When I Fell In Love At 17 (short story)

Smart, talented and averagely beautiful that’s how people knew me in school as “Hannah Martin”. I was an A grade student who wasn’t very popular in school and I didn’t mind that, being invisible was my second nature. I was made to be nurtured by the darkness, living in the shadows and enjoying life in my own way. Relationships and love wasn’t my thing until the most popular boy at school started attending photography classes with me.

***

It was a warm summer day with clear skies and white clouds, my heart was in the right place and everything seemed perfect. I reached the building where my photography lectures were being held and sighed, photography was one hobby except for studying that I pursued. Roaming to different places and capturing moments that were spontaneous and real made my life a little less miserable. Mrs. Joey was the head tutor and the best mentor I could ask both for photography and life. I was five minutes early so she could review my recent shots, “they are lovely Hannah!” she exclaimed and I knew there was a ‘but’ coming “but…..” I said knowing full well there was something she needed me to add in the pictures. “But they lack emotions, don’t get me wrong for naked eyes the pictures are perfect but they don’t convey a story or any emotions, I know landscapes are your forte but why don’t you try something new or something unique.” She paused to think and said “why don’t you try capturing real humans or animals in a candid form?” “I thing I can do that” I said smiling at her and taking my seat to the far left.

Students started to pour into the class and benches were filed almost immediately, everyone I knew was there and I felt like I was in my element. Until, he entered and my world spun upside down standing in front of me in all his glory was “Max Baldwin”. He scanned the room for a vacant seat and found none except for the one beside me, I begged God to have mercy on me and let him have a seat somewhere else but I guess Holy Father had other plans for my poor soul.

The whole lecture was a disaster, I was so overly aware of his presence near me I couldn’t focus on a single word Mrs. Joey said, Max was a golden boy with good grades and an athletic body he was a real catch. Every second girl in school practically swooned over him, I wasn’t exactly obsessed with him but I had to admit he was incredibly gorgeous. He didn’t even chance a side glance over me, I know we weren’t exactly ‘friends’ but we definitely were classmates and I might not be popular but I was smarter than most of my class and people knew me. The class went on for sixty excruciating minutes and I was more than happy to go home and hide in my safe place but Mrs. Joey had other plans for me, “Hannah, Max why don’t you guys wait here for me I need to have a little chat with both of you. Others can obviously leave.”

Did she realize I wasn’t paying even the slightest amount of attention in her class? Was she going to call my parents for that? I was freaking out by the time Mrs. Joey came back to us to have a ‘little chat’. Without thinking I started blabbering “did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble for something? I know you didn’t like my pictures but I can work on them and make them look better” I stopped when I heard a deep chuckle from behind me, I looked in the direction of the voice and sure enough Max was laughing at me. Ashamed, I put my head down and I could feel my cheeks burned red. Mrs. Joey cleared her throat and I looked up “I want you to help Max with his photography assignment since he is only going to be with us for a month that is not enough time to understand photography so I want you to give at least an hour to him and help him out. You are my best student Hannah, I couldn’t have asked anyone else. Can you please do this for me?” she said and I instantly knew my answer was a big fat ‘no’ but I couldn’t say that.

“But he is going to attend your class, why does he need me?” I say pointing at Max for emphasis. “Two days a week is not enough time Hannah there is no way he’ll be able to complete his assignment. You have to understand this, he needs the scholarship and it all depends on you, do you not want him to attend college or no?” by now Mrs. Joey was irritated by me and I knew it, I was always ready to help anybody who needed it but this was different this was Max I didn’t exactly know how to control my feelings. “I’ll do it” I said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, the truth was I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to. Max had his hands wrapped around my heart for years now and if given the catch I would take it.

“You don’t seem interested in helping me out, am I that unbearable?” Max asked when we were leaving the building “you aren’t unbearable, you are just you and I’m good old fashioned me” I said looking up at him. “What does I’m me mean? Aren’t I same as any other guy at our school?” “So you do know we attend the same school” I countered not wanting to answer him. “Of course I know you but we never spoke before today so how was I supposed to acknowledge you?” fair enough I thought to myself “anyway, I’ll be the one to decide time and place since I’m not always free and you will clear your schedule accordingly” I said in a tone that left no argument. “Aye aye captain, your wish is my command” he said sarcastically and I couldn’t help but smile, “good, I’ll meet you tomorrow then” I started to leave when he said “I’m going to break those walls” “what?” I asked genuinely confused. “I’m going to break those walls you’ve build against me and you are going to love every moment of it” he said and left me there in shock, now I was wondering if I made the right choice by helping him.

