiting for your call."

That was the last sentence Amelia had from William before he disappeared in the crowd of students who were leaving for home.

She stood there for a while, smiling at nothing in particular, and only got back to her senses when another student accidentally pushed her.

That evening, she went to her house a very happy person. She didn't know whether or not she would see William again because he could decide to ignore her messages, but she didn't want to think of anything negative.

She had sent him a message two days later, and he had immediately replied to the message once it got delivered.

William was easy to talk to, and he didn't pressure Amelia into revealing details about herself she wasn't comfortable talking about yet.

His understanding nature is what eventually made Amelia hide very critical information from him.

The more they talked and the more they got to know each other, the more their feelings for each other grew.

After only four months of knowing each other, William was keen on introducing Amelia to all the people closest to him.

Amelia only had one friend, Joey Holmes, from high school, and she introduced William to Joey.

One thing led to the other. William suggested that they should cohabit in the rental house he had, but Amelia was reluctant.

It wasn't that she didn't trust or love the guy. She did, and she couldn't even understand how he had swept her off her feet.

It was that she didn't want him to see her at her lowest, but she knew it was something she couldn't hide forever.

"Let me think about it first. I also have to tell Joey so that she gets a roommate," Amelia excused herself.

She talked to Joey about it, and she was cool. How had she even expected Joey to be mad about it?

Joey was the coolest person Amelia had known in her entire life, and Amelia at times wondered how Joey wasn't corrupted by the evil world they lived in.

Despite Joey's acceptance, Amelia had excuse after excuse as to why she couldn't move in yet with William, and he understood.