Chapter Four: Dictionaries Don't Lie

Shannon paced back and forth in her tent, beating herself up for leaving Sayid like that.

"Damn it! He probably thinks I don't like him now!" she thought miserably "Why do I know so little about love? I've certainly been with enough guys! I should have learned by now! How am I supposed to find out about love when I'm on this friggin' island?"

Something gold caught her eye. It was the dictionary's cover; the letters were gleaming in the sunlight.

Shannon stopped pacing. An idea had come into her head. But no, that was stupid!

She eyed the leather-bound book. Well, it couldn't hurt.

Shannon bent and picked up the old dictionary. She started flipping through the L's, but then slammed the book shut.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I'm doing this!" she said in disbelief.

The blonde girl sat on the blanket that severed as a carpet in her tent. She placed the heavy book in her lap and reopened it. Shannon resumed to search. At last, she found it:

Love (noun)

Strong affection

Attraction based on sexual desire

Unselfish and benevolent concern for others

Love (verb)

To feel a passion, devotion or tenderness for

Shannon slowly closed the worn dictionary and stared at the cover.

"Jesus Christ, I can't believe I just did that."

After several moments, Shannon realized something: looking up some words in a stupid book isn't going to tell you about love. She already knew what love was, she just hadn't known it was love until now.

Love was when Shannon got butterflies when she saw Sayid smile. Love was when she would pretend not to know the meaning of one of the words on the French woman's map so she could spend extra time with him.

And yes, love was when she looked up a word in the dictionary because she was so desperate to understand her feelings about Sayid.

A bubble started to swell inside of Shannon. She had never felt this way before, like she could dance around singing sappy love songs till the end of time.

Shannon burst into a giggle fit.

"I love Sayid! I love Sayid!" she half sang, half whispered.

Suddenly, she stopped.

"Sayid!" she breathed "I've got to tell Sayid!"

With that, she jumped up off the blanket and ran out of her tent.