Okay, I couldn't resist! I was struck by inspirational lightning. I don't know...Canada's been on my mind and I love Niagara Falls. And I thought I'd give a refreshing take on an unexpected couple. Don't knock it until you try it. :) And please let me know if I should let this remain as a one-shot or an actual multi-chapter. It's official, I love writing in 1st person! It gives me no limits! :D

Science & Faith

Chapter 1

One moment your life's taking course and it seems like everything is going your way. That's how my life was once junior year finished. I mean, there were college applications to worry about. And it's been set in stone since the day I was born that I would attend NYU and go to law school. I didn't have many questions when it came to my life. I knew everything I had to know. It felt like I held all the answers that I needed and life would just throw questions my way.

I thought I could handle anything because I had everything figured out in my life. Sure, there would be slight bumps along the way.

That is, until I met Derrick Harrington. And life seemed to have different plans for me.

I spent 2 weeks up north in Toronto when my cousins from Spain came to visit. We decided to spend the weekend at a hotel when Celia drove us to Niagara Falls. Of course, the natural banter between four girls was inevitable but I was about on the verge of going insane if I wasn't going to see something interesting in the next half hour and before I knew it, we had arrived in town. I felt unstoppable with that ridiculous giddy feeling that couldn't escape my system.

We were in Niagara Falls. And it wasn't a dream. But before I could go on the Maid Of the Mist tour to get soaked like I had originally planned, my three beloved cousins just had to drag me out shopping.

My mom was a former model so she enjoyed shopping every chance she could get but the love for a multi-million dollar wardrobe had apparently skipped a generation. My cousins were a different case entirely. If they could their hands on one credit card, they'd do anything to spend it all the way until its limit was reached.

Nina and I were out shopping one day to prepare for her wedding next spring. I was so shocked that her boyfriend Jacques Fernandez proposed to her on her graduation night.

"Prima, I can't believe I'm getting married!" Nina laughed, spinning around as passersby raised their eyebrows at her. Nina was a year older than me. I was so shocked that she was getting married. She didn't even expect it to happen. When I asked her what could have possibly been going through her mind when she accepted Jacques's proposal, she just told me that she had the gut feeling that said it was meant to be.

I guess I wouldn't really understand. Until I fell in love. And we all knew how that could possibly end. I wasn't planning on starting a relationship anytime soon. As my dad said, I was far too young and I haven't seen enough of the world to be ready for a relationship.

Nina's case was one of those rare situations where things could actually work. Here's hoping.

"Neither can I and the rest of the world..." I muttered with an encouraging smile on my face.

She sighed. "Niagara Falls is such a beautiful place!" She always declared a new place she'd never seen before to be beautiful but she was far more giddy than I was. But she was a blushing bride-to-be. I couldn't hold that against her.

And I couldn't disagree. Even though we were only miles away from the border and a flight back home wouldn't have taken so long, I was fascinated by the beauty of the falls. I could walk endlessly on the streets of this place. The falls' endless cascade had me in a trance that I started crossing a street without looking.

I felt someone grab my arm before I even knew it. I felt someone had pulled me back with his arms around me.

"Alicia!" Nina shouted too late. I could barely hear her when a car's honking snapped me out of my daze.

I gasped, a deer caught in headlights.

I had to blink several times to make sure that I was still alive.

"Are you out of your mind?" A male voice screamed at me.

I felt someone gripping my arms. I was on the concrete of the sidewalk.

"Alicia!" Nina was about to burst into tears. She ran up to me, her boots click-clacking against the pavement.

"Huh?" My vision was perfect so I opened my eyes to see who my savior was. He was...

Glorious.

"Are you okay?" Nina arrived. "You just wandered off when I was looking at a wedding dress on display. You could have died!"

I found my voice, astounded at this entire scenario. "I'm sorry. I just got distracted."

The boy had shaggy dirty blond hair that almost touched his brown eyes. His eyebrows were frowning in concern. He helped me up. People stopped to see if I was okay. I was beyond humiliated.

