In late Autumn, three seasons have come and gone by the time she meets love.

The leaves have already turned to a combination of red and golden brown when it happens. Freshly fallen, the crisp leaves twirls at her feet as the breeze dances across her face. The chill air that managed to get through her thick, red scarf nips at her nose, and she burrows deeper into the warm knit. Her eyes light up when she stops in her footsteps and sees someone waiting beside the school gates. Knowing that he’s waiting for her, she rushes up to him, a smile spreading across her face.

“Hey you,” she says softly, eyes glinting at him.

"Hey yourself,” he says back, breaking out into a heart-shaped smile as he takes her small hand into his own.

Her smile never leaves her face, and her eyes form shining crescents as she follows his lead. She stares at him in absolute adoration, wondering how lucky she was to have met and fallen in love with someone like him, someone so breathtakingly wonderful.

They had first met at a party for a mutual acquaintance in the heat of the summer. They exchanged glances of curiosity and desire, but neither was ready to make a move. Friendship didn’t grow into something more until a white blanket of snow covered the ground, a time when bitter coffee mixed with the sweetest hot chocolate lingered in the air. However, the time wasn’t right yet. Love had blossomed in the season of new life, and he had asked her out when the trees bore the beginnings of cherries, apples, and sweet peaches. Trying to hide a flushed face and wearing a smile brighter than the sun, she replied with a quiet “Yes.”

She’s released from her trance when she stumbles forward, slipping on one of the fallen leaves. She