You And I

Chapter 1

God, I'm going to be late! I was running towards King's Cross station, hoping the train would still be there. With my suitcase in one hand and my handbag on the other, it wasn't easy. In the summer of 1970, it was really busy as many students in London were heading home for the holidays, and I was one of them. I eventually made it to my platform, and realised that the train was running late. I sat on the bench, exhausted after all that running.

"Excuse me, do you mind?"

A young man of around 18 years of age stood by the bench. He had longish brown hair, and eyes with just a hint of green in them. He had a cheeky smile on his youthful face, as his arm hovered above the space beside me on the bench.

"No, not at all."

I moved my bag off the bench and he sat beside me. For a moment there was silence between the two of us as we waited for our train before I heard his voice again.

"So, the weather has been pretty rubbish so far, hasn't it?"

He had a unique tone to his voice, somehow smooth but it had an edge at the same time. I could see he was carrying a guitar shaped case as well as his luggage. He sat there looking awkward with his hands clasped together.

I laughed back at him, pretending to flirt. "Is this how you always chat up girls then?"

He giggled. "Sorry, I'm just bad at talking to girls in general."

We both laughed before he held out his hand for me to shake. "I'm John. John Deacon."

I took his hand, smiling at him. "I'm Melanie. Melanie Jones."

"Wow, that's a great name!" He exclaimed, pushing a strand of his long hair behind his ear. "So do you go to college around here?"

"Yeah, college. Heading home for the holidays. What about you?" I asked.

"Yeah, same. I haven't seen you around here if you go to college here then." He winked at me, trying his best to flirt.

I laughed back. "Well, a lot of people do study in London." I giggled as his face fell flat. "What do you study?"

"Electronics at Chelsea."

"Wow, that's exciting!"

He chuckled. "Well, it does have its good points. What do you study?"

"English Lit at Oxford." He nodded. "I know, boring isn't it?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that! That's really cool." He smiled back at me. He did have an attractive look about him, which did make me blush a little. I looked away just in time as the train was coming into the station.

"Suppose that's us then." I said, getting up out of my seat. I could feel his hand grab my arm as he got up as well.

"Well, I don't have anyone to keep company on the journey. If you want, we could sit together."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Where's your stop?"

"Leicester. You?"

"Newcastle. So quite a distance away."

He laughed. "No kidding."

As we boarded the train together, we found a seat with a table and we sat opposite each other. During the train journey, we talked for the whole hour before it approached his stop. He told me about his life growing up there and how he fell in love with soul music. We both shared a love for the Police and many other music artists. He told me his lifelong dream was to perform and play music for loads of people. I told him about my life in Newcastle, and how much London inspired me to study literature. The time flew by when the train suddenly stopped at Leicester. Before he left the train, he took my hand which made me blush again.

"So, when we come back after the summer, is there any chance we could probably meet up again sometime?"

I nodded back, trying to hide my scarlet red cheeks. "Yeah sure, that'll be great."

"Ok." He smiled, looking a little nervous as he got up off his seat and headed for the door. "Bye, Melanie."

"Goodbye." As he stepped onto the station, I could see him wave at me through the window as the train moved its way up north.

He was such a lovely guy, full of life and excitement. Little did I know, this wasn't the last time I was going to see him.