"That was close." He whispered.

Wow, was he tall. He was more than 6 feet tall. I felt like a midget in comparison since I was a little over 5'3. And he was tan and when his arms were still around me, I could feel his biceps and they were pretty damn hard.

"I'm so sorry. Thank you for going out of your way to stop me from crossing. Is there anything I can do to repay you? I can't go back home and not have given you something in my conscience." I was babbling like my cousins Celia and Isobel did when they met Cam's older brother Harris...and boy, was Harris a fox.

His worried expression faded and a grin appeared. It was surprising that he had a devil-may-care smile. "Your mind must have been somewhere else. An SUV almost got you. The crosswalk wasn't on green yet."

I blushed. "Whoops."

Nina cocked an eyebrow at me with a silly grin on her perfectly tan face.

"It was nothing. No worries about repaying me. If you smile again, then all is well with the world." He ran his hands through his hair and looked toward a building across the street, like he was looking for someone.

I blushed even brighter I didn't know what to say. I was tongue-tied. No guy has ever had me like that. Except for Chris Abeley when we were both life guarding at the indoor swimming pool a few summers back.

"What are you waiting for?" Nina whispered and elbowed me.

I laughed nervously as I smiled. Unexpectedly, it relaxed me a bit.

"There you go." He chuckled. "Well, it was nice meeting you. I've gotta get going." He crossed the street because it signaled that we could cross.

I nodded and waved shyly. Nina shook her head in disbelief.

"Go after him!" She hissed in her strong Spanish accent.

"What? Are you crazy?" I hissed back.

She pushed us to keep walking and we, I being reluctant as ever, followed him. Miraculously, we walked across the street without getting killed.

She giggled loud enough for the guy to turn around.

He smirked. "Are you two following me?"

"We never got your name." Nina spoke confidently. Even if she was engaged, she was still the same natural flirt from 5 years back.

He approached us, his natural cocky smile in place. "I'm Derrick." He turned to me. "And you are?"

Nina elbowed me again. I rolled my eyes at her and said, "Alicia."

"And I'm her equally attractive cousin, Nina!" Nina was seriously provoking me to strangle her once Derrick left.

"Cool." Derrick laughed. "If you guys are going to see the fireworks tonight, maybe I'll see you there."

"Yeah, maybe." I nodded. It was so hard to keep my cool.

Derrick's phone rang and he answered. "Yeah. I'll be there in 10. Calm down! Goodbye!" He looked at us. "See you guys," he mouthed and waved.

Nina giggled as we watched his departing figure. "You like him."

I scoffed. Even his back was attractive. "All I know about him are his name, his apparent fondness of fireworks, and...his promising future in saving girls from getting hit by SUVs!"

"Alicia..." Nina began to protest.

I sighed. Here we go...

"I saw the way you were looking at him. This could be fate! My mom met my dad when she saved him from almost choking on a churro. You should go for it!"

I remained silent as we walked alongside the falls. Her daily monologue directed at my life's improvement was blocked by the crashing of the falls. It was soothing and I could finally breathe again.

The blush on my cheeks began to fade.

I've tried dating some of the guys at my school, Siren-Tomahawk High. I ended up being better friends with every date I've ever had and thankfully, there weren't that many to break it to. My friends labeled me as the exotic beauty. It was pretty embarrassing because people judged me to be the snooty type after that. But I swam and did archery. I got grades as decent as I could get them to be. I got involved in various clubs and was nominated for a leadership award that would be announced when senior year began. I wasn't just going to follow up on that ditzy beauty title. I had ambitions, aspiring to be a lawyer, just like my dad.

Hours had passed and after Nina and I met up with Celia and Isobel at TGI Fridays for lunch, Nina struck up a conversation.

And believe me, the topic was dreadful for me to have to listen to.

"So...There are fireworks tonight." Nina smirked at me.

I groaned as my hands covered my eyes.

