Chapter One

The meeting

Men and women are not invincible to Death's greedy pull. As a youngster, I was afraid of dying. I laid in bed at night, unable to sleep due to thoughts of dying in my sleep clouding my mind. As I grew older, I became more trusting of Death not to claim me until I had at least lived a few good years. 101 ways to die always lurked in the back of my mind, however, not far enough away.

It all changed when I met her. From the moment I saw her in the auditorium, I knew that she was the love of my life. She was bent over a book, earbuds in, jamming out to some song as she scribbled answers with her mechanical pencil. Curious, I approached her, not expecting to be left awkwardly standing since she didn't notice my presence. So, breaking the protocol of gentlemen, I sat beside her, waiting patiently for her to notice me. Ironically enough, she never did, until I tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. Not for myself, however. She was being summoned by her teammates. It was quite comical to see her head shoot up, her eyes wide, and I could just imagine how her heart was racing. I fought to keep a smile off my face at how adorable this young woman was. To distract her from me, I jerked my hand to the left to indicate the ones who wanted her. She scrambled up and away, mumbling as she passed. It was then that I realized she had left her school work out, and in her hurry, it had dropped to the floor. I picked it up, glancing at it. History book. There's something I didn't see every day. The thought made me smile as I made my way back to my own team. However, I was hooked, and could concentrate on nothing else. I kept one eye on the doorway, holding my breath every time I heard footsteps. I was disappointed each and every time. 

I was not one to give up, though, and my patience won out. Her team streamed in through the door, smiling and confident. She was last, her eyes downcast, her shoulders hunched as though she could disappear. My heart skipped a beat.

I watched as she returned to her seat and played her music, continuing on with school. She never even looked up once in the thirty minutes or so that I stared. Interestingly enough, I didn't feel like a creeper. It felt natural. Right. As though I was merely watching the woman I was with go about daily life. 

When it came my time to go, I shuffled out reluctantly. My mind was elsewhere in the tournament, and I was the first one out when it ended. As I entered the auditorium again, my eyes immediately found her spot-empty. My heart squeezed painfully. Had she already left? I scanned the room for her teammates, but they too were gone. I mentally shook myself. More than likely, they were just in a tournament. I would have to be patient and wait yet again.

It went on like this for the better part of the day. When it finally ended, both of our teams collaborated on going out to eat to celebrate. I wanted to jump for joy. Plans were made to meet at Walmart to grab a couple of things, then we'd head over to the restaurant. 

At the store, we paired off into groups and I offered to go with the girl that for some inexpiable reason, I was heads over heels for. Her blue eyes flicked my way once in curiosity, then away again skittishly. I finally realized she was nervous. And shy. Even better, I thought. It made her look more adorable. The groups set out and she glanced my way again. We stood in a silent barricade, until she finally took the lead. I kept pace easily beside her, glancing her way time to time. I would have stared, but I had a lot of obstacles to dodge, and she was too easy to get lost in. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, I asked her for her name.

I got another sideways glance that lasted a millisecond. "Shannon," she responded quietly. I smiled. 

"Nice to meet you. I'm Drake." She smiled politely, but I could tell talking was too much for her. Reining my questions in, I was content even still to just be in her presence. Not knowing where we were headed, I was surprised when we ended up in front of a display case full of knives. She pursued the weapons for a moment, seemingly oblivious to my presence. I broke my internal vow.

"You like knives?" The gaze she turned on me was the look of a daydreamer. Her gaze sharpened, becoming more guarded and watchful. 

"Yes."

"You and my brother would get along great, then. One whole wall of his room is decorated in nothing but different types of weapons." She smiled again, and I could have sworn I saw some genuine warmth in it. I was in heaven. 

"That's cool," she responded politely. 

"So which one do you like best?" I motioned to the glass case. She once again leaned over it, her eyes scattering over the merchandise. After a few moments, she shrugged, standing back up. 

