The Opposite Of Negation | Editing Slowly

29 | ≠ hate

I had visited the Great Pyramid of Giza when I was 7, and the Taj Mahal when I was 15. While casually walking around the beauty that is the Taj Mahal and listening to the story behind it, a very casual question had popped into my mind.

"Dad?" I asked. He turned around and nodded at me to continue.

"Why are there only 7 wonders? Why not 6 or 8?"

"There are 8 wonders," he said with a smirk on his face.

"No, dad. There are 7," I answered back, quite confident in my knowledge. After all, teenage Nathan was a straight-A kid, how could he ever get something wrong?

"Every man finds the 8th wonder on his own. When you least expect it, you see it, and once you see it, you know you've found it" he said.

I look at Aliana right now, just seconds after she has told my mother that she's in love with me, and my dad's words echo in my head. I see her stare straight ahead, trying to show my mom that she's really determined about me, about this relationship.

About her love.

But yet, I see the telltale signs of nervousness. She's playing with her bracelet, she's purposely shutting off her peripheral vision, and she looks flustered like never before.

And sweet Jesus does she look beautiful.

I watch in a trance as a brilliant smile overtakes my mom's face, lightening it up entirely. I watch as mom nods and looks at me with pure motherly love and satisfaction in her eyes. I watch as she slowly realises that it's the first time my Grasshopper has said those few words, and I watch as she slowly retreats back into the house, giving both of us some most needed privacy.

More importantly, I watch Aliana Noelle Palmer, the girl with an almost identical middle name as mine, the girl who couldn't say no and yet here she was, confidently refusing to break up with me, the girl who made me realise what love was without even me knowing until this very moment, turn to me and yet not look at me.

"You know, you look somewhat like a fish out of water," she says, still keeping her eyes away from mine.

All words have left me as I keep staring straight at her. After what felt like an eternity, she lets out a deep sigh and nods to herself.

"I fell too fast, didn't I?" she whispers, almost hoping I wouldn't hear, and that snaps me back to the living world.

She takes a step back away from me, making me jump into action, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her to me. I hear a gasp escape her as I pull her into the tightest hug I can. I feel her hands circle my neck as she raises herself on her tippy toes, burying her head into my chest. Laying a soft kiss on her neck, I watch as goosebumps arrive on her body, and when we pull away, I feel myself tearing up just the slightest bit.

"Oh my God, why are you crying?" she says with panic in her voice.

I shake my head and hold her hands, non-verbally telling her to relax.