I remember thinking he was so beautiful. His name was Sal Haraf, he had not-to-long but not-to-short brown hair with blonde highlights running threw it that got even lighter during the summer and he had light gray eyes. He was tall, strong, and smart too. He had everything. Which was a problem. Every girl in my 9th grade class wanted him to be theirs; and I could never find a reason why I should be the one to get him instead of them.

My name is Hera Bolivine. I was named Hera for the Greek goddess for women and marriage; my parents are both history teachers and their specialty is ancient Greece, Hera was always my mom's favorite God.

I was short in 9th grade and very ordinary looking, I wasn't pretty but I like to think I wasn't terrible looking either. I had light brown hair that always seemed to be a mess because it was so curly and my eyes were the same color as my hair, which made me even duller looking. I was also what people considered a "nerd," unpopular and really smart. I got straight A's, was class president all through high school and the head of all the clubs I was in.

Back then, I didn't like it but, I was a total romantic so the day Sal asked me to the movies was one of the best days of my life and I was so happy I didn't even do my homework! Instead I just planned out how the whole date was going to go.

We decided to go to see The Starving Games because that was the newest and coolest movie out in theaters, according to him (I had never heard of it but I guess that doesn't say much).

So with our popcorn, candy, and drinks we watched the movie. I didn't pay much attention to the movie because it wasn't the type of movie I enjoy watching but also because the whole time I was waiting for him to put his arm around me the way boys always do in the movies I watch. He never did. The movie was scary so the whole time I was taking small sips from my really big soda and I ended up finished it. When the movie was over we walked out and I told him I had to go to the bathroom. So I left him for about three minutes and when I came back…

He was kissing another girl! For what felt like a long minute all I could do was stand there and watch with my mouth wide open. That should be me I thought. The minute stopped abruptly when he saw me staring. He pushed the girl away from him and I walked over to him. Before he could try and explain I had started a long cheesy speech about love, which I'm not going to repeat.

I tried to avoid him for the rest of my high school years. You probably think that is impossible but somehow I managed, except for occasional eye contact. I figured out I loved photography so I took photographs of everything everywhere during most of my free time to avoid obsessing over what he did. I don't know why it bothered me that much but when I put my mind to something I will do everything in my power to achieve it and I wanted to avoid him, never speak to him again and those feelings didn't change through out high school.

My dad got a job in Fort Collins, Colorado so my parents moved there after I graduated from high school and I went off to college in England at Oxford. Nothing special happened in my college years, I didn't meet another boy I liked as much as I had liked Sal. Just like usual I got straight A's and was an excellent student. I graduated from college and with all my achievements you would think that I would be able to get a great job for a great company but for some reason I always ended up finding some way to mess things up and ruin my chance for the job I was applying for. I think it is when they ask me if I have a husband or someone special in my life and I just start blabbing about how you don't need a special person in your life. I don't like to admit it but still have my romantic side to me, I still watch romance movies and I love romance novels.

Now I live in Australia and I am looking for a job to fill my days with work and I still don't know what kind of job I want because I studied so many things in college and liked them all. My life feels empty besides the occasional photography I do and the only thing I can think of to fill it is work.