Seasons

Chapter 16 - The Past

I began with describing to them everything about where I used to live. From our tiny old cottage with the pink rose that crawled up the pale cream stone to the way the rain sounded against the thin panes of glass in my window. I then moved onto telling them about my old school. It was a lot smaller than our current high school, so naturally I knew almost everyone who attended.

But it was my best friend Maddie that I spent most of my time with. She had the most radiant smile, and her exotic skin was always a shade darker than mine and reminded me of summer. I felt the familiar prickle of tears sting at my nose as I remembered the evenings we spent lying together, our heads rested together as we giggled about everything and anything, from our celebrity crushes to the boys we thought were cute at school.

This lead me on to talk about Sam for the first time. I had briefly mentioned him to Rikki and Emily back in the bathroom, but had never delved into any detail as I was so shaken from our ordeal with Sidney.

I still remember the first day he arrived at school, the way he shuffled in after our head teacher, dark head bowed but a glimmer of a smile lighting up behind his fringe as he was introduced. He had the most piercing green eyes, a shade of emerald that was only drawn in comics or described in dramatic fan fictions. I still remember the way my breath caught in my chest as they swept across the tiny classroom at all of us sitting there. Maddie had laughed at me later that evening, joking about being love struck. There was little I could do to argue as I knew as well as she did that the new stranger was going to be special.

Being as shy as I was, I didn't dare speak to him for the first few weeks, instead silently watching from afar. Maddie constantly grumbled and groaned about how 'wimpy' I was being, and joked that if I didn't man up and go and finally introduce myself that she'd march me over there herself.

However eventually I did, and I still remember that day to each minute detail.

It was one of the last days of November, and possibly the greyest day of Autumn so far. The sky was a stubborn shade of lead, the clouds low and pregnant with the promise of rain as the wind whistled through the bare branches of the trees outside the windows.

I was walking through the music department on my way to find my English teacher, an overdue essay clutched in my hand.

It was also late evening and the corridors were dim as many students had already gone home, probably wrapped up warm in their homes against the icy beginnings of winter.

I shivered violently and pulled my sweater in closer around my body, crossing my arms and hurrying down the hallway.

I was almost about to turn a corner when I heard the soft strumming of a guitar coming from my right. I slowed slightly to listen, but stopped dead when the singing started.

The husky tones of a male voice floated out through the sliver of an ajar music room door, hauntingly beautiful. Goosebumps rippled up my arm as I crept closer, his smoky voice rising above the sound of the guitar as he sang.

I peeked through the small window and gasped quietly as I saw the dark head of Sam Ellis bent over the strings, bobbing slightly as he strummed.

I continued to watch, in awe of how his fingers danced lightly over the struts, the other plucking out the melancholy tune. It came to a point in the song where he lifted his head and I ducked from the window quickly, before realising his eyes were shut with concentration, forehead creased as he sang louder, the rich sound of his voice now filling the corridor.