text: The cold Autumn air was nipping at my nose as I stood in one of the uniform rows of the orchard. I smiled as I fondly remembered why this was my favorite place in the whole world. Even though the air was frigid and it was supposed to snow soon, I felt warm. Fond memories flooding my mind. I plucked an apple from a tree branch before sitting on the blanket I brought and tossing the apple over in my hands. The red skin on the apple made me smile, she had red hair. Bright, beautiful, red hair. I laid down and held the apple close, closing my eyes. I’ll forever love fall and it’s all thanks to you, Acorn Mathers. Acorn Mathers, my long term girlfriend. We dated for five years, starting in ninth grade. I got to watch her grow as my best friend, my closest companion. We spent every hour that we could together. She had fiery red hair, the cutest mask of freckles that covered nearly every inch of her cheeks, and finally her eyes, beautiful and olive green. Her favorite season? Autumn. Favorite flavor? Pumpkin spice. Top three favorite colors? Red, orange, and brown. Hell she even changed her name because of her adoration for the stupid cold time of the year. We were such opposites in every aspect. But slowly she chiseled her way through my walls. I was someone who preferred the warmer months as you could guess. Spring and summer, I was all for that. I didn’t have to worry about shivering out at the bus stop, or panic if I couldn’t find gloves or a hat. I hated the cold, despised it even. So Autumn for me started my countdown to the colder days of the year. It meant snow. It meant icy winds. It was just uninviting and prickly. I was so convinced no one would ever change my mind. Let me explain this for you, ninth grade, mid to late Autumn class trip. I was with my secluded group of friends, complaining about how my parents forced me to go so I could bond with my classmates. I was the type of kid to not go on any class trips, ever, I didn’t like socializing. I was sitting in the cafeteria, waiting to be assigned a bus to travel in. We were going apple picking. It seemed so elementary but the whole grade voted on it as a whole. A lot of people were excited, mostly for the pictures they could take there. What they’re going to use the apple’s for, how apple orchards are so beautiful during fall. But I wasn’t convinced, not even a bit. I remember almost every detail of that day. Even though I was sure I was going to hate it. I was on bus 18, I sat in the second to last seat in the back of the bus, I spent the day with a vibrant personality ginger, and I fell in love. I sat on the back of the bus in hopes that no one would sit by me. My friends were on different buses and I didn’t talk to anyone else in my grade. I had my hood pulled up and my earbuds in, playing my music loudly. I didn’t even notice when someone had sat next to me until halfway through the ride when the driver slammed on the breaks. I had jolted in my seat and placed both my hands on the back of the seat in front of me to keep my face from smashing into it. That’s when I saw her shoes. I took out my earbuds, I might have been antisocial but I’m not rude. “Hi,” I tentatively spoke. The first thing I noticed was her hair. Down past her shoulders and curly as all hell. Next, were her eyes. Olive green, but if you stared for long enough when the light caught them a certain way they’d be brighter than the sun, I swear. Lastly, her freckles, beautiful marks across her milky skin. Now, back then her name wasn’t Acorn- it was still Elise. “Hello,” she responded with such excitement in her voice. All around her was just brightness itself. I normally don’t like those kinds of people. “I’m Lilin, sorry I didn’t notice you sitting here before, I assumed everyone was at the front of the bus like usual,” I mumbled softly. “Oh nice to meet you, I’m Elise. And don’t worry about the not noticing me part. I didn’t want to bother you since you had earbuds in, but I didn’t want you to be sitting alone either,” she beamed. I pulled my hood tighter around my head, closing it most of the way with the sweatshirt strings. I didn’t want her to see how embarrassed that made me. It’s not that hard to make me blush, a lot of shy people are like that. “Well are you excited?” she asked while practically bouncing in her seat. “Not particularly, I hate fall,” I looked out the window as I spoke. I don’t think my little teenage heart could have handled looking at her any longer. I felt the bouncing on the seat stop. “ WHAT? ” “You don’t have to scream...” “You HATE? Fall. That’s impossible. It’s like, the best season.” “Oh really? How so, it’s cold, it rains and even snows. I don’t think so ma’am,” I nearly snarled at the thought of the season. The girl’s face was pure shock. I had just made the biggest mistake, but the best mistake, of my life that day. I was met with an hour long rant for the rest of the bus ride. I heard about nearly every little detail that she loved about fall. There was so much passion it was impossible not to smile at some parts. I learned about the countless pumpkin recipes her mom makes that they only have during the fall. I heard about how she sees trees when they change color and why those colors are now her favorite. I heard about her superstition of “if you catch a falling leaf in the wind you’ll have good luck for the rest of the day” or something like that. How pumpkin spice makes everything just taste so much better. How wrapping up in sweaters and mittens and scarves and going on long walks with the most important people in your life can be the best part of your month. Collecting acorns, leaf piles, apple cider, the crisp air. Everything. Before I knew it we were at the orchard. Since we’re in highschool, we’re free to