She was gorgeous. Her beauty was unmistakable, but in a toned down sort of way. She was 100% natural, she never used a tanning bed a day in her life and she seldom wore makeup. She didn’t need too, that’s how pretty she was. Her name was Amber. Her name fit her well, since she had a mane of curly red hair that seemed almost majestic, and emerald colored eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. She was petite, barely 5’ 2”. Though despite her small stature, she was incredibly strong. She had abs of steel and amazing biceps. Usually muscles wouldn’t look classy on a girl, but they worked for her, and every girl was envious of her for it.

Her personality matched her looks. She was bubbly and outgoing like her hair, sweet just as her small stature implied, and she had a great sense of humor that was revealed in her eyes. Most of all, she was romantic. She was the kind of girl who wanted her own Cinderella story. She wanted to find a prince charming, who would treat her like a princess. When she was young she would even chase after frogs, hoping one of them would turn into the stunning prince she wanted.

There were lots of guys who were eager to scoop her up and call her their girlfriend, but she wasn’t interested in any of them. They wanted her for her looks, and her looks only. They could care less about her personality. She went fifteen years without dating anyone, patiently waiting for Mr. Right to come along. Finally, she found him. He was everything she could ever have dreamt of and more. His name was Malachi.

Malachi was the one everybody fell for. All you needed was to hear him say a simple “Hi.” to become completely hooked. He was the perfect height. Tall, but not awkwardly tall, tall enough for the average girl to rest her head on his shoulder while slow dancing. He had this gorgeous head of hair. Dark brown and just perfect to run you hands through. He had abs of steel that made every girl go crazy, especially in the summer time. His most intriguing feature though, were his eyes. He had the darkest brown eyes anyone had ever seen. Some girls say it’s like looking into a black hole, full of mystery and wonder. Others say his eyes were like little Midnight Milky Way candy bars, dark and tempting. But ask any girl and they would tell you the same thing; his eyes were the sexiest thing about him.

He was a hard worker; he had been all of his life. A good work ethic was instilled in him at a young age, since he was born and raised on a dairy farm. He grew up showing animals at the county fair, and bailing hay when the sun was blazing over head. He was strong and confident because of this. Being a hard worker and having a strong work ethic, helped out tremendously when it came to sports. Malachi was the captain of his high school football team, and in every sense of the word a jock. He learned to never take no for an answer and that nothing was impossible if you try hard enough.

He had lots of friends who loved him for his colorful personality and great sense of humor. His friends were the ones who gave him the nickname “Chi”, and it suited him well. The girls loved him because of his looks, but more importantly the way he treated girls. He was a romantic at heart, holding on to the hope of finding true love while he struggled to keep his head above the water as he swam through a sea of bleach blonde hair and acrylic nails. He had almost given up hope of finding an all natural country girl who was perfect for him. He thought that he had finally found something that was impossible. That is until, he met Amber.

Chi and Amber first laid eyes on each other in the hallway between classes on the first day of their junior year. When they locked eyes, everyone and everything around them seemed to stop. All that was existent for the two of them in that moment of time was each other. There was something about him that was different than any guy she had ever met.

He was wearing a plaid shirt, American Eagle jeans with ripping in the thigh, and steel toe boots. He looked extremely sexy, but she was sure that her feelings were more than just skin deep. She didn’t know it, but he felt the same. He already knew that he just had to get to know her. She was wearing a lavender strapless dress with ruffles at the top and silver, strappy sandals. The way her hair fell around her face made her look angelic. Who is this girl? he thought. They just stood there, just taking each other in for almost a minute before Amber’s best friend Miranda interrupted them.

“What are you doing? You’ve been just standing here for a while now.”

“Huh?” Amber replied, still in a fog.

“You were just standing here. What were…” all of a sudden Miranda saw what Amber had been staring at, whom actually. “Oh! You’ve seen the new kid! Isn’t he dreamy?”

“ Mhmm.” Amber uttered absent mindedly.

“Ooooh! You like him!” Miranda teased.

“I do not!” Amber snapped, fully engaged in the conversation now. “I don’t even know his name!”

“Liar.”

“Shut up!” Amber stated. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, Miranda knew Amber liked him. She was determined to get them together.

Over the course of September, Amber and Chi got extremely acquainted with one another. It turned out that Chi was in most of Amber’s classes, including gym, which turned out to be 43 minutes of pure flirting. By October, they were dating and clearly on the road to falling madly in love. They dressed up as Superman and Jane for Halloween, and went to a killer high school party, but of course not until they had hit up all of the best candy-giving houses in Poy Sippi. Chi helped Amber and her mom make Thanksgiving dinner, and of course accepted an invitation to stay for dinner. The holiday season was a time of extreme romance for the two of them. Amber helped Chi and his family decorates their Christmas tree, and Chi made Christmas cookies with Amber, eating the majority of them immediately. They went Christmas shopping together, and acted like five year olds as they played in the snow. Throughout the entire month of December, Amber thought about the upcoming Christmas Eve party. Every year, her family throws a Christmas Eve party. Amber looked forward to this day every year, but she was especially excited for this year’s party. She knew it was going to be special because Chi was coming.

