Solitude Grace

Chapter Eight

For the next week Lisa had not seen Harper once, she had occupied herself with Chantelle and Jamie, they had tried to distract her from her parents' failure to come see her. 

Everytime she thought of them a whole formed in her chest, throbbing as if mocking her. 

Lisa felt oddly sane with the lack of a certain boy in her life, like she had started to breathe a new air rid of all confusion and frustration. But she did miss him, she couldn't deny that. She had only once recieved a smile from him but it was a real one, one that was now scarred into her mind.

Her grandfather was now better than ever, back to work at the old harvesting factory outside of town. Her grandmother always gave her a look of sympathy and said the occasional 'They would come if they could', that had no affect on her, she still felt empty.

"Lis, cheer up, at least you've still got us." Jamie had his arm draped over her, hugging her to him lightly.

She always enjoyed the warmth and security he provided, he felt like home to her and she honestly couldn't imagine life without the boy in her life.

"I know, I'm fine." Lisa forced a smile to reassure her friends. 

They were at the beach just outside of town, Chantelle had insisted she needed some tanning, it was summer but it was still cool weather, today, however, was warm and Chantelle wouldn't let that opportunity pass.

So Lisa let herself be dragged along and was now sitting beside Jamie with her bikini on tanning to darken her pale skin. 

Jamie had managed to bring his friends along, Cole and Austin. Cole always looked after Chantelle, he kept a close eye on her like an older brother would, but Austin and Lisa knew Cole would never do anything to encourage romance between the two, Jamie had always been the one to look at Chantelle affectionately, it astounded Lisa often how Chantelle couldn't see his attraction to her so clearly written on his face.

Austin kept his eyes locked on Lisa's every move. His dirty blonde hair obscuring his view for only a moment before he flicked it from his eyes. He had always seen her as the most beautiful being that had ever graced the planet, never had he thought otherwise and he knew he never would. 

His attraction to Lisa had started at the age of ten when Jamie had introduced the two, immediately he had run home telling his mother about the beautiful angel he had met. So even now, both at the age of seventeen, Austin felt no different. In fact, his attraction had grown to a kind of need to see her, even if it were just a brief glimpse, he didn't care. He was sure he loved her, she awakened light wherever she walked. 

She caught his gaze in hers and Austin saw only friendship as a smiled crawled onto her face. He smiled back at her, mimicking friendship instead of showing his true love for her.

Jamie had told him about the new boy Harper and Lisa's clear dislike towards the boy, Austin was glad she didn't let her knees buckle beneath her like Chantelle apparently had at the sight of him. 

Lisa caught Austin looking at her, he was always watching over her. If she tripped he would be the one who picked her up from the ground ever since they met. Chantelle had told her many times how much Austin cared for her but Lisa could never see him as more than a good friend.

Looking at him now, though, she wondered why she never felt attracted to him? He had the hazel eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, the dirty blonde hair of a surfer, the slight tan of a mediterranean and the body of a gymnist. He was very attractive.

Upon realising that, Lisa began to compare him to Harper. Harper with the brown hair smoothed down to his shoulders, with the dark brown eyes that held more knowledge than anyone her age, with the strong body and the budding tan. There was really no comparison, Harper was by far more beautiful.

"I can't believe you dragged us out here just to lie on the sand." Jamie nudged Chantelle.

"No," Chantelle shot daggers his way, a smirk in place. "You get to look at Lisa and I's lovely bodies too." 

Lisa slapped her friend's arm.

"I was kidding." Chantelle excused herself while getting up. "I think my tan's come along lovely, so time for a swim."

Jamie sprang up just as quickly as Chantelle had, leaving Lisa falling on her back.

"Come on, Lis." Austin said before scooping Lisa up into his arms, carrying her bridal style and running into the water where he dropped her.

Lisa struggled in the water before finding she could stand and as she stood, walking almost smack into a tanned body who pulled her to him.

Austin smiled down to the girl of his dreams, holding her close to him.

Lisa put her hands up onto his chest, pushing him slightly, trying to put space between the two. Cole, Jamie and Chantelle had stopped whatever they were doing to see what Lisa's next move would be, the ball was in her play. She could move away from Austin and leave it at that, or she could move closer to him, closing the space between the two.

She weighed the two options. Yes, Austin was a total douche on most occasions, but he was also kind and sweet and looked at her like she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

But she had never fancied him, so why would she now? Because it was expected of her to move closer to him? She wanted to be with someone who she could connect with, tell things to them no one else knew, express her feelings to dramatically without judgement.

Austin didn't hold those traits, she had once told him how much she missed her puppy that had died and he had laughed at her. True, he cared about her, but not the way she wished he would.

Not like Harper had. The voice in her head whispered.

It was true, she had growled out her complaints to him and he had listened, not saying a word as she rambled about her parents. Sure, he didn't respond well but it wasn't about the response, he had listened, cared enough to listen, that was enough for her.

Pushing a little harder, Lisa broke away from Austin, putting more space between the pair. 

She looked around, noticing the looks of sympathy towards Austin who looked completely crushed, torn apart. Lisa felt a tear run down her face at what she had done. 

Chantelle noticed Lisa's sadness and walked towards her but her friend was already retreating 

Lisa knew she didn't need to be there, so, picking up her clothes from the beach she made her way to her car. It was better for Austin she not be there, she didn't want to hurt him anymore than she already has.

Driving away from the beach she had no idea where she was going, her mind racing with remorse, how could she have been so cruel?

She hadn't realised where she was going until she drove past the park in the middle of town and spotted the small house surrounded by the larger apartment buildings beside it.

By this point she hadn't cared whether he would care or not, she only knew that he seemed to be the one that would listen and so she skipped the stairs as she ran up onto the porch and slammed her hands onto the door, feeling it vibrate with the amount of force she had used on each knock.

A pair of stunned brown eyes met hers but she didn't take a moment to assess them, instead draping her arms around his neck and pulled him to her.

So yeah, poor Austin! :( But he wasn't really part of the story and I wanted more insight into Lisa's friends in this chapter. 

On the side, Chad Michael Murray, which I think Austin would look like.

Hope you liked it, I didn't like breaking someone's heart though.

Votes and comments xx