Giving Harper Hope

Chapter One- Harper

This is Harper. A 19 year old girl with a bad
past and terrible expectations for her future. I will be putting a picture of Lucas in the next chapter, so if you want to know what he looks like other than his hair color and his eyes, you'll have to wait a little bit.

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For Mrs. Paula, my teacher who has supported me in my journey to becoming a writer since day one. <3
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   Harper Lucas tilted her head back to look at the building fully. It was just as ancient-looking as she remembered. But it was still intact, and had someone living in it, to her surprise.
   The thought of someone living in there sent a shiver running down her spine and back. Her mother had given up so much to live in that house, so much. Her mother had even taken her own life just to stay in that wretched house. Harper had never dared to set foot in it since she found her mother's body hanging from a tree, a rope tied tightly around her neck and the tree branch in the dead of winter last year. Harper had outright refused to stay in the house a second longer after that. She had packed up her stuff and moved to the country estate her father had owned and left to Harper. He had left his daughter and wife years before her mother's death, only leaving that estate for his daughter to show that he cared. Harper had never had much of a childhood, with her studying and art classes that she used to attend along with other things and her mother and father had much more important matters to attend to. She let out a sigh, her breath clouding in the unforgiving winter air. Harper tugged her maroon beanie forward a little, since it had started slipping off. She adjusted her headset so that it would fit comfortably on her ears so that she could play music. She kept her gaze on the house long enough to see a man emerge from the double doors. He was about her age, as far as she could tell from the features that she could see. He wore a heavy coat that was a dark shade of gray, and boots that were large enough to keep out any of the winter winds. His gaze slid to her, and he stiffened. His eyes were a warm shade of brown, while hers were just a bright sea green. She ran her eyes over his figure once. Twice. Then acted as if she wasn't interested and pulled her phone out from her pocket and turning on music that would tune out any unwelcome thoughts. She put it back in her pocket, glancing at the man once more before stuffing her gloved hands in the pockets of her coat and started walking in the direction of her estate on the far end of the town. Harper hadn't been walking long before she could faintly hear footsteps behind her, and a warm hand on her shoulder. Two words echoed out from the back of her mind.
Too close! Too close! Too close!
   She turned and pulled her headset off of her ears when she saw the man that had come out of the house only minutes before. He took his hand off of her shoulder, but the warmth from it still lingered.
Harper found herself missing it a little.
She met his eye. "Hello." She said pleasantly. He offered her a half smile in response, but kept his eyes trained on hers. "I couldn't help but see you looking at my house. Are you interested in it or something?" He asked. She shook her head. "No. Never have. Never will." She said, but couldn't hide the grief that flashed in her eyes. She couldn't tell if he had noticed. "Did something happen there that I don't know about?" He noticed it.
"Yes, something did happen there, but I won't be the one to tell you what. Just notice the rope hanging from the old tree in the backyard, and let your imagination wonder." She said, her words coming out stronger than she had intended. He nodded. "Well, if I do find out, I would like to still know the whole story. Can you give me your name so I could ask about it? You seem to know what did happen." He said. "You tell me your name and I'll tell you mine." She said, half tempted to walk away. "Liam Grayson." Liam said, and Harper could tell from his last name that he was probably from the United States and not Canada. "Harper Lucas." She said, and that tempt to walk away grew stronger. "Well, its nice to meet you Harper. I hope to see you around sometime soon." He said, his dirty blonde hair shining in the sunlight. "You too, Liam." She said, and gave him a small wave of her hand before she continued walking to her estate, twirling a tendril of dark brown hair around her finger.
She opened the door to her house and smiled for the first time since her mother's death.
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I hope you liked the new story that I've been planning on writing! I don't want just one story on my account, just in case people don't like my other story. Don't hesitate if you want me to change something about my writing, because I'm always open to ideas on how to improve as a writer. Anyways, I'll see you in the next chapter, Bye!!