6 Degrees Of Separation

lollipop

December

I wandered among the dozens of inattentive, frolicsome youths to escape the vast sweaty crowds of this christmas 'celebration' party. To me, it was a shock to that my fellow church associates could party so hard and on a Saturday night (with church tomorrow of course).
With the effulgent lights temporarily blinding me every fifteen seconds, I stumbled out of the cramped house and into the front garden, then took several deep breaths in and out.

Clearing my mind, I gazed up at the astounding sight of the stars above. Seeing stars in my part of England was indeed a very rare sight because of all the light pollution. I was thankful for coming out into the farmlands of Yorkshire, I couldn't remember ever seeing the stars so clearly before in my life.

I soon payed attention to my surroundings and noticed a individual was sat on the garden bench. They seemed to be holding a torch and trying to read a book. I felt bad for them because of all of the blatant noise escaping through the crack beneath the front door, as well as the darkness and cold.
The bitter air brushed along my upper lip and I let out a small sneeze. This sound seemed to have alarmed the person, who was so absorbed in the literature they were reading.
They immediately pointed the torch in my direction and I heard the clear thud of the book closing.
The person rose from their seat and cautiously scanned the area with their torch until it landed on me.

"Ohh, hello. I'm sorry." I heard the voice call.

The voice was a peculiar mixture of deep, yet feminine, sad yet hopeful and beautifully executed with a crisp tone.

"Um, hi! Are you alright?" I called in response.

"Yess, I'm fine-i meant to say bless you but your sneeze surprised me so much. I'm sorry. Are you okay?" They muttered in a panicky yet apologetic tone.

"I'm a bit overwhelmed by this party if you know what I mean.. and I don't feel particularly well." I shivered.

The person took several steps towards me until they came into the light.
I was astounded. This person was stunning. Cropped grey-blonde hair hovered below their slightly stretched earlobes, a black horseshoe ring was hanging between both nostrils, in their septum. The person had a sharp jawline and eyes with a snowstorm captured inside. Yes - they had blue eyes but it was such a pale blue that made me wonder if they were real or not. My head couldn't tell from their appearance what gender they identified as. This person was shorter than me (I'm pretty tall) but masculine in appearance.

"Are you cold?" They asked.

I shook my head but they continued to step towards me, reaching out their hand (which I had noticed had black nail polish on the fingernails). Their bony hand brushed across my right cheek.

"You're freezing!" they exclaimed in shock. Which of course wasn't true anymore because I immediately became flustered by this action. "Are you here with anybody?" they asked.

"a friend- but she's busy and my mum is picking me up at 11." I responded.

The person checked their black leather wristwatch for the time and wheezed. "That's a while to wait and I'm ready to leave. would you like me to take you home?" they asked.

"Oh gosh.." I hesitated "I really don't want to inconvenience you. I live in Sheffield and it's quite a while away."

"Seriously it's okay! I live in Sheffield too, that's such a coincidence!" they smiled peacefully.

"I don't know.." I backed away slightly

"I'll get us a coffee on the way? I'm sorry for intimidating you." they also backed away apologetically before running their pale fingers through stands of their hair.

"Perhaps.." I responded stubbornly.
"What even is your name?" I folded my arms impatiently

"Oh my goodness. I didn't think to introduce myself," they panicked for a moment or so "my name is Robin." They held out their hand hoping to receive a handshake.

"It's good to meet you." I clasped their hand and shook it, "my name is Erin."

"I already knew your name, you're a friend of my aquaintance I think..?"

"Um whoo?" I responded.

"I barely know this person- her name's Megan but she invited me. You were pretty active in the group chat but I didn't say anything." They explained

"Ohh I remember seeing a Robin in the group. I'm glad that I got to at least speak to you now." I replied.

"Soo, do you want a lift home? It will be cool, you can play your music in the car if you want."

I thought about it for a second.
"Okay just please drive safely. I'll text my mum"

I pulled out my android phone and let my mum know that I'm coming home early. In the meantime, Robin was getting their car keys out and walking towards the small ford parked along the path. They reached into the boot of the car and pulled out a brown blanket.

"The heating in my car is a bit iffy so i suggest you use this." They handed me the blanket and then opened the car door, allowing me to take a seat before closing the door.

They then opened the door to the driver's side and started the engine.
"You can connect your phone to the radio thingy with Bluetooth," they told me.

I noticed Robin pull a red chupachup lollipop out of the door compartment, easily remove the wrapper and pop it into their mouth, then pull out of the parking space and slowly begin to drive down along the grassy road.