fade away.

one.

. chapter one

1962 .

début
begin

The bustling and hollering that surrounded her caused her head to spin. Usually, when she entered this pub, it wasn't as busy as tonight. University students by the dozen continued to file in, all seeming to crowd around one focus point.

August stared at the full beer bottle in front of her, running her finger along the neck of it. She thought maybe she could get another night out by herself, but tonight was anything but what she planned it to be.

She glanced over at the crowd, finding that they started to cheer one man on, whom was chugging beer by the liter.

She sighed, turning back to her drink.

Then, someone took the seat next to her, silently ordering a drink as well.

August didn't look over, but became stiff at the new feeling of an arm brushing hers. No one ever sat next to her.

"Do you wish sometimes, that life would give you a little break once and a while?" the woman asked, taking a small sip of her beer that was sat in front of her.

August shrugged, not having anything to say.

She felt the woman turning to her.

"Is it always this busy?" she asked, changing subjects to a lighter one. "It's my first time here, so..."

"No, no, it isn't," August replied, her green eyes trained on the dark mahogany countertop. "Are you a college student, too?"

"No," she replied. "I came here with a friend of mine, but he's kinda busy." She looked over her shoulder towards the boy that was drinking the beer. He was on to another.

"My name's Raven," the woman said, looking back at August. Raven had beautiful blonde hair that was perfectly curled. She had fair skin and freckles that weren't as prominent as the way her eyes popped against the color of her coat.

"August," she smiled, only out of politeness. "Your, uh, friend? Is he, something more? Is that why you're over here?"

Raven shook her head quickly. "No, I would never, I mean—Charles is like a brother to me!"

August chuckled, flicking the droplets that came from the neck of the bottle off her fingertips. "It's okay, Raven. I was just curious."

Raven nodded, a cold expression on her face. August took a glance at her watch. 15:14.

"It was nice meeting you, Raven," August said, gathering her coat and hugging it to her body as she stood up from her stool. "But I'm afraid that I must be leaving."

"Of course," Raven sighed, wishing that she had company while Charles was celebrating. "It was nice meeting you, Au-"

She was gone, nothing left of her except her full beer bottle and a twenty. She hadn't taken one sip from the bottle.

The bartender stood, cleaning glasses, sighing as he approached August's bottle.

"The girl always gets a beer, never drinks it, and leaves. Always overpays, too. I don't want to kick her out, she's a nice one. Abnormal, though."

Raven looked back at Charles, whom was speaking with another girl.

Could it be that August was just like them, too?

I will be updating every Thursday.

Mikayla x.