What is love?

"What's love to you?" "I don't know", said Amelia, annoyed. Dante looked at her long and hard, as if he was trying to read her true answer on her face. His brown eyes pierced her like lies in Church, and his wavy black hair rested on the top of his head - emulating a young Elvis Presley on a greased toupee that Amelia never liked much, making him look misplaced in time and space. He was very good looking. And he was her best friend.

Sitting on a park bench outside their High School, they both often enjoyed each other's company and talked about their parents, school and every other big issue in between. They shared a family relocation trauma and understood each other perfectly. He was sixteen, a year older than her.

Today they somehow ended up discussing their love lives - or "the lack of it" - as she put it. And after a few back and forth elaborated answers, "love" itself became the center of the conversation. Amelia felt uncomfortable. "I don't know what love is because I don't know if I have ever felt it" she finally said. Dante took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Amelia stared at him, wondering if he had ever truly known love himself. How could anybody be sure they had? "I know what you mean" he finally muttered. "I don't know that I believe in it anymore, because I did love Elena. But I am not even sure that was "it", you know?". She nodded. She hated how that shallow cheerleader wanna-be had crushed her friend's heart. She reached out and touched his hand. He opened his eyes and looked at her. They stared at each other for a long few seconds, filling the silence with the mute conversation of their eyes. They both smiled and Amelia opened her mouth to say something, but the bell in the building indicating the end of recess started to ring and Dante jumped right up "Gotta run. Chemistry is kicking my ass. See you later?". "Yep".

"Love is a certainty that can't be explained but that most people understand", she whispered as he walked away. "Love is knowing that no matter what comes, you are not alone". She stood up. "Love never fails".

Excerpt from "Love" ©