Chapter Eleven: I Just Can’t Love You:

Attraction just doesn’t know how to quit. It refuses to hear the word “no” even when the situation just doesn’t look right. Cephalla and Michael could barely talk to each other anymore. In fact when he came to the island, he tried to avoid her altogether. Cephalla couldn’t stand how things turned out between them.

“Grandma,” she complained on one spring morning. “How do you get rid of love?” Her grandmother closed the oven door.

“My child, you are so young,” she said. “Love simply just doesn’t go away.”

“But what if it’s with the wrong person?” Cephalla asked. The old lady turned around with a concerned look on her face.

“Is this about that photographer?” she asked. Her granddaughter pressed her lips together as she nodded. The old lady patted her on the head.

“I know this hard for you, but you have to move from him,” she told her. “This war won’t last long and he will be gone.”

“I know,” Cephalla muttered under her breath. First attraction is not that easy to forget as everyone likes to pretend. Poor Cephalla can’t forget no one how many of the islanders tell her to.

“He’s too old for you.”

“It wouldn’t work out.”

“You would be better off looking for a young man your age.”

“You need to focus on school.”

“Your future doesn’t need him.”

“Your home is here with us.”

“He’ll probably marry some American woman after the war.”

The excuses didn’t end there. Cephalla became just about tired of hearing all of them. Still, it did nothing change how she felt about Michael. In the course of a year, the girl grew to get to know him. She lay on her bed and sighed. I don’t understand it. Why can’t I let him go? Cephalla let off a loud scream in her pillow. She didn’t even hear the knock on her door.

“Cephalla, are you okay in there?” her grandmother asked. The teenage girl lifted her head.

“Huh?” she asked.

“I’m coming in, okay?” the old lady asked. Cephalla sighed as she rolled over onto her back as her bedroom door opened. Her grandmother noticed the frown on her face.

“Cephalla…” she said. The girl put her hands on her head, screaming.

“Gag!” she cried. “Why can’t I get him out of my head?!” Her grandmother quietly closed the door behind her. Cephalla looked at her through the cracks of her hands.

“Please don’t tell me something I already don’t know,” she complained. Her grandmother smiled as she shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I want to tell you a little story.” Cephalla lifted her head.

“Huh?” she asked. Her grandmother took a seat next to her on the bed.

“Look ago, your grandfather and I first met in Greece,” she began. “It’s kind of a complicated story so bear with me here. You see, we didn’t really like each other at first.”

Her granddaughter gave her a blank stare. “What?”

“No, he liked my younger sister and I had a crush on his best friend.”

“Then… how did--?”

Her grandmother patted her on the hand. “He was trying to ask my sister out on a date and got her name mixed up with mine.” She laughed as she shook her head. “That was the most awkward date that I had ever had.”

“Then why did you--?”

Her grandmother shrugged her shoulders. “It just happened that way. We fell in love and moved on from our silly crushes.”

“I don’t understand,” Cephalla said. “Why are you telling me this?” Her grandmother put her arm around her shoulders.

“I’m saying that the heart is a strange being,” she answered. “You might feel one way on one day and before you know it, that feeling would shift before you have a chance to grasp what was going on.”

“So?”

“You have to figure out how to deal with it on your own.”

“I don’t understand it.”

“You will when you see it.”

Cephalla couldn’t grasp her grandmother’s words, but she knew that things between her and Michael wouldn’t last long like this. She said at the kitchen table in a daze. Her heart ached for him, but everything else screamed at her to stop. It was then she figured that asking anyone wouldn’t help her. A determined look came over her face.

I am just going to have to tell him, Cephalla thought. She decided that she wouldn’t back down, no matter what. I just have to go up, talk to him, and just let it all out. With a ring of the doorbell, she wouldn’t have to wait for that chance long.

“Michael?” she heard her grandmother ask at the front door. “What are doing here? How did you find this house?” Cephalla lifted her head. Without a pause for thought, she leapt up and raced to the front door. Michael and her grandmother looked up to see her panting like a mad woman, gripping the door frame.

“Cephalla?” her grandmother asked. The girl held up her hand as she caught her breath.

“You!” she shouted, pointing at Michael. The photographer pointed to his chest.

“Me?” he asked.

“Yes!” Cephalla shouted. Her finger trembled as she dug in her brain to speak. “I like you, you idiot!” Her grandmother and Michael already saw the car wreck slowly plowing into the wall.

“Cephalla, stop!” her grandmother shouted, flagging her. Cephalla stood up straight with a brows lowered.

“I really like you!” she shouted at Michael. “I like you and it’s driving me crazy! I tried, but I can’t stop thinking about you! We might not be able to be together, but that still doesn’t change me liking you! I… I…!” Cephalla clenched her fists at her sides. “I just like you!” She opened her eyes. Michael gave her a blank stare. The teenage girl’s face colored over bright red.

Come on, you idiot! Say something!