The next day we met at one my favorite locations near the lake, I wanted to keep things strictly professional because heartache was the last thing on my to-do list. Max on the other hand was hell bend on enjoying the time we had together rather than completing his work I’d be surprised if he captured even a single presentable shot. There was something about him though, he made every person near him happy, he was alluring and I found myself liking his company as days passed by. We talked a lot during our shoots, I understood he was as smart as he was good at sports. He had his own political opinion and was very independent in his life choices. He was everything I dreamt of being, I was smart sure but my smartness was limited to books and his was based on understanding concepts outside the books. Every day we met at different locations sometimes I let him choose too, he was a big fan of tacky murals and raw art whereas I was more into natural landscapes and soft tones. We were polar opposite and yet something brought us together, something that neither of us could explain but understood all the same. Our friendship grew stronger as days passed and I knew I was going to be in trouble after our time ended. We were at his house hanging out like we usually did these days, I was munching on his ice-cream when his hand cupped my neck and his fingers brushed my lips. For a second I was shell shocked, we were close but he’d never touched me like that, then his head bowed down and he kissed me. Kissed me! I didn’t hesitate even for a second I wrapped my hands round his neck and kissed him back.

He took me to his room and started undressing me, I was scared now “no” I said and he stopped “don’t you like me too?” he asked with a serious expression “it’s not that, I’m…..I’m a virgin I don’t know how to have sex” I said and looked at him, he smiled at me sweetly “Hannah I have enough experience for the both of us” he said and that is how I lost my virginity to Max Baldwin. Things were great after that, we were together during school hours and almost inseparable when the worst thing happened. “What you doing with that nerd Baldwin?” Max’s friend asked “yeah dude she isn’t even your type” another guy said “last I checked you were crushing over that hot chick Bailey” the third one said and I was at the brink of tears, finally Max opened his mouth “I thought she was one of my conquests…..” I didn’t wait to hear the next words I dashed out of the corridor and went straight home in my safe place. I cried the whole night but why did I expect anything better from a guy like Max? I thought he had changed for me, guess I was wrong. He called me after that, for days I ignored his calls and texts I had no time for his lies now. I refrained from meeting him at school and told Mrs. Joey I wasn’t going to help him anymore. The day of the photo exhibit arrived, I knew he was competing there so I didn’t bother entering it.

“Isn’t that her in the pictures?” someone said from behind me and I instinctively looked behind, people were staring at me as if I was a lunatic. I touched my face and hair to see if something was wrong but it didn’t feel like it was. Clara my friend or you could say my only friend said “you should check out the exhibit” I frowned not understanding what she meant. But out of curiosity I went in, for the first few seconds I didn’t find anything that looked out of place but then I saw it and my heart hammered in my chest, five of the portraits had my face on them and they looked so beautiful I didn’t have to think twice to know who clicked them. Max was standing there in his impeccable suit, he turned and our eyes clashed for the first time since the incident. The portraits were good and all but I didn’t want him to use me as some kind of trophy winning piece of art “why did you do all this?” I asked through gritted teeth and barely contained anger. “Hannah, I don’t know what happened baby but what I do know that all these days without talking to you or seeing you have been miserable” he said so softly and with a glint in his eyes I realized I never gave him a chance to explain “I heard you, that day near the corridor you told your friends I was just another conquest. I heard that” I was holding back my tears by this point, his eyes softened and he cupped my cheeks, “oh Hannah if you would have stayed just a little bit longer, I did say I ‘thought’ you were just another conquest but that is half of it, I also said that as we started spending time together I realized how much I was missing out on with I other girls I dated, you are different Hannah you are real, you question me when I’m wrong, you don’t cling to me every time you find yourself in danger, you are independent and are not deterred by anyone” he paused “I said I never meant to but I fell for you and now every girl that comes my way doesn’t raise up to your standards, I love you Hannah I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you” “please don’t leave me for some shitty misunderstanding, you’ll break my heart into pieces” he said this and a single drop of tear slipped over his cheekbone.

He was suffering just like I was only because I couldn’t be brave enough to confront him, I made a mistake and wasted all the time we could have spent together. I wiped his tear and stood up on my toes to kiss him, “I love you too and these pictures, they are amazing” I said honestly and he gave me that million dollars smile. My heart melts for this guy, I may not be as attractive as Max but he wants me just the way I am. He loves me with his heart and his soul, he loves me for who I am and I couldn’t have asked for anything more, sometimes love at 17 is not all that bad.