It was so easy to forget the seconds, minutes, or hours that passed by. Most moments in the day were simply forgotten, being too mundane to be remembered.

           Amelia Roy was not a memory that people liked to cling to. She was like the sands of time in the minds of people: forgotten.

Even though she was a Roy, most people forgot that she was or forgot about her entirely. She was even more ignored than Connor. She was the girl stuck in her room with her head in a book. She was a quiet soul content to disappear inside the worlds at her fingertips. And everyone let her disappear.

Except one.

Amelia Roy met Stewy Hosseini when she was in the third grade. When he met her, that moment was one that not even the sands of time could tarnish in his mind; that memory was forever as all the rest of them were.

Stewy was brought over to the Roy household for the first time when he was in the fifth grade. He'd never seen Amelia since he and Kendall went to Buckley which was an all boys school. The only thing he knew about Amelia was that she was antisocial as Kendall had said.

Kendall had been called away by his father as soon as they entered the house. He called on Lia to give him a tour while he attended to his father. Then Kendall uttered quietly.

"Yeah, so she's going through a phase. I'm sorry."

Stewy did not know what he was apologizing for as he left before a gentle, quiet voice made itself known, "Hi."

She held her hands behind her back as she fumbled with them. She stared at him with big, brown eyes. She had little braided pigtails and she dressed like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz except she had silver shoes.

"Aren't they supposed to be red?" he questioned.

"No," her eyes lit up with fiery passion. "That's only the movie. They're silver in the books."

"I've read every single one of them," she said proudly with a cute, dimpled smile before she grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her to her room. "Here, I'll show you my collection."

Stewy felt his eyes widen as she dragged him to her room. Then she started to ramble on and on about her favorite books as she pointed to different ones on the shelves.

          He listened with rapture while he glanced periodically at her cute, dimpled smile. Or how her eyes would light up when she'd start a rant on a different book she pointed to. She held so much affection in her eyes for these pages that could not utter any words of affection back. It was riveting. She had a natural ability to make anyone enthused over whatever she was talking about just from how bright her aura shined. At least, that was what Stewy believed.

         He was interrupted with his fascination when Kendall joined them with a scolding tone, "Lia, we've been over this. No one wants to hear about your books."

         "Sorry, bro," Kendall apologized while Amelia looked at her brother with a hurt teary-eyed gaze while she crossed her arms.

         "Dude, don't be mean," Stewy lectured Kendall before he looked at the cute, precious Amelia.

            "I thought it was fascinating," Stewy gave her a soft smile. "Thanks for showing me."

         Amelia looked at him with bright eyes as her cute dimples revealed themselves again. He was glad he got her to smile again as he left the room with Kendall. He didn't know why Kendall was so annoyed with her; she was absolutely adorable in his eyes.

          _____

         As the years passed, his fascination with Amelia grew. It was a quiet, unspoken fascination with only glances he secretly threw in her direction.

          But even with those few glances he seemed to learn more about her than even her siblings knew. He noticed she loved The Alchemist. He'd seen it with her so many times; he also noticed how weathered and worn it was from how many times she'd escaped into its pages. He guessed it was her favorite book; it simply had to be.

         So on her sixteenth birthday, he sent her a gift. While every single one of her siblings got her the most popular book on the market (which she didn't even want), Stewy got her something else.

          Amelia hated birthday parties ever since she was five. Roman had taken the cake and smashed it onto her face. She had cried and she never wanted a party ever again.

          So every year she merely just got some gifts her family members picked out and that was it. She was content with it even though she ended up throwing out the gifts anyways because no one seemed to know what to really get her. She did not expect a present to arrive from someone other than her siblings.

         "Your little crush sent you something," Shiv teased as she handed Amelia a beautifully wrapped gift. She snatched it from Shiv before running off to her room to open in private.

              Amelia immediately blushed at the thought of Stewy. Her sister knew she had a huge crush on Stewy. Every time Kendall brought him over, she'd get all red in the face and she'd feel butterflies erupt in the pit of her stomach. It was because Stewy gave her his own nickname. Mia. She supposed the crush started from that first time they met because he was one of the few people that didn't make her feel pathetic for loving books so much.

        But besides their short greetings and stolen glances, they didn't talk. So she didn't expect Stewy to get her a gift, especially, because her birthday was in the summer. She knew from Kendall he was on vacation with his family in Greece or something.

        Her heart beat faster and her palms got clammy at the thought that he was thinking of her in some beautiful foreign country. And once she opened up the gift, she gained a wide smile.

        It was a first edition copy of the English version of The Alchemist. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down at the well thought out gift. Then she held the book to her chest as her heart squeezed with adoration as she thought of Stewy.

          _____

            Amelia didn't see Stewy again until school started back up. They still went to separate schools but Stewy learned about her favorite coffee shop she went to after school. It wasn't hard to convince Kendall to go there every day after school with there posse of friends. His excuse was that this coffee shop was his favorite (and it wasn't untrue; it just wasn't the coffee that made it his favorite).

