I Want To Protect You For The Rest of Time

Chapter One.

     it was a normal Monday afternoon. the sun was peaking through between clouds, and there was a slight breeze causing a little chill. Autum smiled to herself as she stepped out the doors of the hot, sweaty building she called school. as she walked down the steep steps, she grabbed the side of her bag to grab headphones.

     "finally" she whispered to herself, slipping the wireless earbuds into her ears. she winced as one hit into her freshly pierced ear, but rubbed it off. she walked in silence, making her way to the train station. the breeze made her hair fly all over the place, yet she didn't care. 

     the rock music blasting in Autum's ears was all she needed after a long day of classes, all of them being back to back. music was always her escape, even when she was a kid. pushing her light brown hair behind her ears, she looked back at her phone, just switching the song. 

   Autum walked into the corner store right by the train station. she went there everyday after school, and got the same thing every time. an arizona iced green tea and a small bag of chips.

   "hey man! four dollars, right?" she said to the cashier. he nodded and gave her a smile as she handed him the five dollar bill. as the nice man went to give Autum back her change, that's when the store door flung open. Autum's jaw dropped, and bright blue eyes went wide open as she turned around to look at who entered the shop.

   there he stood, the most beautiful man she has ever seen. he had gorgeous dark brown hair, almost black. it was long enough to swoop to the left side of his face, but short enough so it wouldn't cover his field of vision. brown eyes that glistened in the bright light on the ceiling above him. he wasn't the tallest, standing around 5 foot and 8 inches, but to Autum who was 5 foot, he was a giant. the best part about this man, was the Green Day zip up sweater he had on. 

     she was in shock. sadly though, her moment was ruined by a light tap on the shoulder. Autum whipped her head around faster than she ever did. it was the cashier, with a concerned look on his face. 

     "ma'am, are you alright? you looked like you saw a ghost." he said, leaning over the counter. all Autum could do was nod and softly grabbed the change from her purchase. she walked back outside, confused on what just happened. it wasn't until she made  it to the corner of the block that she realized.

     "shit!" Autum cursed under her breath. she left the bag of food she bought at the store. turning back around, in the direction of the shop, she picked up her pace. big time. there was no way she could make it to the train on time now, and they take at least 20 minutes to arrive at the station.

     it seemed like it took forever to walk back into that small corner shop. but when she did, she defiantly did not regret it. the same guy as before was standing by the counter, speaking to the kind cashier. 

     "so, how much for an eight?" the mystery boy said. Autum had no clue what the two were on about, she was more focused on the sound of his voice. but, she snapped herself back into reality when she heard the train leaving the station.

     "excuse me, i left my stuff here when i bought it." she said, interrupting the two's conversation. mystery boy stared down at her, eyebrows furred and looking quite rude. luckily,  the cashier was much more friendly, and handed Autum her items with nothing but a kind smile on his face. she gave him a way goodbye, and made sure to bump into the boys arm. 

     she felt the daggers being stared into her back, but she walked out of that store like she owned the place. Autum had no clue where the sudden confidence came from, but that was the least of her worries. now all she had to do was to get home before her mother threw a fit. 

     breathing extremely heavily, practically panting like a dog, Autum had made it onto the train. she pulled her phone back up, to raise the volume of the music she had playing. her foot tapping to the sound of the beat, and head banging slightly.  

     Autum hopped out of her seat when the train came to a halt. she was in a great mood, surprisingly. well, how could she not be after seeing him. she quickly shook the thought out of her head. in between school and her friends, Autum didn't have time for relationships. 

     as she walked onto the public bus, Autum saw one of her good friends sitting by themselves. Ace, their name is. Ace is a great friend. always there for others, and is unbelievably funny. They never fail to cheer Autum up, or improve her mood. 

     "ayup Ace! i see you have re-dyed your hair." Autum observed. Ace was a very spur of the moment type of person. their hair color was always changing, and sense of style would go from masculine to feminine very fast. but the whole friend group loved them for it.

     "hey Autum, yeah i just dyed it last night. my mom wasn't the happiest camper when she woke up and saw me with half red hair." the two friends chuckled. neither one of them hesitated to get into a conversation, and the bus ride was full of laughs and sarcastic comments.

     "oh, Ace. i saw someone earlier, he was really...cute." Autum admitted shyly. she looked over at her friend, who had a shocked expression on their face. the longer Ace looked at her like that, the more red Autum got.

     "wait, you're telling me, the Autum... my Autum, thinks someone is attractive?" Ace said in disbelief. Autum giggled, and then nodded. all of a sudden, Ace jumped up and started doing a little victory dance. 

     "what- why are you dancing?" Autum asked, slightly concerned on what scheme her friends have plotted this time. 

     "i may have made a bet with Ash, and just won it..." Ace admitted as they sat down. Ash was Ace's girlfriend. the two of them were like peas in a pod, inseparable. in fact, it was rare to catch Ace without their partner. usually they would travel home together every day.

     "you motherfuckers." Autum laughed, shaking her head at the stupid-ness of her friends.  unfortunately, all good things come to a end. Ace said goodbye to Autum quickly as they got off the bus. Autum took this moment to press play on her music, and zone out as she waited for her stop. 

     as the clock hit 12:30am, Autum was stuck awake staring at her ceiling. no matter what she did, those eyes were stuck in her mind. she tried everything. rain noise, meditation music, counting sheep. you name it, she tried it. 

     when she finally did drift off into the land of dreams, she dreamt of warm hot chocolate and  dark brown leather books.