"Here's to all the places we went. And here's to all the places we go. And here's to me, whispering again and again and again and again: I love you."
- John Green
Young people nowadays seem to have the world figured out. You grow up, fall in love, and everything from there on out is going to be okay. It's going to be
okay because you have someone who will support you at your weakest, and love you until you're at your strongest. What happens, though, when the one you love causes your weakest point and then leaves you to repair the damage they caused? Recovery isn't always guaranteed, especially whenever the other person is torn from life, and you're still unaware as why. Whenever a burden is overcome by love, people classify it as an epic romance. Romeo and Juliet, Elijah and Julia, Jack and Rose, Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster.. All known as some of the greatest love stories of all time. Real life doesn't apply to any of these, because they're scripted, right? They were never real, and will never happen to average people. These are the people who've never heard of the epic romance that occurred between two very real teenagers- Campbell Saunders and Maya Matlin.
The chronicle of the Maya and Campbell starts here. Not there, but here. Tracking back to their time at Degrassi, looking into every small detail can open your eyes to what brought them into this moment. It starts with an awkward, meek little Maya. She's got blonde hair, like her mother's, that parts down the middle and slightly to the right. She thanks whoever's listening that she didn't end up with red hair like Katie. She's got beautiful blue eyes, as clear as the ocean in the summer whenever the sun shines directly on it, but they're hidden by thick glasses. Despite the timid demeanor, she's clever and sarcastic to the core. Whenever her eldest sibling decides to enforce her sisterly dominance, she's quick to retort, proving that her size doesn't matter in a battle of wits. Although Maya almost always got what she want when it came to her and her cello, she was damned to find out that instead of sending her to a private arts school, her parents had the audacity to have her attend Degrassi. She's heard nothing but tales that sounded like those found in common horror movies, and they were happening in a school. At dinner, she'd ended up muttering something about why they couldn't just close the school down, which led to Katie getting defensive. And whenever Katie got defensive, she'd start throwing in facts, and numbers, and opinions. Which was got her parents thinking about sending her to Degrassi in the first place. She reminded herself every day to take vengeance on Katie for sending her to this awful school, until he changed her mind.
She didn't start off loving Cam, oh no, it takes her quite some time at Degrassi before she's even introduced to him. First, she's a freshman who's looking for nothing but friends. The first person she meets is Zig Novak. He's your usual boyish skater type, and they meet in the most unusual way. He needs her to pretend to be her girlfriend. Given such short notice, she gives it her best performance, and it's enough to get some other freshman off of his back. When the girls walk away, she can't help but notice their beauty. She wondered why he didn't want to be around them, or with them. Wasn't that what guys liked? Pretty girls. Her first day of high school and she was always questioning what she thought about teenagers. Over the course of time, she'd come to have feelings for Zig, only to have them be shot down by Tori Santamaria. She was pretty too, and in a matter of moments she'd had her thoughts about what guys liked restored. She didn't hold a grudge, though. Despite Tori's jealousy, which Maya didn't quite understand, she and the brunette became good friends. Tori even came with another person, Tristan, who would be the level head (most of the time) that the group needed. It was all fine, but she knew she was missing something.
Then, he shows up. Campbell Saunders begins his term at Degrassi after winter break, anxious to be away from his family. A family that consisted of a mother, a father, two little brothers, and a sister. Each of who he loved with all his heart and hated to leave behind. He joined the Ice Hounds because of his apparent love for hockey, and he's so good he's been told he could go pro. He's your average kind of handsome. He's got big brown eyes that give off an innocent vibe, soft brown hair that just barely falls on his forehead, and a smile that's so lovely it could illuminate a room with ease. He seems like the perfect student, bright, friendly, and an amazing athlete. He, however, has a few dirty little secrets. His smile isn't as real as it feels to those who see it, because he uses it to hide that he's never as happy as he may seem. He's quiet and wants to to stay true to himself, but he's got the perception that he needs to be the perfect person for anyone to like him. His parents always assured him that if he was himself people would like him for him, but he knew better. He always wondered, who in their right mind would like someone who wasn't in their right mind? To him, he was a freak, someone who couldn't be helped. Someone who needed to hide the real them because that's the only way they could ever be happy. He believed this all the way through junior high and up until his sophomore year, until he met her.
They didn't know each other at the start, but from now until the end, they'll forever have love for one another. Their affections will last them both until one of them leaves the other, but how could they have known that day would come so soon?