When the night finally arrived, Amber spent three hours curling her hair and making her makeup look perfect. She had brought a red and white tunic to wear, and even brought a pair of stiletto heels to go with it. When Chi arrived, he was stunned when he caught a glimpse of her as she was sitting on a chair, in the corner of the room. She came over by him and gave him a hug. Once she drew back she noticed that he was gawking. She couldn’t help but be humored. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tounge?” she asked mischiviously.

“Its just…you look beautiful!” he replied.

“Oh what. Are you saying you’ve never seen me look beautiful before?” she slapped him on the arm playfully. Sensing the humor in her voice, he quickly responded.

“Babe, I’d think you were beautiful if you were covered in mud! I’ve just never seen you with your hair curled, makeup done, in a dress, and wearing heels!” he rambled sweetly.

“You like?” was all she managed to get out, since she was laughing very hard.

“Yes, quite a lot actually!” Chi stated. Her reply to this was a kiss. Afterwards she looked up and saw that they were underneath the mistletoe.

“Oh look-y here! We’re standing directly beneath the mistletoe! Kiss me again?” She asked with a huge grin on her face.

“Anytime hun!” As he drew away, he gazed into her eyes and said the three little words she’d been longing to hear. “I love you Amber.” Those three words had never before left his mouth, and she knew that they meant a lot to him. Luckily, they meant a lot to her too.

“I love you too Malachi.” As they stared lovingly into each other’s eyes, they both knew that they would be together, forever.

Eventually spring came. Flowers bloomed, and so did Amber and Chi’s relationship. They spent every waking moment together. Usually they hung out at Amber’s house. Amber lived just outside of Poy Sippi in a gorgeous log cabin with a wrap around deck and a swimming pool. The scenery was simply breath taking! Amber lived out in the sticks. She liked it that way, and so did her boyfriend. One of their favorite places to go was this cave deep within one of the bluffs that surrounded the area where she lived. It was about a mile away from Amber’s house, they named it “The Heart” because it was in the “heart” of the bluff. The cave was where they learned the most about each other. They spent endless hours there laughing and talking, just enjoying each other’s company.

When the school year ended in early June, they hung out with each other even more. They were usually together five days out of the week. Even though she was always with Malachi, Amber still found time to hang out with Miranda. Luckily, Miranda loved Chi and thought he and Amber were perfect for each other.

“So, you and Chi seem to be getting pretty serious!” Miranda stated.

“You could say that,” she paused. “Do you think he loves me as much as I love him?” Amber questioned. “Of course he does! Hun, you’re crazy for even doubting it!”

“Oh Miranda, you’re great! I love you!”

“Love you too girly!” Miranda responded lovingly.

Everything was perfect for Amber and Chi. They flirted in the swimming pool during the day, and continued flirting when the sun went down. But when June came to an end, the perfect little world that they had been living in crashed down around them. Amber found out that she was pregnant. She called Malachi and told him to come over right away. When he got there, he found Amber lying on her bed, wearing a tear stained t-shirt and black sweatpants.

“Baby what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Chi ran to her bed side and immediately pulled her into his arms.

“I have to tell you something.” said Amber.

“Yes hun of course, anything.” Chi replied.

“Promise you won’t be mad?” whispered Amber.

“Oh Amber, no matter what it is, I promise I could never be mad at you.”

“I’m pregnant.” As she said those two simple words, Amber broke down crying in Malachi’s arms once again. Chi was scared but he tried hard not to show it. He knew he needed to be strong for Amber.

As the summer continued on, they learned to accept the fact that they were going to be parents, and even become excited! As everyday went by, they fell even more in love with each other. Malachi realized that Amber was the girl he loved with all of his heart, and wanted to make his wife. Two weeks before their senior year, Chi asked Amber’s dad Jeremy for his blessing. Luckily he gave it to him without hesitating. Malachi called Amber and told her he wanted to take her out to dinner the next Saturday night. He had one week to find her the perfect ring! He took his best friend Daniel along to pick one out. Together they found her a gorgeous princess set, two carat engagement ring. Finally, he was ready to ask for her hand in marriage, and he couldn’t have been more excited.

A week later they were sitting in Malachi’s truck driving to Oshkosh. Amber had her hand on his leg and she was smiling contently. “Where are we going babe?” she asked innocently.