"QueAlicia? You don't like fireworks anymore?" Celia teased.

"Basta Celia..." Isobel chastised her sister. "What's wrong, prima?"

"Nothing, you guys..." I rolled my eyes. "Miss Bridezilla here is trying to set me up with a guy that I barely know!"

"Otra vez, Nina?" (Again, Nina?) My cousins groaned.

She laughed. That was her reaction to any given situation where she was accounted as guilty for causing some sort of mischief. "Well, excuse me for trying to make my favorite cousin happy!"

"There's a custom here in North America that you haven't adjusted yourself to...It's called butting out of my business." I stubbornly spun the straw around my Sprite.

Celia and Isobel laughed at Nina's childish pout.

She muttered and her naughty smile returned. "We are going tonight. And that's final."

"No..." I said under my breath. Who was I kidding? It was 3 against 1. I'm guessing they wanted me to be the next one in the family to walk down the aisle. No way was I letting that happen.

We got back to the hotel and Nina was forcing me to try on some of her clothes because she said she absolutely detested my wardrobe. She drawled in Spanish about how Derrick was the perfect man but I won't get into those excruciating details.

The three of them were faster to get ready than I was. I was looking forward to the fireworks so I was happy to go. I was a little hesitant because I thought I might see Derrick there. Part of me was hoping that I didn't see him since Nina would more than likely start discussing our wedding vows and signing us up for marriage counseling. Yet part of me really wanted to see him again. Find out the secrets behind the mischief in his eyes.

I played Barcelona's "Colors" on my iPod deck as I did the last touches on my makeup. At least I could manage with that. My cousins forced me to let them choose what I should wear.

The dress that Nina thought would look fantastic on me was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen come out of Celia's creations. Of course, Celia had Nina wear some of her designs but Nina suggested I try the dress on. It was a gold satin and lace dress. I could manage with my strapped silver heels. I put on the earrings my mom bought me for my birthday last August.

I got off the elevator to find my cousins with their jaws practically on the ground.

"What?" I asked cautiously.

"Alicia..." Isobel blinked, looking stunning in Celia's custom-made one shoulder black party dress. "You look..."

Celia was in tears. She looked great in her own 3/4 sleeve black mini dress. "Hermosa! Y estas en mi vestido!" (Beautiful! And you're in my dress!)

Nina smiled as she spun around in Celia's one shoulder black beaded cocktail dress. What is it with her and spinning? "Tonight is going to be fantastic."

I realized that I stood out like a sore thumb as all the girls were in black and I was in gold. Despite it being a subtle shade of gold, people wouldn't be able to stop staring at the spectacle my cousins couldn't help formulate.

"Alicia! The fireworks are almost here!" Celia laughed as she drove us to arrive at the Skylon Tower. It was a spectacle to behold during the day and at night, it glowed. The windows glistened from above at the reflection of the lights of all the buildings and attractions the town had to offer. I could only wonder what it was like to look at the city from up there. I didn't realize that we would actually be going all the way to the top. My heart almost met my stomach.

"We're going up...there?" I gulped. I wasn't a big fan of heights. I usually slept on planes so I wouldn't risk looking out the window and hyperventilating.

Isobel hugged me. "Everything will be fine. The fireworks are going to look great from there. Imagine how great the view looks."

"We'll be with you every step of the way." Nina smiled.

It turns out that Nina lied. They ditched me the second we saw Derrick leaning by the observation deck with a beer in his hand. He looked like he'd been at a fancy party somewhere in town but his tuxedo was incomplete without the jacket.

"What? You're leaving me?" I hissed at the three of them.

They nodded and gave me the thumbs up to go up to him.

Isobel winked. "We're going to get something to eat. Celia's running a little low on cash because she hasn't gotten to an ATM since we've arrived in Canada."

Celia said, "We were hoping that he'd invite you to eat."