"We should get back to the group," she mentioned. Sadness overcame me. It seemed she didn't enjoy being with me. Nonetheless, I nodded an affirmative and we headed to the designated meetup spot. 

I had forgotten about the dinner party at a restaurant that night, too focused on the possibility of unrequited love. However, when I realized that I still had another chance, I gladly seized on the opportunity, saving her a seat. Either my eyes were playing tricks on me, or she was more nervous than usual as she sat down in the chair beside me. No one commented on my weird behavior, or at least if they did, I was too caught up in the woman next to me to notice. I waited until after our food was ordered and delivered to make conversation. As I was preparing what to say to her in my head, our director, who sat to the left of her, tried goading her into conversation.

He asked her if she enjoyed today's activities. She nodded yes, eyes only leaving her plate once to put a face to the voice. He then tried asking her about her studies, obviously havinng noticed her studiousness today. She mumbled an answer, uncomfortable with the attention. However, our director was not shy, and didn't understand being shy. So he asked her to speak up. She shifted once, uncomfortably. I finally broke into the conversation, relaying what she had said. A flicker of relief passed across her features, before she turned to me with the stoic expression she seemed to wear all the time. "Thank you," she murmured. I smiled in response, my heart beating faster.

After she had composed herself from her questioning, I asked what type of music she liked listening to. 

"Anything," she responded. 

I asked her to list off a couple of songs, and she named a few that I personally enjoyed myself. With enthusiasm, I went off talking about the songs I regularly listened to. She seemed to break out of her shell a bit, which made me wonderfully happy. At one point, she even turned to look at me. However, when the conversation turned stale, she blinked as if coming out of a daze. Her gaze immediately dropped and she flushed a pale pink. She turned back to her food which she had hardly touched. The director tried once again to engage her in conversation, talking about European customs. She seemed interested, though reserved. I wanted more of her in general. Everything I learned about her made me crave her that much more. I realized somehow, some way, I was hopelessly smitten. I could realize the ends of her limits, however, and held myself back from catching her attention again.

As we exited the restaurant, I was saddened to realize that there would be no more time spent with her that night. I had enjoyed getting to know her. I had even enjoyed just being with her, watching her, studying her. Shaking myself out of my melancholy, I turned to bid her a good night. My words died on my lips. She was already gone. 

If I had had any sense, I would have realized that I would see her tomorrow. I was too caught up in the present, however, and went back to the hotel room in a slump. Hoping to clear my head enough to sleep, I turned on the TV. I left it on the channel it was on, lost in thought. 

The person I shared a room with, my sister, was wise enough to leave me alone for the time being. She had the full bed closest to the door, so when we got a knock on the door an hour or so later, she was the one who answered it. Only out of habit did I look to see who was at the door. I was happy I had, though, for Shannon and her roommate stood there a bit awkwardly. My sister invited them in, saying she was going to bed, but that we were free to chill here as long as I wanted. Selfishly, I hoped it would be all night.

Shannon's roommate parked herself on my sister's bed, almost immediately zeroing in to the comedy skit on the television. Shannon's eyes skittered the room nervously before she parked herself on the floor near her roommate. A small stab of jealousy hit me- I wanted to be the one she turned to for a lifeline. I shook my head slightly. I had gone insane in the span of a few hours because of a young woman. What had my life come to?

I offered the other side of my bed to her, but she politely declined, saying she preferred it on the floor. Half of me figured she was lying, but the other half believed her. However, since she had rejected me, and I needed to be close to her, I scooted as close to the edge of the bed as I dared. Then, I pretended to watch what was on, the rest of my senses on high alert for anything from her. Hours passed comfortably like this, until Lacy, Shannon's roommate remarked on the late hour. I let them out, whispering a special goodnight after I closed and locked the door. I muted the noise, leaving the light on for ambiance. Then, I too, went to bed. 

It took me years to realize it, but Shannon had cured me of my fear of dying. And the anniversary of her life-altering gift was credited to that day, June 20th.