New Beginnings

 

Chapter 1

The sky was covered by a thick dark grey blanket of cloud that hung dauntingly across the countryside. Earlier the sun had tried to show its golden face but failed miserably. I watched from my bedroom window as the first few drops of rain began to fall. They fell slowly, one after the other. Each one hitting the ground hard. Before I knew it thousands of droplets were crashing against the smooth tarmac of our drive way.

I let out a huge sigh and watched noncommittally at the falling rain. My mind was elsewhere. Like always, it rarely stayed in the one place. It tended to wander when it wasn’t too preoccupied. Obviously I wasn't too interested in the weather as once again my thoughts were fixed on Darren. My heart ached as the memories began to race  through my mind. Like the rain outside, my tears fell slowly at first. Rolling down my rosy cheeks and then coming to a stop on my pink lips. The salty taste seeped into my mouth. I let out another sigh, it was a heavy, deep, mournful sigh. The tears were no longer rolling softly down my face, now I struggled to keep up with the fast pace at which they were falling. 

Eight months we were in a relationship. Eight wonderful, happy months. From the moment I met Darren I wanted him. It was at Irish college last year in Dingle that I first saw him. My best friend Muireann and I went together. I remember we were really excited about it we couldn’t wait to meet new people and to make new friends. I had no intentions of falling for anybody during those three weeks but that’s exactly what happened. I first laid eyes on him at a ceilí during our first week. I was hot and sweaty after all the dancing so I decided to get some water. He was standing over by the drinks.

I remember feeling weak kneed when I saw him. He was tall, remarkably tall and his skin was lightly tanned from the summer sun. He had gorgeous dirty blonde locks that fell gracefully, just covering his ears. I remember swooning at his remarkable bone structure. He had the face of a model, high cheekbones and a strong jawline. I tried to avoid staring at him as I got my drink but it was futile I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off of him. When he eventually caught me staring he turned towards me and smiled. It was an infectious smile and I couldn't help but smile back at him. I also couldn't help but examine his face in a bit more detail. It was then that I got lost in his eyes. They were the most enchanting thing about him, they were a bright olive green with tints of golden brown. I swear I could stare into those eyes all day. There was something about them that drew me in. 

It's true to say that I made a fool of myself for staring at him like I did but in my defense, I couldn't help it! It was impossible to pull my eyes away from him for even a second. Thankfully he didn’t give me a hard time over it, in fact he didn’t even say anything about it. I don't think he really noticed. Now that I think about it, every other girl there was also swooning over him so he had probably just gotten used to it. However I was the lucky one. Out of all those pretty girls who were more than willing to throw themselves at him, he chose me. He quickly started up a conversation and he was so attentive, his olive green eyes boring into me as I told him about myself. He really made me feel special, he made me feel as if I was the only person in the room.

We really hit it off that night. I remember it as if it were yesterday. We spent the rest of the night together chatting, dancing, laughing and kissing. I can easily say it was one of the best nights of my life.