I stuff the last t-shirt from my closet into my suit case and breathe out a long sigh. Today's the day, I'm finally leaving for Holmes Chapel. I have this huge churning inside my stomach that just won't seem to settle and I don't if it's because I'm scared or excited. I sit down on my now bare bed and just look around. My eyes lock onto every corner of the room before adverting to every empty piece of furniture sat up against the walls. My black desk no longer has a blue macbook sat on it for use whenever I needed an internet break or a pink stereo that was always right there when my soul craved it's favorite music. My wooden bedside table doesn't have that stupid alarm clock that woke me up every morning at 5:00 am on it anymore and as much as I hate it I feel myself wishing it was still there, that everything was still here and that mom and dad were still alive. If only life had spiraled differently.
My phone alarm goes off signaling that it's time to leave. My grandmother was moved to an elderly home two days ago and my best friend Skye said her 'goodbyes' last week due to a family trip, so that leaves just me and the house, the house I've lived in for 16 years, 13 years with my parents and 3 with my grandmother. This house is no longer where I live....It will always be my home though. I walk down the stairs and can't help but think of when me and my cousin Lucas used to slide down it with our sleds. It would always leave a trail of snow and water all the way down the stairs and down the hall making my parents pissed, but we were young and didn't care. I walk down the hall into the living room and smile as I imagine my dad sitting on the couch yelling at the tv about a bad call in football, I tear my eyes from the memory and walk into the kitchen. My mind floods with laughter from me, my mother, and my grandmother as I attempted to cook for the first time and failed miserably. My feet reach the edge of the door and I turn around smiling as I feel my eyes start to water. I spin on my heel and pull open the door walking out and closing it behind me.
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I walk down the stairs of the airport and there is my aunt in a red trench coat smiling widely with her long sandy blonde hair pushed up into a small professional bun. I run up to her, drop my bags, and nearly strangle her in a hug. Her scent floods through my nostrils bringing tears back to my eyes. She pulls me from her and hold me at arms length looking at my face "Aww don't cry Ellie, it's all going to be okay now. Goodness you're beautiful. I saw you only two years ago and you've changed so much. I missed you". I look into her eyes, smile and say "Thank you, I missed you too".
"C'mon now, let's get you home and settled in". She picks up one of my bags and I pick up the other two. We carry them through the airport and out to her black Mini Cooper where we carefully toss the bags in the small trunk before hopping in the car and driving away slowly. She turns the radio on and my ears are filled with the beautiful sound of Ed Sheeran's voice, "Photograph's" lyrics seem to match the words in my heart as I stare out the car window watching everything around us pass by.
The drive lasts for about 20 minutes, until we finally pull up next to a tall white house with a red door and red shutters. I've never seen her house, hell I've never even been to Europe, so seeing it now for the first time takes my breathe away. It's huge and beautiful, I knew my aunt had lots of money so I guess I should've seen a house such as this coming.
I open the door to the Mini Cooper and step out not taking my eyes off the beautiful house that will now be my home. I shut the door and walk around the car to grab my bags. My aunt then is beside me grabbing a bag as well before heading towards the door to her home with me hot on her heels. Upon her pushing the door open I hear a whistle from somewhere outside, I immediately turn around and look back out the door to across the street where there is a boy with chocolate brown hair. He has a white t-shirt on and from this amount of distance I can make out plenty of black inked scribed down his right arm. I can't make out his facial features or much about his appearance, but I can tell that he is staring at me and that the rude whistle I just heard from him was directed at me. Before I can yell a snarky remark to him about him being a disgusting asshole, I am pulled into the house and the door is shut in front of my face. My aunt spins my body around and looks me dead in the eye with a seriousness I wouldn't normally expect from her.
"That boy over there is disgusting. He is nothing even close to a gentleman and he is someone you are definitely not going to associate with. He does a lot of bad things and hurts a lot of people. He is dangerous and I do not want you near him, understand?". I nod my head at my aunts words and she breaks the intense eye contact we had. She shakes her head before looking back into my eyes. "I just want to protect you Ellie. I know you're fragile and I know he will take that for granted. Stay away from him and all his little friends, it is what's best for you. Surround yourself with people that'll make you happy and if you decide you'd like to have a relationship, make it with someone that you know is good enough for you". I nod my head and say: "Thank you, but honestly you don't have to worry about me. I have my priorities and people like him definitely don't stand anywhere on them". She smiles at my words and grabs my bag that had been dropped on the floor upon her outburst. "C'mon your room's up the stairs. I'll give you a tour on the way there".