       They were a rowdy, popular crew and they never stayed very long. But it satiated him. He'd get to see Amelia enter the coffee shop and order the same thing. There was a little bookshelf that she'd glide her fingers over the spines ever so delicately. There was so much care in her movements and she'd have a small, little smile as she gazed at the books. He wanted her to smile at him like that.

          Week after week, he'd watch her do that. She'd end up picking one out and taking it home for the week before bringing it back the next week and picking a new book.

           He never worked up the courage to go talk to her. And Amelia started to believe that his gift over the summer had simply been a polite gift; one he'd gotten because she was simply just the sister of his best friend and he felt obligated. But that was far from the truth.

           He was too afraid to ruin what was simply art with the way she smiled; too afraid to ruin how content she was. There was no way she'd ever be more content with him than those books; he'd never hold her heart the way those books held hers so there was simply no point in trying.

            But it didn't mean he couldn't indulge himself with just a small step into her world. Into her orbit that pulled him in like gravity.

One day, he'd gotten to the coffee shop much earlier than Kendall and the rest of his friends. Amelia was sipping on her coffee while she ran her fingers over the spines of the books.

He swore he spent most glances looking at her hands. He could tell what she was thinking if he looked at her hands; she'd grip a book tightly like she was on the edge of her seat while she read it or her fingers would dance across a page like the words excited her.

He swore he'd die happy if he received one simple touch from her gentle hands. And in the quiet of the coffee shop with only the grinding of coffee beans, he finally worked up the courage to potentially gain that touch.

"Mia," he greeted ever so softly as he stepped up beside her in front of the bookshelf while she sipped on her coffee.

She swallowed a bit harshly as she turned her gaze slowly to him. Her cheeks reddened slightly, "Hi, Stewy."

"I'm glad your love of literature didn't change over the summer," he smiled. "Or my gift would've been a waste. Did you like it?"

"Of course I did," she ran her fingers over the spines again to calm her nerves. "It's my favorite book."

"I know," he said softly. "You read it at least four times every year."

"You've noticed?"

"You're hard not to notice," he admitted.

Her heart raced in her chest and her stomach swam with butterflies as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, "I am?"

He hummed in agreement as his fingers followed hers on their path across the books. Once he took a step closer (so close she could nearly feel his breath on her cheek), her movements paused and his fingers brushed hers as he spoke, "And one thing I've always wondered: why do you like read so much?"

It took her a moment to answer as she realized she was holding her breath. So she exhaled as she spoke, "I like all the possibilities. There are a million and one ways to die and a million and one ways to live."

"Like your life doesn't have possibilities?"

"If I wanted to fit in more with my family, there is only one: to fight for scraps at a table I don't want," she said a bit morose.

It was silent for a moment before his lips quirked, "A million and one, uh? Sounds exciting. Will you save one for me? I'd like to be apart of one of these possibilities."

She smiled, "Maybe I will."

Then she turned her head to finally offer him a view of that bright, gorgeous brown-eyed gaze. Her waves of thick brown hair framed her face and fell down her back. Her dimpled hopeful grin made him smile as he lost the ability to breathe.

He wanted to kiss her then. To kiss her lips that probably tasted of vanilla, mocha, and spice. He'd be addicted to those lips forever if he ever tasted them.

            Just as he thought that he might kiss her, the bell above the door rang as Kendall and the rest of their friends stepped through. The spell was quickly broken between them as he took a step back. And perhaps it was for the best because he'd be graduating in a couple of months and there'd be so much distance between them.

           _____

          The months passed and Kendall was graduating from high school which meant Stewy was, too. There was a little celebratory party thrown for Kendall; his friends attended but Kendall told her the real party would be later that he was sneaking out to. She didn't care because at this celebratory party, Stewy attended.

           She was so excited because she had gotten him a gift.

          Once she found the right moment, she grabbed his hand and pulled him quickly to her room. It reminded him of the first time they met.

          "If you're intending to show me all the books in your room, you've done that," Stewy said as he followed along behind her while his eyes roamed over her backside; she was wearing a red dress. It was completely conservative but she looked gorgeous.

          "Shut up," she said as she pulled him into her room and shut the door. "I got you a gift."

        "You're so always so sweet," Stewy teased and her cheeks reddened a bit.

          She rolled her eyes before she went and snatched a small gift box off her nightstand. She handed it to him and he glanced at her before he lifted the lid off the box. He smiled as he found a bracelet with the inscription a million and one.

He slipped it onto his wrist before he set the box down. He looked at her softly before he held his arms out a bit, "Come here."

She hurried into his embrace and threw her arms around him. She rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. He laid a kiss atop her head.

She clutched onto him tightly and they held onto each other for a long moment. He was going off to Harvard and this was goodbye. Feelings bubbled below the surface and, perhaps, one day they'd mean something. Perhaps, the million and one possibilities would lead them to future where they could act on them. But that wasn't today.

Today was melancholy hugs and feeling his lips on her forehead; today was holding hands before he let them go.

AN: I imagine the bracelet to look like this