Ben hadn't expected love.

When he first laid eyes on her, he thought that all he wanted was sex. Alice had assured him that Amy was attainable and she would be his ticket to freedom from the social stigma of being a virgin.

However, sometime between the moment he'd first seen her across the hallway at school and the moment when he dropped her off at home after the dance; Ben decided that his relationship with Amy was deeper than that. He wasn't capable of treating her as just some roll in the hay. Amy was an intelligent, funny, timid, beautiful and interesting person. She overwhelmed him. More than that, he was stunned by the fact that she seemed to reciprocate these feelings, if a bit tentatively. He didn't see himself as the guy who went out every Friday with a different girl. He was a loner, the nice guy without many friends who was maybe a little too sarcastic for his own good. Suddenly, he realized he'd been wrong about sex this whole time. It wasn't sex he wanted from Amy, it was a real, honest relationship. The desperate need to not be a virgin was gone.

Outsiders would have explained the feelings he was having towards Amy as infatuation, or a sign that Ben had "fallen head over heels" for Amy, but Ben did not. Yes, he was attracted to her on every level, but simple attraction did not lead every other sixteen year old guy in the nation to tell a girl that he loved her after their first date.

But then, to Ben, love meant something different than it did to most of the population. To Ben's way of thinking, love wasn't about some mystical connection, some inexplicable attraction between a guy and a girl. Love was a choice, an attitude. At its core, he believed that love was an outward expression of intense care for another person, often to the degree of selflessness. It was an attitude that wished goodness and happiness upon others.

Ben wished only good things for Amy.

Alice said he shouldn't love Amy yet. Alice didn't understand love and she didn't understand just how amazing his Amy was - objectively, of course. She deserved to be loved. Maybe other guys their age couldn't see it, but Ben did. She truly was a special girl, different from the others. Love was wanting to spend every waking moment with Amy because he adored the way he could make her she smile and laugh. Love was gently taking her hand in the hallway, or carrying her books and French horn for her. Love was bringing her ginger ale at midnight because she'd thrown up on the carousel.

As he kissed her soft lips for the first time, all these thoughts were momentarily silenced. He was so glad to finally have kissed her, so that she could know without a doubt that he loved her.

Love was a choice.

Ben chose Amy - and absolutely nothing could ever change that.