Love. What is love? June spun her pen around her fingers, looking out to the clear blue sky, the clouds drifting by, beautifully speckling the blue palette. She leaned on her hand and sighed. Love is beautiful. She scribbled it down and slammed her diary shut, threw the book and pen onto her bed and raced down the stairs. She slammed out of her door and spread her arms towards the endless sky and lifted her head. The rays of sun glowed onto her face, blanketing it with its light warmth and a breeze blew threw her hair. She smiled. Such a movie moment. She smirked at herself. Thank god its 8 am. She scanned around her neighborhood for any other early wakers…and was relieved.

June Sakura Avalon. Brown eyes, brown hair, sixteen and in love. In love with the world. In love with love. It was the first week of summer and she was determined to enjoy every second of it. She went upstairs and looked into the mirror, tilted her head. You beautiful. A bit dramatic, a bit introverted and everything a dreamer. The perfect… anything. That's what she wanted. She got herself all dressed up that morning for no reason, just because.


"June, get out of the house or something," her mom yelled to her from the kitchen, walking into the living room. "What the—why are you all dressed up like that for? You going somewhere?"

"No."

"Go outside, sitting around all day eating and watching TV. You're all ready anyway go outside or SOMETHING!" June pouted with her sleepy eyed stare, her eyes glazed over from the television and rolled off the couch.


She peeked out her door and stepped out to look down the road. Nothing. She rushed back inside. 2 minutes. Peek. Nothing. She scowled and threw off her shoes, sitting back on the couch and switched on the TV. 2 minutes. She went by the door, and glanced in the mirror beside her. Smile, look natural. She went out, a car parked by her driveway and waved.

They sat inside a café, by the window. She stirred her latte and looked out the window to the people walking by: dresses, shorts, tank tops. She smiled at him, her long time love, as he came to sit down with her.

"Aren't you glad its summer?" he said in his low voice. She nodded as she sipped her drink.

"The end of school almost killed me," she stated.

"Fine for me," he smirked at her with his eyes as he drank. Dreamy. She slit her eyes at him.

"As if, stupid, I remember all of it. You were up every night complaining and I had to help you out soo much." She fell into a mock annoyance, a hint of smile still on her face. He smiled sheepishly and bit his lip.

"Thanks June." She smiled smugly at him. They looked at each other for a second, and then both went on to take a polite sip of their drink.

"By the way, what was it your friend called you? Sarah?" She blanked for a second, trying to remember how he had ever heard her middle name, no one knew it. She was thinking of what to do, should she tell him it? Why him, she refused to tell anyone.

"Sacha? Saka…" He looked up, leaning on his hand, trying to remember the name. Ohh… She remembered now. May. She calls her Sakura sometimes no matter how many times she tell her to stop.

"Come onn."

"No, I can't tell you."

"Why?" She leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice.

"'Cos, it's a secret." He fell back into his chair and scowled. The cutest scowl, she'd have to say and smiled inwardly. Sakura was the name her grandmother gave her. Her grandmother wanted to name her that, but with her mother's strong refusal she was proudly named June. But when she was old enough to talk, her grandmother took her aside and gave her another name. Sakura. June smiled and agreed as any obedient 3-year-old could, and her grandmother smiled back at her and stroked her hair. That smile, that unforgettable smile A few days later, she passed away. She couldn't remember if she cried or not, the only thing left in her memory was the rush and hectic, the fast paced feet…but she took her secret name, her grandmother and her secret, with her. She told her best friend once when May was lying in a hospital bed, just because it reminded June of the situation. Her best friend smiled and called her that when she thought no one was listening. A huge regret.

"I'll show you something if you tell me," he teased.

"What? Show me first, if its good enough I'll tell you," June skeptical that there was anything to be seen. He looked at her; she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Okay, come." He got up and walked out of the café, her mouth dropped. Did he just walk out on me? She quickly trailed him, hoping others didn't think she was ditched. She got into his car and flipped to face him.

"What the h— "

"Sacha," he said with a serious face, leaning in close to her. "Sh."

She glared at him and turned to the window. How could he get it so wrong too. Sacha? What's Sacha? She huffed. The scenery passed quickly past her eyes, and she turned back to him.

"Where are we going?" He half smiled at her.

"Secret." She muttered under her breath about using the same tactic on her and turned back to the window.


She was speechless. He held his hands over her eyes and led her to the place. When he uncovered them, her eyes went wide. Oh my god. She instinctively gripped his hand and took a step back. When she caught her breath she opened her mouth and let out an echoing scream.


They were sitting in the same place they were at before, it was much darker now and the stars were just beginning to shine.

"I still can't believe you screamed," he laughed. She pushed him. "Whoa careful."

"I'm scared of heights," she stated almost coldly and sneered at him. He leaned back and looked around comfortably.

"Isn't it beautiful though?" They were on top of a cliff, on a grassy ledge high above the city. The neon lights were emerging from the dark alleys and streets, flashing brighter than the stars and breathtaking against the sunset sky.

"Yes, beautiful." After hours of talking, they went quiet in the glow of the orange sun, disappearing behind the horizon.

"I've never been somewhere like this before," she said after a while. She turned to him. He was looking at her. Her heart skipped a beat and she averted her eyes, lying down on the grass looking up at the sky. He lay down beside her, with a fair amount of space between them and she was relieved. What if he could hear my heart beating…my face reddening.

"You wanna tell me now?" He caught her off guard. She turned and faced him lying down, analyzing his face.

"You can keep a secret?" He nodded.

"Sakura." She whispered into the crisp darkening air, her eyes sparkling with the last rays of light. She knew she would tell him from the beginning.

"Sakura Avalon." He repeated, his voice low and quiet, his eyes still locked in her gaze. Moments passed silently.

"I love you."

She gasped, short and sharp, her eyes widening. I can't believe this I can't believe this… She started to open her mouth to talk, to reply, to tell him she loved him for a long time, everything and

he kissed her.