The Promise

The Promise Chapter: 6

Chapter Six

Ellies Pov***

Leaning against the back of the building wall, I smoothed down the frizzy strays of my hair and made sure that it fell past my shoulder. Each strand curled and twisted near the end in a dull manner. After all those times when I messed with my hair whenever Ethan was around, I wasn't too surprised. My bag with the faded coffe coloured fabric swung gently around my legs, skimming the fresh cut grass around me. Inside held tons of books about ten centimetres wide, making it unbearably heavy to lug around for the day.

At the end of school, the sun was beginning to set and I was shrouded in a bizarre composition of day and night. However, I knew that I wouldn't be leaving until he arrived.

Sighing, I peeked my head around the corner, only to find that the school fields were empty, the grass wavered about coolly in the wind, and everything was serene, and silent. There wasn't a single person in sight. Only the sound of my disappointment could be heard now.

Picking my bag up from the wet ground, I shrugged it over my shoulder, and trudged up the pathway to the heavy metal gates looming dauntingly over me. Twisting around, I pushed it's hinges further apart and squeezed through the gap. Further, about three metres away were the bike racks, and there wasn't a single one left behind. Ethan had gone home, and left me to wait, I thought sadly, kicking a cloud of dust from the pavement.

Passing building by building, the bag seemed to only get heavier everytime I thought about the weight on my shoulders. Streets had been deserted- grey clouds had started forming in the sky, and pretty soon I would be covered in it's shower. And this time, I had no bike, no boy to save me from it.

“Why do I like Ethan so damn much?” I muttered angrily, blaming myself despite knowing that it wasn't entirely my fault. Stopping in the middle of the country road, I frowned. Propped up against it's grassy bank was a metallic blue bike resting limply on the corner, it's shiny surface washed away by mud. Dropping my bag beside it, I clambered determindly towards the top with my bare hands, peeking over the edge.

Ethan was sat in the middle, his legs stretched out. His features were creased in concentration as his fingers pressed rapidly on his phone keypad, the sound of beeping fading in my ear with the cold wind. Against the chilling cold, you could hear the violent wind whipping about rapidly, trying to sweep me off my feet. Ethan, sat in a casual t-shirt and faded jeans, looked less than bothered as he continued texting.

“Aren't you cold?” I called loudly- a little too loudly. Snapping his head up, he eased a smile onto his lips and waved limply. “It's bloody freezing,” Hopping over a small circle of rocks, I hurried to where he was sat and slid beside him, my coffee bag thumping the floor as books and wet ground collided.

“Duly noted,” He sighed, and flipped his phone away abruptly before I could catch the faint letters on the bright but small screen. “Glad you found me, “

“Really?” I smiled, trying to sound a little bit less enthusiastic as he cocked his head to one side and laughed, running a finger lightly down my back, creating magical shivers which appeared from thin air. God I loved him so much. Too much.

“Really, I was missing your company,” Punching me softly on the arm, he turned back around to face the direction of where the few houses were scattered around, the lights half on and half off.

“What are you doing here Ethan? You don't normally take this route back home,” I frowned, following the direction of his eyes, which now darted to his right. About a few yards away, a tree stood on its lonesome, it's frayed and withered branches curling up near the ends. Any leaf on their seemed to have fallen down and been buried beneath the grass. Standing on a small hill, I wondered why it seemed to interesting.

Judging by the droopy branches and remenants of forage still sticking out, it looked like a a willow tree. Quite an old and ancient one.

“Kate...” Ethan murmured softly, only loud enough for me to catch the name. His finger wavered in mid air, circling the tree as if he was trying to screenshot it into his mind like the button on your computer. The eyelashes framing his sad brown eyes lowered a little, and his iris' turned glassy, distant.

“....Kate?” I whispered, scrolling through the list of girl's I knew deep inside my head. I knew no Kate. Turning my head away disappointed, I felt my heart sunk deep to where my stomach was. I dont think I really wanted to know who Kate was. Blinking once, blinking twice, I flickered my eyes back to Ethan and his same, starry gaze at the withered willow tree.

A lovestruck, or loveless stare.

Sighing softly to myself, I shivered in my thin layered clothes and hugged my arms around my body, sliding my long legs so I was burying my head in my knees. Peeking out from underneath the soft fabric of my trousers, I blinked again rapidly.

My eyes felt watery all of a sudden, and I held back my furious, sad tears.

My mind and body felt numb, it struggled to cooperate with the coldness and to function properly.

Above my head, the first few snowflakes started to fall from the misty dark sky, falling onto my hair and cheek, causing drips of water to slide down slowly.

Trouble was now, I couldn't really tell if it was the snow, or my tears falling down.