I had my back to Derrick when I said to the wicked trio, "Están ustedes locas? A el yo no lo conozco! El puede ser un violador por todo lo que nos sabemos! (Are you guys crazy? I don't know him! He could be a rapist for all we know!) When I got really ticked at something, I would just ramble on in Spanish. Thank God most of the Canadians around here didn't speak the language. I waved my arms frantically in the air to see if my point could come further across but I knew I just made myself look like an idiot.

I didn't notice Derrick approached me from behind until he tapped me on the shoulder.

"I recognized you the second I heard Nina's giggling but you were whispering pretty loud so..."

When I turned around so he could see me entirely, he froze.

"Sorry." Why did I say that? "My cousins are just getting on my last nerve. It's been crazy since we arrived in Toronto..."

He still didn't speak. He had the same look that my cousins did when I came off the elevator to meet them in the lobby.

"You okay?" I laughed to see if I could relax from how nervous he managed to make me.

He nodded and gazed at me. "Tu eres...hermosa." His tone was smooth. It was new, refreshing after the fiasco of me almost getting myself landed in a hospital today.

"You just called me..." I was stunned.

"Beautiful. I took Spanish when I was in high school. I just graduated." He smiled. He had obviously heard me cussing out my cousins.

"Thank you." I smiled in return.

He invited me to have dinner with him here. Thankfully, my cousins could keep an eye out. I just hoped they laid low.

I knew it was too much to ask for.

As we walked, I asked, "I didn't know you were going to be here."

He frowned. "What are you talking about? I said I would be around to see the fireworks."

"I didn't expect to see you in this tower." I didn't expect to find myself in this tower, almost at the tip-top. I almost choked on oxygen and grew red.

I knew it was almost but I was so close to panicking.

He laughed. "Me neither. I thought it would be easier to find you here than on the streets."

"Lucky guess." I blushed. Was it truly fate like Nina suggested? I didn't even know we were coming here tonight. Isobel said we would start the night up at the tower and then we'd walk the streets and watch the fireworks over the falls.

"Good thing I stayed put. I almost thought I wouldn't see you around."

"You wanted to see me?" I couldn't believe it took me longer than expected to ask. "I thought you were just saying that to humor Nina."

"Nope." He took my hand and kissed it gently. "I meant it when I said it."

"You're bluffing," I whispered stubbornly, red as Aunt Delia's lipstick on Christmas Eve.

"What can I say? I learned that being a gentleman pays off." When we reached the revolving dining room, he led me to a table so we could sit together and talk. The restaurant was world famous, apparently. Kristen suggested if I got the chance I'd come here if I overcame my fear of heights. I only nodded when she said so but here I was. It was almost the way I'd pictured it in my head. Tables with white cloths. The landscape of the breathtaking city and waterfalls right beside them.

It was everything I dreamt it would be and I was here with a guy. A very cute one.

"Well, that's definitely sincere." I said as he helped me sit down.

"I thought I'd give it a shot." He shrugged as he stared out the windows towards the sky. "They're starting."

I turned to see the explosions varying from many colors as the crackling was music to my ears. They looked like they were making shapes in the sky. Then, letters appeared, saying:

ALICIA, WILL YOU MARRY ME?

I gaped at the sky and slowly turned to look at Derrick in absolute shock. He smiled like Nina had when she claimed Derrick was flirting with me earlier.

"Oh, Josh!" A woman with her back to us, who had hair just like mine and who was in her mid-twenties, screamed from a few tables away from us. Josh, who looked like he could be my cousin, got down on one knee and showed her the engagement ring and asked her again. She nodded and jumped into his arms. They laughed as everyone clapped, congratulating them.

"Oh." I realized. "How silly of me. Of course there's another Alicia."

Derrick teased, "I don't propose on the first date."

Date?

"A date, huh?" I asked. "But you don't even know me."

"I'd like to," he admitted.

And with his brilliant brown eyes never moving away from mine, I couldn't find myself to resist.

To be continued?

Review and let me know what you think of this. Should I continue?

Title: Science & Faith by The Script