Hey everyone, Oak Leaf Ninja here with my first original story here on fiction press. This is a true story, and I hope you enjoy reading through one of the most important lessons life has taught me. Enjoy and review please. Italizced is flashbacks/memories, underlined is books/notes, and bold is either author notes or in case of flashnacks like italicization.

Prologue

It was a dark and stormy night. Cliché, but it was. The wind was howling as the hard rain crashed against the walls of the old house. A girl with auburn hair sat on a loveseat, her lean legs crossed and seated next to a blazing fire. Her brilliant grey eyes glazed over the pages of her romance novel, a light smile dancing on her lips. The fire flickered on, and the girl was content. A dim light shone from a lamp lighting the book, and the words seemingly seemed to flicker to life.

She looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Oh Peter! The house is a wreck, and I didn't expect you here, an- " The man smiled and set the roses down on the table.

"It's okay darling. I love you, and that's all what matters, right?"

Frowning, the girl closed the novel.

"That's so cliché," she muttered to herself. She bit her lip. Her eyes gazed over to the yearbook on the dresser. Sighing to herself, she got up and retrieved the yearbook, flipping past the memories of the past year. A haunting pair of eyes caught her attention. Her breath caught in her throat.

Staring back at her was a fourteen-year old boy. With somewhat long blonde hair and slate blue eyes, the friendly smile captured the image in a wonderful way.

'Too wonderful…' the girl thought sadly. A sudden crash caused her to jump. Looking around, she spotted nothing downstairs. A meow was heard from upstairs, and the girl tsked to herself.

"Bad kitty," she laughed, and left the yearbook and the romance book behind as she left to retrieve her cat.

Upstairs, the girl stuck her hands to the side of her hips and laughed at the sight before her. Her grey and white cat had managed to clatter all the pots and pans, and was standing in the mess. The cat looked up at her with yellow eyes, a look of innocence compelling the girl. Chuckling, the girl began to clean up the pots and pans. Touching a cookie pan, a look of remembrance passed over the girl's face, flashing her back to the day in seventh grade…