The fire within

Part 2 - Jamie

 I didn't want to get up, it was too cold so I allowed myself to stay under the blanket for a few more minutes, then I made myself get up. I groaned when the icy air nipped at my skin. Heck, when did it get so cold! I wrapped the blanket around myself, grabbed my stuff and started walking back to the familiar parts of town.

I'd stop at the well to fill my water bottle. I headed in that direction when a woman passing by nudged me, hard. I nearly fell over and my few belongings got scattered all over the footpath. The woman didn't even stop, she simply kept walking at a fast pace.

"Someone's in a hurry," I huffed as I scooped down to pick up my items. Then a bearded man walked past with some friends, (I'd seen them before) and in the process, he stood on my open book and kicked me, making me lose my balance and tumble over. "Having fun, playing in the dirt there lass?"

He hissed with laughter making his friends laugh as well. This is what I meant by sour, I thought everyone picked on me for the fun of it. As he and his scrubby looking friends left, I got my book and tried to fix the damage the man did. I smoothed the paper out and closed the book.

When I looked up again I saw someone jogging towards me. This one was a guy. I didn't recognise him, which was strange, because I knew most of the people around here. He looked around my age. I waited for him to make a nasty comment or something but he didn't. Instead, he stuck out his hand.

I was surprised. People here weren't generally very nice to me. He looked friendly. And kinda cute actually. I took his hand and he helped me up. "Thanks," I mumbled. He picked up my things and handed them to me. "Wow, thank you."

"No problem" he replied, looking a little sheepish. "Umm, I'm Jamie." He held out his hand.

"Sarah," I said, shaking his hand lightly. I tried my hardest not to let my hand tremble. I felt kind of silly trembling, as there was no reason to be doing so.

I shivered and wrapped my blanket around me. "It is pretty cold today, isn't it?" Jamie asked, noticing my actions. "Here." He shrugged off his jacket and placed it around my shoulders. I blushed, then hurriedly hid my face so he wouldn't notice. He did though.

Jamie laughed and asked, "what are you doing out here in the cold without warmer clothes on?"

"Umm... Hey, I haven't seen you around here before." I changed the subject quickly. I didn't know if I should tell Jamie my whole backstory. I barely knew him. "I moved here yesterday," Jamie answered, not worried about the abrupt change of subject.

I nodded and wondered why I didn't see him. I didn't know exactly what to say. I waited for him to say something. He didn't. So I said, "I better go now, nice meeting you, Jamie." I smiled. Something about his name I liked. When I said it, they just fit right and the name sounded right when I said it. "You as well Sarah." He waved at me and I waved back.

I ran my way to the well. He was really nice. I hoped I'd see him again. It was nice, that someone had shown me proper kindness for once in so long. As the days crept by, I noticed that the weather was still ridiculously cold, and it was getting colder. It was definitely winter now and I was worried that this was going to be the toughest winter for me to struggle through. I hugged myself tightly as I roamed the streets.

I figured I should keep moving around to keep warmer, so I walked around, (bored as ever) waiting. I didn't know what I was waiting for, just for something, anything. It was like I knew that something would happen, but I didn't know what, which was by far the weirdest feeling I'd ever experienced. I tried to make the feeling go away, but it didn't. I waited and waited until night came, when I finally stopped waiting and found a place to sleep.