We walk down the short hallway from the door and enter what is obviously the living room. It has two white sofas on the far wall and a flat screen tv hanging on the wall across the room from them. There's a glass coffee table sat in front of one of the couches and white lace curtains suspended from the tops of the three windows in the room. We then walk through another door on the other side of the hall leading into a gigantic kitchen with what looks like a brand new red kitchen set, a few feet from the set is a good size white island table with two bar stools sat on the opposite side of it. My aunt points to a door across the kitchen and says that it is the dining room. I nod and smile as we walk out of the room and out into a big open space. There's another hall extending from the open space and then there's the staircase. "That hallway leads to my room and my bathroom. Upstairs there is a hall with four doors. The first door on the right is a guest room, the second on the right is a bathroom, the first on the left is a storage room, and the second on the left is your room. I really need to go shower and get ready to go to work. I'm really sorry I can't be with you for your first day here, but feel free to get as comfortable as you can and eat whatever you want. I love you and I really hope you like your room, I had it decorated specially for you. So go check it out and I'm going to go get ready". She wrapped me in a tight hug before pulling away and walking down the hall. I breathe out a big swarm of air I didn't know I was holding in and walk slowly up the stairs. I walk down the hall and to the second door on the left - my room. I take one more big breathe before pushing open the door; I gasp and drop my bags. There's a big window on the far wall with a window seat connected to it, small white, blue, and green pillows are layed across it. On the left wall there is a queen size bed covered in white fluffy duvet that looks extremely soft. A big blue bureau lay up against the right wall and next to it a white vanity that's already topped with a beautiful wooden jewelry box and a clear display stand for make-up. It's amazing, no, it's more than amazing. This is the kind of room I've dreamed of having since I was like 9. I'm seriously going to have to thank my aunt for
this one, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do that, but I'll figure something out.
It took me only an hour to unpack all my clothes, makeup, shoes, bags, and desk essentials. Now it's only 2:00 pm and I have absolutely nothing at all to do. Given I finally have some time to actually relax and take everything in, I decide to go for a walk. This is a typical thing for me, my mind gets all clouded and my thoughts get loud so I blast my music into my headphones and walk down the street to escape from reality for a bit. I go up to my room and change into leggings, a tight black tank top, and a pink fitted hoodie. Honestly I could live in these clothes for the rest of my life. I grab my headphones and my phone before I hop down the stairs grabbing a key on the rack by the door and stepping out into the chilly England air. My feet guide me down the driveway as I turn onto the dark pavement of the main road, I walk at a seemingly slow pace trying to just enjoy the music as it beats through my soul.
I can't help but think about what tomorrow will bring, my first day of highschool in Holmes Chapel. Let's just say, I'm not the least bit excited, meeting new people and socializing really isn't my thing. I don't think I really have anything to worry about anyways since every time I meet someone new they end up immediately hating me. I'm shit at first impressions, I always come off as an unsocial bitch, which I guess I kind of am anyways, but even more so and that's kind of new friend repellant. Cause let's be honest - who wants to be friends with a girl that doesn't feel anything, I mean I'd make for some pretty fucking boring gossip settions. So I guess just avoiding confrontation with anyone at that school is best if I want to make it out of there alive.
I keep walking down the road until I see a dirt road winding off the right side of the road. Thinking to myself that'd it'd be nice to walk down a road where cars aren't constantly passing you - I cross the road and begin walking down. I stare down at my feet as they pad across the brown stony ground, trying to time each step to the beat of the music. I walk for another 20 minutes until I turn around and go back the way home. I'm about 5 minutes from my house, or my aunts house if you will, when a car slows to a stop beside me, I pull one of my earphones out and look at the car, immediately getting anxious and frightened by the mysterious black car with tinted windows that has still not revealed it's driver. The window beside me rolls down smoothly and I am brought face to face with a beautiful boy. His eyes are green and remind me of fresh minty air, I can feel myself getting lost in them with each passing second. His hair is perfectly formed soft brown waves and curls that reach his jawline. Speaking of that jawline, damn, It's perfectly defined in all aspects and I find myself wanting to run my fingers along it. He catches me staring and smirks before speaking in a deep smooth accent. "How was your walk?". It takes me a moment to register what he said before I snap back to reality and give him a confused look. "What?"
His smirk grows, "How was your walk?". "Who the hell are you? You do realize how stalkish and creepy you are being, don't you?"I ask the mysterious boy, he just winks and laughs before speeding off into the distance. I shake my head in confusion and annoyance over the previous events and continue the last of my walk.
I finally reach the driveway and walk to the front door. Putting the key in and turning it, I twist the handle and go to walk in the door, stopping momentarily to look behind me due to an uneasy feeling of being stared at. Sure enough, I am being stared at. Across the road is the boy my aunt warned me about, leaning against his car...his black car. God, I am an idiot, how did I not recognize him? Maybe because that was the first time I saw his face.. but that hair, oh that hair. How could I have not noticed? Even from all the way over here I swear I can see his smirk. I roll my eyes at the mysterious cocky boy and send him a finger before whirling around and stepping into the safety of my aunts home. I shut the door behind me and lock it before going into the living room and throwing myself on the couch.
