exhilarating// dan howell au ON HOLD

chapter 3

It took three days for Lucy to muster up the courage to call Dan. She never really had any close friends or boyfriends, so she wasn't good at being social. Instead of hanging out with friends or boys during her childhood, Lucy took to exploring instead. It started when she went to her grandmother's farm at age eight. She'd found an abandoned barn nearby, and has been hooked on exploring since then.

After lots of thinking, Lucy decided that since it was her last year of university she would try her hand at making some friends. She was to call Dan at noon. Maybe he would be on a lunch break and she wouldn't interrupt his work, she would feel terrible if she did. She picked up her phone and the card that Dan gave her in the coffee shop.

Dan was busy at work when he heard his phone ring from his bag. He scurried to his desk to get it. It wasn't in the big pocket, so he checked the next one. Nope, not there either. Dan was getting frustrated. He finally found it in the smallest front pocket.

"Hello." Dan answered.

"Hey, it's Lucy from the coffee shop. Do you remember me?" a nervous voice on the other line said.

"Of course I remember you!" Dan said. How could Dan forget her, she was so cool.

"I really enjoyed our conversation the other day. Do you want to meet in the park tomorrow and talk some more?" Lucy asked Dan. Her eyes were clenched shut the entire time that she was talking to Dan. It wasn't because she didn't like him, it's because she really disliked talking on the phone.

"That'd be great! What time?" Dan asked.

Lucy smiled, even though he couldn't see her. "Does six work for you?"

"Sure!"

Lucy was very proud of herself for possibly making a friend. Her parents always worried about her. They thought that she spent too much time alone and out exploring. Lucy tried to convince them that she was always happy, she just wasn't really a people person. She decided that now maybe it was time to become one. Her parents would've been so proud of her.

Since Lucy was in a good mood, she decided to go exploring. When Lucy tells people about exploring, most people think that she's crazy. But what they don't understand is that urban exploration is actually very popular and important. If people didn't explore abandoned places, then these amazing buildings full of history would just rot without being seen. Since many people couldn't find it in them to respect Lucy's interests, she stopped talking about exploring all together.

But that didn't stop her from doing it. Lucy was determined to explore every abandoned place in England before she dies. She has a book full of all of the places that she's been and all of the ones that she still needs to go to.

Of course, there are a few exceptions to her goal because she never wanted to endanger herself. The older and more famous places were higher up on the list because they were rotting faster. The newer, less famous places could wait awhile, according to Lucy. She decided on revisiting an abandoned bookstore a few blocks away from her loft. She'd stumbled upon this place a few months ago on her way home from an unfamiliar part of town. Ever since then it had been her safe haven from the world. She went there to study for her exams, she went there when she was sad, when she was happy and really whenever else she could.

Lucy got to her bookstore only ten minutes after she left. She grabbed the key from underneath the bush and unlocked the door. When she first discovered this place, she found the key under the bush and couldn't resist going in. When she let herself inside, she was in awe of everything that there was to see. It looked as if the staff and shoppers had just dropped everything and left forever. She even found a note on the desk that read "To whom this may concern, I cannot afford to keep this place running anymore. It is yours now, treasure it."