“For the millionth time, it’s a surprise!” he exclaimed with a smirk on his face. An hour later they were eating dessert and he saw the perfect opportunity to pop the question. “You know babe this has been the best year of my life. Ever since the first time I laid eyes on you, I haven’t been able to stop looking at you. You are georgous, sweet, hilarious, and everything I want in a girl. I can’t imagine life without you. I love you Amber.” he hesitated since his nerves were going crazy. He got on his knees and looked up into Amber’s sparkling eyes. Amber held her breath, as she realized what was going to happen next. “Will you be my wife?” he asked nervously as he opened a small, velvet, black box revealing a sparkling diamond ring.

“Oh Malachi. Of course! Yes!” she jumped into his arms, as the rest of the restaurant erupted in applause.

A little while later, they were sitting in the truck driving home. They were both still reeling from the proposal. Neither of them had said anything for quite a while, but all of a sudden Chi spoke up. “What about Ryan for a boy?”

“That’s cute! I love it!” she replied. “How about Ryan Jack?” Amber threw out, smiling from ear to ear.

“I think its perfect!” he grabbed her had off the seat and intertwined his fingers into hers. “Absolutely perfect.” As he said this he reached her driveway and pulled into it. When he slowed to a stop he leaned over and kissed her goodnight. “I’ll call you in the morning okay baby?”

“I’ll be waiting!” she said with a smile. She watched him drive away until she could no longer see his truck. She sprinted up the stairs and immediately called Miranda.
Miranda: Hello?
Amber: OMG guess what?!
Miranda: What?!
Amber: You know how I told you that Chi was taking me out to dinner tonight?
Miranda: Yes, how could I forget?
Amber: Well, at dinner he proposed!!!
Miranda: OMG that’s amazing!!! Amber I am so happy for you! This is crazy!
Amber: Yeah I know right! Guess what else?
Miranda: What?
Amber: We’ve decided to name the baby Ryan Jack if it’s a boy!
Miranda: Oh that’s such a cute name for my God baby!
Amber: Who said you are going to be the Godmother?
Miranda: Um…if I’m not the Godmother you are D.E.A.D dead!
Amber: Oh Mandy you are hilarious, but don’t worry I am only messing around. Of course you will be the Godmother!
Miranda: Good! I will be the best Godmother ever!
Amber: Ha-ha I already know that girly! Well I’m super tired so I’ll talk to you later.
Miranda: Call me in the morning?
Amber: Definitely! Love you, good night.
Miranda: Love you too, bye.
Amber: Bye.

When she hung up, she threw the phone on the end table and collapsed onto her bed. She passed out right away and dreamt of her fiancé.

A few days later Malachi called Amber and asked her if she wanted to go furniture shopping later in the day. Of course she wanted to and when he drove in Amber climbed up in his truck and smiled at him.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked.


“You.”

“Me? What about me?”

“Everything.” she replied, still smiling.

“So how amazing, hot, and sexy I am?”

“All of the above!” she giggled. They spent the next five hours buying everything and anything a baby could ever need. They ended up deciding on a safari themed room. As they drove home, they sat there listening to the radio just enjoying each other’s presence. Chi turned the radio down a smidge and turned towards Amber.

“You know you’re going be an amazing mother.”

“Aw thanks Chi! You’re going to be the world’s best dad!” They continue on with their conversation the rest of the way home.

Chi was driving home from dropping Amber off. He was jamming out to the radio thinking about her. Suddenly he saw something odd in the distance. As he came closer he saw that there were two cars parked on the side of the road. He realized that three of the biggest thugs in his school were standing in the ditch, beating up some guy. When they saw him, they grabbed the victim’s money, jumped in their car and sped away. Chi jumped out of the truck, and ran over to the man. He was bleeding everywhere so Chi called 911.

As soon as the police got there, Malachi got in his truck and drove away. He knew that those three thugs were bad news and he didn’t want to get into even more trouble with them than he already was, especially James. James was the leader of their little group and he was always getting into trouble. With the cops, teachers, and his parents. You name it, he’s done it. Chi feared that if James thought he had told on them, he would come after him. When he got home, he went to bed right away and tried his hardest to forget everything that had just happened.

Chi woke up to banging on the front door. He figured his parents were already at work so he got out of bed to answer it. He saw on his alarm clock that it was only seven a.m. Who could be here this early? He wondered. He almost fainted when he saw three cops standing in his living room. They questioned him about the crime, and under a huge amount of pressure, he told them everything. As soon as he told them, he knew that he was screwed.

Three weeks later, Chi and Amber were hanging out in the parking lot after Malachi’s football game with a few friends. They were having a blast until James and two of his friends came over to them.

“So you snitched on me huh?” James asked angrily.



“What are you talking about?” Chi responded nervously.

“I know you were there! I also know you were the one who told the cops!” James’s voice grew louder and louder until it reached a full out roar. “You’re going to pay for this!” All of a sudden James jumped on Chi and the two of them started punching each other. Daniel and Miranda quickly separated the two, but everyone knew that James was still seething with anger. James and his friends got into their car. “You have not seen the last of me Malachi!” James shouted as he and his friends drove away in their busted up car.

