The Girl With Freckles - Wattys2020

2. Strange Encounter

In the past few days, Sydney concluded that moving was a headache. "Baby. Why don't you let me come with you ?", her mother Laura cooed at her. Laura's nagging wasn't helping to reduce the ache that had started to resurface.

"Mom, What's wrong with you !!! I can handle myself", she raised her hands in exasperation. Her eyes tried to focus on the television that was viewing some celebrity interview. But the supposed distraction turned out to be helpless. "I know the past year had been bad, but that doesn't mean I can't handle myself."

"I know", Mrs. Hayes muttered under her breath. Sydney managed to notice the sadness in her mother's voice. She hugged her mother tightly. Resting her chin on her mother's shoulder she said, "Don't make it hard for me, please Mom."

There was no doubt that her parents loved her. But at times like these she really considered herself a disappointment. Just a weak girl who couldn't handle heartbreak and drowned into the sea of depression.

A lone tear managed to escape from Sydney's brown eyes. She didn't try to hide it. Her tears had been her only mate in the past year.

An abrupt clearing of throat interrupted their mother-daughter moment. They both cluttered away from each other's embrace.

Charles Hayes, her father was standing at a metre distance with a phone in one hand while the other hand was digging into his pocket, probably trying to find something.

He moved towards Sydney and handed her a credit card. "You'll need money there."

"Dad !! I don't need it. We talked about it", Sydney encountered, but her father insisted on giving her financial help.

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Later that day, her parents dropped her at the railway station. This was the first time they were sending her alone to a place this far. Sydney had insisted to travel by train. Maybe she could get some drawing ideas on the way.

It was 12 noon when she boarded the train. Looking out of the window she presumed that it was going to rain.

Her mind wandered off to when she used to love playing in rain. The smell of wet ground was her favourite part of it.

"Excuse me !!"

"Miss ??"

"Hey you !!"

"I'm talking to YOU freckled face... "

Sydney tried to forbid the annoying voice from reaching her ears. Before she could cover her ears with the book sitting on her lap, a big hand jerked the book away from her.

"What ?", she barked at the handsome specimen. He was eyeing the book with curiosity. His blue eyes were dancing with amusement, while his body was leaning upon her head which made her felt weird. He was sporting a black jacket which was giving off 'bad-boy' vibe.

The stranger was definitely a sight to anyone who was interested. But, Sydney was definitely not planning to catch any male attention for then.

"Are you into kinky stuff ?" He wriggled his eyebrows at Sydney. Her eyes went to the cover of the book.

Although she was embarrassed by her choice of book, she didn't let her face exhibit it in any form. Rather she rolled her eyes and scooted a little to make space for him to sit.

"This is not my seat Freckled face. But if you really INSIST, then I might consider your offer."

Brat. Sydney thought in her mind but remained quiet and moved her head towards the window. She didn't want an unimportant interaction with a stranger.

"There you are !! Where did you go?" An overly screechy voice rang in Sydney's ears. Her head snapped towards the owner of the voice.

A beautiful girl with tanned skin and mesmerising blue eyes was standing before the strange boy with both her hands on her waist. Then she turned her attention to Sydney.

"Is he troubling you sweetie ?" Sydney shook her head and turned to snatch her book from him. In return he shrugged his shoulders and scurried away. Perhaps to his seat, assumed Sydney. Not that she cared.

"That's my best friend, Brandon. Don't mind him." The girl said to Sydney and settled down next to her. "By the way, I'm Hannah. Just Hanna with an H as the last letter"

"Sydney. Sydney Hayes." She tried to keep it short.

"Beautiful name. So, Syd...Where are you off to ??" Hannah inquired.

"Hanford."

"Great. Is it your first time ?" Sydney raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"I mean....Visiting Hanford for the first time ?" Sydney nodded in agreement.

Hannah kept asking her questions to which Sydney kept her response short. Never did she let her exterior break. Although Hannah seemed to be a great girl, Sydney's walls were hard to break.

She was so indulged in her inner session that she didn't notice when Brandon sat in front of them. He had now worn glasses that gave him a nerdy look. Gone were the jacket and smugness from his face which were initially present. The glasses did suit him well. Anyone could be fooled easily into mistaking him as a bookworm.

From the corner of her eyes she could feel his intense gaze on her, which made her uncomfortable. She tried to avoid any eye contact with him.

She didn't need any male affect her. With that thought she drifted off to her kind of numbness. Sleep had always been her escape from reality.

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