Exquisite Drawback

CHAPTER ONE: The White Swan

CHAPTER ONE

               “If only you could see, how beautiful you were to me,” Blue sang, as she strummed her guitar strings to the original song that she had written herself. A tear rolled down her cheek and landed softly on her guitar; the memories had returned to haunt her.

                It had been exactly three years since her best friend, Sky, had committed suicide due to certain misfortunes she had experienced at school. Blue felt helpless towards her lifelong friend as every day Sky had faced agony at the South-West Bilston Academy. Blue had seen cuts on her friend’s skin, the vibrant red scars made Blue’s body shiver. Every time she asked Sky about these mysterious marks, Sky would try and cover them denying any form of self-harm. Blue never properly confronted her friend; she would swiftly change the subject to avoid awkwardness. But now she wished she had pushed Sky into confessing the real reason behind her cuts. Blue blamed herself.

                When Sky moved to SWB Academy, it completely changed her outlook on life; she cared way too much about what people thought of her and wanted to be socially accepted. The school completely ruined her. She didn’t fit in with any of the social groupings and was regularly bullied by her peers because she was the outcast. At first, Blue and Sky kept in touch but then Blue felt that Sky had isolated herself from everyone and rarely contacted Blue. She did not know that it was because the snide comments had turned into violent beatings. Sky did not want to appear weak and vulnerable in front of her best friend and as a result drifted away.

                Although Blue had experienced hard times in her life, some of which mirrored Sky’s, she had never gotten as low as having suicidal thoughts. Blue was an optimist; she always tended to see the positives of the situation and believed something good was going to happen sooner, if not later. Nevertheless, she was unable to properly relate to Sky – she had never experienced bullying as extreme as Sky did – therefore she did not judge her friend on her actions. Blue attended the King’s School, she was neither popular nor an overachiever – just an ordinary girl. Her grades were average, her social status was average and she felt her looks were average. She believed what was on the inside was more important and wished Sky felt the same way. Although high school was not exactly a torturous time for Blue, she was just glad that her school life is over.

              Sky had aspired to be rich and famous because she thought that people would like her then. She had her entire life planned out, down to the very last outfit she would wear on her death bed. Sky was a talented vocalist and would use that to her advantage. Nobody knew of Sky’s musical talents except for Blue; Sky felt that the only person she could confide in was Blue. Because Sky was unable to fulfil her hopes and dreams, Blue had dedicated her life to making them come true.

“Blue!” her mother shouted, snapping Blue back to the present, however she was too upset to respond.

“Blue!” her mother screamed worriedly. Marie, Blue’s mother had become very over protective over her since Sky’s tragic death. Marie had noticed changes in Blue’s attitude over the past three years; she had never recovered from losing her best friend.

“Coming mum,” Blue replied as her voice started to break. She quickly wiped her tears as she heard her mother pace up the stairs.

               Marie stormed through the door to find Blue sitting on the bed, her crystal blue eyes puffy with redness and her guitar in her hand. To avoid discomfort, Marie asked, “Are you all ready for your performance tonight darling?”

“Yes, I was just practising,” she sniffled, placing her guitar down beside her on the bed.

“It’s a lovely song you’ve written, Sky would’ve been very proud.”

              Blue nodded as she tried to hold back the tears, it was a failed attempt as she burst out crying. Marie sat next to her on the bed and comforted her daughter by giving her a loving hug and whispered, “Everything’s going to be alright, try to stay strong dear.”

“Yes mum, I know,” Blue replied pathetically through sobs.

                When Blue felt content, she escorted her mother out of the room and changed into the nearest shirt she could find. Her outfit consisted of a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, which complimented her 5 foot 9.5 inches and petite frame very well. She grabbed her car keys and headed to her local pub, ‘The White Swan’, where she regularly performs.

                Elisco and Sydney waved Blue over as she entered the pub; she could hear ‘How To Save A Life’ by The Fray playing in the background. Blue has been friends with Elisco Vicario and Sydney Lexington since high school. She briefly dated Elisco before Sky’s unfortunate passing but broke things off with him to concentrate on her career and to make Sky’s dreams come true. Elisco was very understanding and they ended things on a high note, which is why they remained friends.  As for Sydney, they met at a party when Blue had prevented an intoxicated man from taking advantage of her, out of goodwill.

“So Sydney, what happened to your ‘beau’ from Saturday?” Elisco asked Sydney.

“Humped and dumped, he’s old news, I’ve got my eyes set on Josh Miller now,” Sydney replied, unconsciously twirling a piece of her brunette locks.

“Josh Miller?” Blue pondered as she approached them, catching only the last part of Sydney’s statement.

“Yeah, Josh Miller, the hot waiter from the café across the street. His tushie is so round and firm, it puts Chris Evans’ to shame,” Sydney exclaimed eagerly, whilst fanning herself.

“Well, there goes your dignity down the drain. Hey Blue,” Elisco said, flustered.

“Oh shut up, you’re just jealous Mr. Vicario,” Sydney teased.

“Sydney you’re such a slut,” Blue sniggered.

“Oh I know,” Sydney replied suggestively.

“Oh wow, I have never been so uncomfortable in my entire life,” Elisco muttered under his breath, as he cunningly escaped to the men’s restroom.

Sydney, unaffected by Elisco’s rude exit, proceeded to say, “Are you excited about your performance? This is the first time you’ve performed the song you’ve written for Sky in publi...”

“Blue, you’re up,” the DJ announced midway through Sydney’s sentence.

“Catch you later,” Blue mumbled to Sydney as she nervously sauntered towards the stage. She grabbed a guitar and announced into the microphone that the song was written in memory of her late friend, Sky Frost, and then strummed the first set of chords to her song ‘Just Be You’.

“Don’t waste your time, on people who aren’t worth your time.

Just be yourself, ‘cause who you are is quite alright.

Just be you.

If only you could see, how beautiful you were to me.”