serendipity - ben hardy

one

september 2007. eight o'clock. aurora laurent, her brother phoenix and their parents had just moved to london from versailles, a city in france which is just west of the beautiful capital, paris. aurora adored her hometown, it was a magnificent city with huge, majestic buildings and gardens. she had her whole life set out there: she'd complete her studies, attend university, get a job and maybe start a family.

however, all that was about to change as her dad had a promotion from work which meant that the laurents would have to leave france and move to the english capital, london. this new start was something which worried aurora as she'd have to start a new life and make a new set of friends and start her a-levels in english. she was taught english ever since she was four years old in school so she was pretty much fluent but it was going to be completely different for her.

thanks to the monotonous sounding of her alarm clock, she woke up and unwillingly got herself out of bed, opening her curtains. rubbing her eyes, she walked downstairs and greeted her parents.

"bonjour aurora" she was met with a greeting from both her parents as she went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

"bonjour mama" aurora replied.
she then went to get ready for school, she would be studying english, because she really enjoyed speaking another language, history and photography.

arriving at school, aurora and phoenix were greeted by several of the teachers, ushering them into the office. they were asked about their life and how they felt moving to england, and just spoke in general so they felt more comfortable. the siblings were praised on their conversational english, making them relax slightly.

phoenix was thirteen years old so was starting in year nine, and aurora was sixteen so starting year twelve in the sixth form. they were shown to their form classes for registration, where they would stay for half an hour, before lesson one starts. their day consisted of five lessons, break and lunch hour. as aurora was in sixth form, she was only studying three subjects, only two of which she had on that day. the other three lessons were free lessons so they could do whatever they want.

aurora arrived in form slightly late as she had been talking to the headteacher. as soon as she set foot in the classroom, a boy at the back of the class caught her eye. he had soft, slightly curly blond hair, gorgeous green eyes and beautiful features. she flashed him a smile, to which he reciprocated, making a rosy blush developed on aurora's cheeks. she looked down and smiled, as the teacher instructed her where to go.

"just sit next to ben, please" her teacher said. she smiled and nodded, until she realised who ben actually was. it was him. ben looked up at aurora and tapped the seat next to him, pulling it out slightly. trying to hide her excitement, she made her way over to him and sat down next to him.

"hey, i'm ben, nice to meet you!" he smiled, sending her butterflies to her stomach.

"you too! i'm aurora!"

"wow, can i just say, i love your accent...and that's such a pretty name" ben said, admiring the girl next to him.

"oh...thank you! i'm french, i'm from versailles and i only moved her about two weeks ago!"

"wow that's so cool! and...your name? i'm assuming that's french too?" ben asked, desperately wanting to carry on this conversation.

"um, i guess so. my mum and dad always tell me that aurora is the roman goddess of dawn"

"that's so cute"

"and also have you heard of the aurora borealis?"

"yes?" ben says, it coming out more like a question, "the northern lights, right?"

"yes! they also apparently named me after them. it sounds cringe but they always say 'it means i'm so beautiful and brought light to their lives'" she says, mimicking her parents.

ben giggles softly in response. "it's true...you are beautiful" he almost whispers. but she heard, now trying to hold in her smile so she doesn't make it obvious.

it was now lesson four and aurora had had all of her lessons for the day so technically she could go home but she wanted to stay at school to have a wonder around but also to wait for phoenix so they could walk home together.
much to her surprise, her first day was actually rather enjoyable and she had made some friends: ophelia, amelia and thalia. all the other students were very welcoming and friendly too, which pleased her.

currently, she was chatting to ben and his friend, luke about their hobbies and what they enjoy doing in their free time.

"i really love acting! it's something that i know i want to do in the future, and i know that i'll really enjoy it- it's just so exciting, and every day will be different" ben explained. aurora loved how passionate he was about acting, and how happy he sounded talking about it.                               

"that sounds amazing ben!" she smiled at him. she could honestly listen to him talk all day, there was something about him that aurora found so interesting. she sat with her head resting on her hand and just gazed into ben's green eyes, oblivious to everyone else in the room.

"oh my god me too! i really enjoy drama myself, to be honest. i've taken acting lessons since i was 12 years old, and i really love singing. i've never really tried or considered screen acting but i guess it's something i'd be interested in. i always had my heart set on doing musical theatre, because it's like a combination of all the things i love most!"

"wow, that'll be so good! we should actually try some acting together some time! you should come to drama at school!" ben suggested.

"aww yeah! i'll definitely give it a try!" aurora smiled.

the trio continued to talk in their school refectory, luke not really getting a word in edgeways, as ben and aurora spent two hours talking endlessly. their conversation was cut off by the school bell, signifying the end of the day.

"we should go out some time, aurora" asked ben, as they were saying their goodbyes , "just you and i."

author's note
this chapter is just an introduction about how aurora and ben first met, the next two or three chapters will be them when they're young and then i'll go back to the present haha.
thank you for reading, darlings!