Save Me (In Editing)

Chapter 5 - Harry

"All things truly wicked start from innocence" - Earnest Hemingway 

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I walked away from the train station, seeing no use in chasing her any more, and called a taxicab. Stepping into the black hackney, I searched through every pocket until I found a slip of paper. Written on this note, was Poppy's name, her phone number, and her address. 

Our meeting at the pub wasn't the first time I had seen her.

*Flashback*

Years ago, as I was leaving from Heathrow, on my way to Georgetown, I spotted Poppy's long wavy locks for the first time. From afar, I had known that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She sat in terminal 5, a large book in her lap, and several others by her side. Poppy's long hair created a sort of barrier between her and the reset of the airport, falling in layers over her face. The sun shone through the glass windows, hitting her face, turning her hair from dark black to a reddish-brown. 

I hadn't noticed that i had been staring at her until she looked up at me, her sea blue orbs meeting my green. Being a much more reserved person back then, I looked away, hoping that I hadn't just embarassed myself. When I looked back in her direction, she was still looking at me, though didn't turn away when I met her gaze. 

Raising her hand, she beckoned me forward, just as her flight was called. My heart sunk, hoping that it wouldn't be the last time I would see her. She gave me a doleful look, before sliding her grey backpack over her shoulders and struggling with her books. Rushing over in a last ditch attempt to get to know the myserious girl, I took her books from her

"Thanks"She mumbled, getting out her passport and ticket

"No worries"I responded softly, taking the rest of her books. 

As I realized that I had to leave her at the gate, since I didn't have a ticket for that flight, the reflective strip of her passport caught my eye. Poppy's unsmiling face peered back at me from the small, blue book. Under it read her information

"Poppy Arlin, born August 21st 1996, female, blue eyes, black hair"

Without indication that I had read some of her most personal information, I handed the books back to her

"It was nice to meet you...um..."She said, just as she was about to walk thought the long corridoor that led to the plane

"Harry, my name's Harry"I answered, silently cursing myself for not saying my full name.

"Well, Harry,"She said with a polite smile,"Thanks for helping me with my books"She said, blowing a strand of stray hair out of her face.

With another dazzling smile, she turned around, unsteadily walking down the hall. Just as the rounded the corner, a man, around similar age, offered to help her with her books. She nodded in agreement and together, they walked to the plane. 

I walked back to my plane, my eyes glazed over and my blood boiling, I knew that I would have to find her again. 

*End Flashback*

Since that day, I searched flight records, looked her name up numerous times, and closely examined every bookstore website in all of London. Assuming that she worked in a bookstore because of her obvious love of the paper-bound items, I finally found her. On the front of the Wandering Minds Bookstore Webpage, she stood next to a small bookstore, her arm slung around a man in his mid-sixties. She looked happy as they posed next to the green building, paint peeling in various places and the door slightly off its hinges. She was obviously close to the man, Kent Abernathy, who had a pile of salt and pepper hair sticking up over his head, as they opened their arms out wide to welcome customers. 

After dropping out of university, I went back to London and almost immedately set out to find the Wandering Mind. Though when I walked in, being a very changed man after all that had happened, I could tell that she didn't recognize me. I was no longer the young boy who wore cardigans with patches on the elbows, or the boy who helped her carry her books in the airport terminal. I was now the boy who drank himself unconcious and enjoyed getting into fights. The other boy died in the car crash along with my family