• CHAPTER ONE
    He was lost, he was forgotten. He was a plain, normal looking boy with short blond shaggy hair that seemed to be constantly moving, like nothing about him could stop and rest. His deep, saddened blue eyes had bags under them, which made him look tired and older than he probably was. He had a tan, but it was fading, he was probably from some place warm and through his journey ended up in this small town near Chicago. He was waiting at the bus stop across the street, like he was looking for someone. Maybe a familiar face or even stranger’s kind words, he was looking like he needed to be acknowledged for something. It started to rain and I watched him take off his hoodie and drape it over his large art portfolio as he walked across the street to the diner, not caring that his hair was getting soaked. I quickly got my pen and pad of paper and walked over to the empty table that he sat in. “what are ya havin today?”
    He looked up at me and smiled and my heart stopped for a few seconds in time. He smiled at me as if I were the one lost, needing a kind face and kind words. Maybe everything I had been going through lately was showing more on my face than I thought. “Coffee, black”
    I wrote it down in my chicken scratch for handwriting and went to grab him his cup and the pot of coffee. I couldn’t help but watch him again. He took out his art work from the portfolio and began searching for something. He took out a page with only a few scribbles on it grabbed a few charcoal pencils and began drawing frantically. There was something about the way he drew, with such passion in every shade and interest in every line; it was as though he would lose the image if it was not drawn out within the next minute.
    I brought him his coffee and as I placed the spoon down in front of him I snuck a peek at the drawing, and I saw myself. The nineteen year old girl with a messy pony tail overloaded with wavy brown hair just trying to escape. I saw my green eyes I thought no one could notice and I saw details about myself that even I had forgotten. He looked up and me smiling “What do you think?”
    What did I think… it was amazing. Not only his talent but at the fact that he saw and was able to draw things about myself that I thought no one else could notice. Every imperfection he drew only seemed to make the perfections stand out more; the scar above my right cheek just enhanced my bone structure. The chipped nail polish seemed to make my finger nails longer and more defined. My burn scars on my right arm from my first day working behind the oven at this very diner. He saw the lip gloss I threw on and the mascara I used. “Amazing…”
    He smiled and continued drawing. He added a table and a coffee pot to the drawing and continued as I sat across from him at the table and started talking to him. I was right, about him I mean, he was lost, looking for companionship and kindness in the world… but aren’t we all? He told me how his parents kicked him out the day he turned 18 because of his artistic dreams and how he spent his days trading his artwork away for food and shelter.
    I couldn’t imagine his life. Every second that I was talking to him made me want to find out more and learn more. It was like every new thing I learned about him; I learned something else about myself. We talked about my abusive father and weak alcoholic mother. We talked about the mistakes we both had made in the past. We talked about our futures and where we hoped to be in 15 years. We talked about our lives together as through some strange twist of fate had already decided on our partnership for us.
    It was almost midnight when I had to lock up and our conversation had finally died down. I had been dreading this moment from the first seconds of talking to him. This boy had already changed my life and I didn’t even know his name yet, and more importantly he didn’t know mine. We had spent all night talking to each other only to forget the most basic of introductions. When I had to escort him out he held out his hand as an invitation, to adventures, romance, to the future. “My name is Ethan”
    My heart jumped at the thought of life with Ethan at my side and his smile. His eyes were no longer saddened but smiling and shining a bright ocean blue. I looked at him and smiled, wondering if my smile had the same affect on him that his had on me. I shook his hand and looked into the ocean blue smiling eyes of his “My name is Amber” I took his hand and lead him to my place to pack for our new life together and the adventures that wait for us. I realized I had been wrong about Ethan, he may have looked ordinary but in reality, he was anything but.