Bad Boy Gone Shy

T W E N T Y S E V E N - Enter: brown-haired boy

Water rushed over her rain boots as Jasmine stared glumly at the cottage before her. The rain added darker shades to her already dampened box, but Jasmine's feet - as if stuck in the flooded curb, did not seem to budge.

'Move, you cow.' Using his shoulder, Jonathan gave his sister a push. He had one arm cradling a box, and the other dragging a suitcase behind him. 

Pulling the raincoat over her head, Jasmine dashed towards the house. She could already feel the water sloshing around in her boots as she ran back towards the car for her suitcase. Their mother waited in the front seat, tapping impatiently against the steering wheel. 'You two,' She almost snarled out the window before leaving. 'Behave.' Watching her mother's car fade far into the blur of rain brought about a refreshing calm across Jasmine's chest, while it also reminded her of the dreadfully tedious weeks she would need to spend in her grandmother's garden, tending to the petunias the old lady was especially fond of.

Jasmine heard a hiss beneath her when she set foot on the welcome mat of her grandmother's home. 'Good afternoon to you too, Delilah.' She growled back at the cat, an angry-looking ball of grey fluff coiled beneath a rocking chair. The black slits in her yellow eyes narrowed as Delilah pulled back her snout, revealing a pair of fangs. 'You're a demon.' Jasmine shook her head, pulling the door open. 'A demon.'

The bell on Delilah's collar jingled closely behind Jasmine's heel, stalking her like darkness chasing Orpheus and Eurydice. 'Your boots.' A scratchy voice shook Jasmine from her vicious eye contest with the cat.

Jasmine let out an 'oh' as she dropped her gaze to her boots and the water sloshing inside them.

'Shake it out on the concrete outside.'

Jasmine forced a grim smile. She curtseyed in reply, although knowing well and truly that her grandmother was half-blind.

The cat pounced onto the old woman's lap, hissing maliciously at the villain in knee-tall rainboots, bushy hair and a large black raincoat. Delilah's complaints seemed to fade with the careful strokes of wrinkly fingers. 'Delilah dear,' the scratchy voice soothed the standing hairs of the cat down.

'Jesus, you look like Hagrid.' Jonathan chuckled at Jasmine, loosening his shoulders. 'Granny, let's make you a nice cup of hot tea.'

'Yes, yes.' Granny slowly nodded, letting herself be wheeled towards the kitchen. 'I'd love myself a nice cup of tea. The cat biscuits for Delilah are in the pantry too.'

Jasmine groaned inaudibly and pushed the cottage door wide open to shuffle through the slim doorway. Once again, she found herself trudging across the muddy lawn towards the concrete path. She pulled off her oversized footwear and shook the water onto the path, squinting as fat droplets of rain slid down her nose and eyes. The scene before her was hazy and she could only make out the faintest gleam of car headlights navigating its way closer to where she was. They looked quite beautiful in the hazy scene - almost like the yellow crystal beads she used to make bracelets out of as a little girl.

The lights were drawing closer, and Jasmine wondered whether her mother had manoeuvred the vehicle in a U-turn to punish her for misbehaviour. However, when the car pulled up across her, she could see that it boasted a slick black coat and four silver hoops on its nose rather than the anticipated silver that was her mother's Toyota. The car slowed to a stop across the street, and its crystal headlights faded into the grey of the rain. A navy blue umbrella stretched its wings from the open car door and was lifted up to reveal the driver's face.

Shaggy brown hair, eyebrows you would see on a French fashion runway and a boyish gleam in his eyes.
Jasmine recognised him almost immediately.