One and Only

Chapter Three - Goodbyes

At 5pm, Serena went to her dance class. I decided I had better go to, so I thanked David for having me and waved goodbye to Kate, Lottie and Blake.

But he followed me.

At the door, he said, "Have I got your number?"

I froze. "Um... I don't think so."

He moved closer. "Can I have it?"

Second biggest mistake. I gave it to him.

At the time, I had no idea what I had done, but alas, it was done. When I moved for the door, he said, "Can I have a hug goodbye?"

I stepped naively into his arms, feeling them wrap around me and crush me to his chest. He wasn't ripped with muscles, or soft with layers of fat, but he was a boy and I was in his arms. I had never known what it was like before.

"See you tomorrow," he whispered. When he let me go, I said goodbye and left.

David lived just a few blocks away from me, so I walked home. The sun was still up, being spring, and so I was not eaten alive by insects or injured by falling over in the dark. I thought about my day, but that filled my eyes with tears, so I tried to think about what I would do when I got home, but that had a similiar effect, so I thought about my homework. This made me bored, but it was better than crying all the way home.

Before I reached my street, I passed the local church. Usually I barely noticed it, being agnostic and coming from a family of athiests, but that afternoon it was like a stranger giving me a warm smile, and I stopped to look at it for a while.

I lost track of time until someone approached me and asked if I was going inside.

He was tall, with a friendly face and kind, gentle eyes. I stared at him for a while in confusion, as though I had been sleeping and he woke me up in a strange place.

"Are you going in?" He repeated.

"Um... no..."

A car pulled into the carpark and a girl a bit younger than me jumped out, waving goodbye to the driver and strutting happily into the church. It was a youth group.

"Oh, I see," I laughed. "No, I'm not going in. I was just going home."

He nodded, smiling at me. "You are more than welcome to come in. Its really fun, and we're having pizza tonight."

A nice feeling settled over me. The kindness of a stranger had made my day. But it was a church group. Surely they would Bible-bash me and sing rock songs about God in my face.

"No thanks," I replied. "I really should be getting home."

"Well can I walk you home then?" He was still smiling, his eyes glistening. Where did this calm confidence come from?

"Oh," I said. "Thank you."

We fell into step. "So," he said. "what's your name?"

"Ruby. And yours?"

"Shaun."

His brown hair was cut an inch long, so casually conservative. Every other aspect of him was the same. A decent person.

More than decent.

"You've had a rough day, haven't you?" He asked knowingly.

"Yes," I said honestly. "Very rough."

"If you need to talk about it..."

"No, please," I said to him. "If I talk about it I will cry. But thank you anyway."

We turned into my street. Shaun put his hand on my back when we crossed the street, and then shoved them into his pockets.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You seem like a nice person."

"Well so do you." We were on my front lawn. "Look, I really appreciate your kindness, but I better let you go. My sister -"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The screaming voice of my sister was followed by yelling from my mother. I smiled apologetically at Shaun. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," he replied, trying not to stare at my arguing family, then walked off. I watched him go, wanting to thank him a thousand times. My sister's car tore out of the driveway, and she almost hit Shaun as she sped down the road.

Mum came over to me. "She's officially gone. Sorry you didn't get to say goodbye. Where were you?"

"At a friend's house," I mumbled, leaving out the parts of me being bullied and hugged by Blake, and then meeting Shaun.

And I couldn't sleep until 1am that night because all I could do was think about Shaun and cry over the cruel things Jenna and Chloe had said.