“Are you okay?” asked Amber as she clung to Chi.

“Yeah I’m fine. It’s no big deal.” lied Chi. Deep down inside he knew James would not rest until he got what he wanted. Revenge in the form of blood.

“Daniel have you seen Chi? He didn’t text me all weekend and now I can’t find him.” asked Amber full of worry.

“Sorry Amber but I haven’t seen him either.” replied Daniel who was Chi’s best friend.

“Ugh, where could he be?”

“I don’t know but it’s not normal for him to ignore someone like that…especially you.” he replied.

“I thought so too…what about James? Have you seen him?”

“No.”

“Remember when James said ‘You haven’t seen the last of me Malachi!’ after the football game last Friday? He clearly wants revenge, what if he…” she couldn’t finish her sentence for fear that she would burst out in tears.

“Come on. I think we should talk to the cops.” said Daniel as he put his hand on Amber’s back and led her out the front door into the parking lot. When she got outside the school, she turned to look at Daniel.

“Do you think he’s okay?”

“I hope so Amber, I hope so.” stated Daniel as he gathered Amber in a hug. “Come on, we better go.” They got into Daniel’s black, jacked-up Dodge truck and drove straight to the police station.

Two hours later a full-on search party as launched. Amber was feeling completely overwhelmed because everyone was talking to her, asking her a million questions.

“Do you have any idea where James would take him?” a police man asked Amber.

“Well the bluffs around my house are really dense. He could’ve taken him there…” Amber paused as she heard her own words. She was making it sound like Chi was dead. He can’t be dead, could he? All of a sudden the cave popped into her head. She had put multiple comments on Facebook about the heart, including where it is. “Check the heart, it’s this one cave Chi and I love. It’s very secluded, the perfect place for someone to…kill someone.” Tears flowed out of her eyes for the first time that day as she said those words.

“Come on Hun, let’s drive there.” Miranda said as she pulled Amber towards her sky blue mini cooper. Please God, don’t let him be dead! Amber begged over and over in her head as they were driving. What would she do if he were gone? She knew she couldn’t live without him…she was 100% sure about that.

When she got to the heart, Amber saw a half dozen cop cars surrounding the entrance of the cave. She had a gut feeling that it was bad. She ran as fast as she possibly could trying to get to the cave. Thirty feet away from the entrance, Daniel caught her.

“Amber you can’t go in there! Please stay here! Please!” pleaded Daniel.

“No you don’t understand! Please let me go! Please! I just need to be with Malachi!” As soon as she finished that sentence she saw two EMT’s carry out a stretcher with a black body bag on top of it with solemn looks on their faces. “NO! He can’t be dead!” A cop walked over and handed Daniel a note. It read, ‘This is what happens to snitches.’ Amber took one look at it and instantly started bawling. Miranda rushed over to her and gathered her in her arms. Amber continued sobbing on her shoulder. Her fiancé had been murdered, now she was positive that she was going to die too…of sorrow. Is it possible to die of sorrow? It must be…the pain she felt was too intense to live through.

A week later, Amber stood in front of the church, about to read a good bye letter she had written to Malachi. “Chi I have only known you for a little over a year but over only a few short months you have become my everything. You were my first love, my first kiss, my first everything. I never used to believe in love at first sight but when I saw you on the first day of junior year I knew that I was wrong. You showed me that true love is real and you made me the happiest girl every time we spoke. I will miss you every day. You are always going to be in my heart and on my mind. I will love our baby, just as you would have.” Tears filled her eyes. “I will always love you, but I’ve got to let you go now. I love you. Good bye.” Amber put the note in his casket and sat down. Goodbye Malachi. I love you. Was all she could think.

James was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. It was a comfort to know that there would be justice for Chi, but Amber’s pain was too hard to bear. She spent three weeks grieving at home before returning to school. Eventually Amber was able to move on, still holding Chi’s love in her heart. She was finally able to smile and laugh again. It was hard but she was able to live through it with the knowledge that Chi would’ve wanted her to be happy.

Four months after Chi’s funeral Amber and Miranda were setting up the baby’s nursery. They were talking and laughing, and all of a sudden Amber’s water broke.

Thirteen hours later, Amber gazed into the eyes of her beautiful, newborn baby girl.

“I’m going to name her Kylee and call her Ky after her dad.” For the first time in months she was able to talk about Malachi without crying. While looking into her baby’s dark brown eyes that mirrored her father’s, she whispered “Baby girl, he would’ve loved you.” While holding her daughter, she felt happy and whole for the first time in quite a while. She looked up towards the sky and whispered, “Here she is. Our perfect baby girl. I love you.” She gazed at her daughter, and once again felt love at first sight.