roam around the orchard by ourselves in our own groups. If we needed help or something happened to someone, the adults and chaperones were going to be at the barn. So it was perfect! I was about to run off and find my friends but a certain ginger stopped me. “Let's spend the day together! I’ll show you why I love fall first hand,” she smiled as she spoke and I felt my heart skip a beat. How could I have said no to that? It was like every romance novel I’d ever read. So naturally, I agreed. We walked next to the orchard, Elise said we could pick apples before we go, that she wanted to look for acorns and catch leaves with me first. It felt kind of childish, I guess we’re only in ninth grade. There’s no rush to grow up. I was just following her to the edges of the orchard where there were trees, sure enough they were all red and orange, a bit of yellow mixed in. We spent what felt like hours in that little corner on the outskirts of the orchard. Elise occasionally would pick up acorns and her face was priceless. She got so excited every time she found one. She’d gasp then run and show me before pocketing it and wandering off again. I was actually enjoying myself. My nose was pink with the cold and my fingers were numb from being out of my pockets, but I didn’t seem to care. We were chasing after leaves that were blowing in all different directions. Elise didn’t catch any but I caught one, guess I have good luck now. “We should probably go pick apples now,” she giggled out, a bit breathless from all of our running around. “Oh, yeah I forgot about that,” I blushed, kind of embarrassed again. But I didn’t hide this time, I was sure my cheeks were already wind burned so it didn’t matter. She held her hand out for me and I smiled before taking it. We picked a random row to walk down. We had each been given a bag to fill with apples and take home. I was examining apples to see if I should even bother with picking them. My family doesn’t really eat apples all that fast, so I didn’t want any that looked like they’d go bad soon. I sighed, already bored. I looked to see what Elise was doing, and I saw her on her tiptoes, trying to reach an apple. She was never going to be able to even get close. “Do you want some help there shortie?” I chided. She was only one or two inches shorter, but I was relatively short for our age. So knowing that I was indeed taller, helped my pride. “I’m not that short!!! But yes, I’d like help,” she pouted. How cute. I walked over and leaned down so she could climb onto my shoulders. She was surprisingly light. I’m used to carrying my siblings, who mind you are older and much heavier. I looked up and she was able to reach the apple, she grinned down at me gently taking the apple from the branch. We just stood there like that, staring at each other. Neither of us dared to move, scared we’d interrupt the peace that had settled among us. Long minutes had passed before Elise started blushing furiously, her face almost matching her hair. “Th-thank you,” she nervously stuttered. “You’re welcome...” I set her down again and cleared my throat, “we should probably keep picking apples.” I avoided her gaze. “Yeah- we should.” Even though we had agreed, we didn’t move, we just stood there. My eyes glued to the ground, her eyes were on me, I know because I could feel them. I couldn’t take standing like that much longer, my anxiety was through the roof. So I turned and kept walking, rather fast. My heart was running marathons in my chest. What was wrong with me? It’s just some really pretty girl that likes my least favorite season, no one special. For the rest of the day Elise and I found it very hard to form complete sentences. So we just kind of, picked our apples while stealing glances towards each other. Our eyes would meet sometimes and both of our faces would be set aflame. As we neared the end of the row we were in, our bags were filled to the top with apples. I was kind of sad that this probably meant the last time I’d ever talk with Elise. Even with the awkwardness it was the most fun I’d had in awhile. Secretly I’d hoped that she’d sit by me on the bus again. Although that might be asking for a bit much. We both stepped into the barn to see we were the last ones to come back from picking apples. Everyone turned to look at us. “What took you so long?” someone called from across the room. Elise and I just looked at each other and smiled. ~*~ I smiled at the apple in my hands and took a bite. It had been a while since I’d even seen my Acorn. She left a few years ago to study some super smart person subject at a fancy college across the country. I wonder what she looked like, probably still gorgeous as ever. Sure we were able to call every now and then, but we didn’t bother with face time because we didn’t want to miss each other too much. Not to mention the hours of time difference, when she had free time I was sometimes asleep or I was busy. It was a pain in the ass but we survived somehow. I heard a gasp from my left and sat up immediately. There she was. Standing ten feet from me. Her beautiful hair pulled back into a bun. Her eyes stained with tears, happy I hope. She’d grown taller since the summer before college, just a little bit. I think we might be the same height now. My body was in shock. It’s like it forgot how to function. But eventually I got to my feet and ran and jumped into her arms. She caught me so we didn’t topple over, thank god. My lips crashed onto hers and we held each other incredibly tight. The same orchard, the same row, the same tree. The same Acorn I love so deeply. My Acorn, my Autumn. “So,” she smiled at me and set me down, hands on my waist, “Let’s pick some apples.” I smiled back brightly, “Of course, what else would we do here?” I love fall.