The World Through Blue Eyes

Chapter 3

Even though I cleared things up with Alex I still slept awfully. I woke up at 5am and decided I couldn't continue to toss and turn for several more hours, I needed to get some air. I yanked my messy hair into a ponytail, pulled on a hoodie and threw on some trainers. I left a note on the fridge so my parents wouldn't worry when they woke up and stepped out into the cool morning air. I wrapped my arms tightly round my middle for warmth and made my way down to the beach, the sound of the waves crashing against the pebbles always calmed me. I thought I would be alone at this hour but there was a runner and a couple of dog walkers so I continued to walk until I found a quieter area of the beach. I sat down on the pebbles and breathed in the fresh, salty air which instantly made my anxieties diminish. I closed my eyes and continued to breath deeply but when I opened them I was no longer alone. A boy around my age stood near the sea with an oversized black hoodie making it so that you could hardly see his face. He had a cigarette positioned between his long fingers which were speckled with dirt and a lost look in his eyes. 

"What are you staring at?" He snapped at me. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." I admitted, blushing. 

"You wanna ciggie?" He asked. 

"Sure." I shrugged.

 I had only smoked once before with Alex when we were thirteen and we had both started coughing violently and sworn never to do it again. I took the cigarette and lit it before deeply inhaling. I didn't cough and splutter this time, it felt good actually. 

"Feel better? I know they're suppose to give you cancer or some shit but a ciggie always makes me feel better on a bad day." He told me. 

"How'd you know I was having a bad day?" I asked. 

"I'm just perceptive like that I guess." He smiled. "And you were here at 5am like me." 

"True." I agreed, once more inhaling and letting the smoke fill my lungs. "Honestly for one of these once in a while I think I could deal with lung cancer. Oh God, that's an awful thing to say isn't it?" 

He smiled. "Everyone thinks awful things, you're just not suppose to say 'em but I don't really see why. If we were all more honest then the world would be a better place." 

"That's very philosophical for this time in the morning." I laughed. 

"Well I guess I'm just a philosophical kinda guy." He said. "So, since we'll probably never see each other again you want to tell me what's up?" 

"The guy I've been in love with since I was a kid rejected me and told me he was gay yesterday." I admitted. 

"Wow." He laughed. 

"It's not funny!" I said, grinning a little myself. 

"It is a little bit." He smiled. 

"So why are you here? I told you mine so you've go to tell me yours." 

"My foster parents kicked me out. I'm going to get moved again." He told me.

"Sorry about that, foster parents are the worst. I was moved around five before I got adopted." I sighed. 

"Wait really? You were a foster kid? Wow I guess I really got the wrong idea about you." 

"What did you think about me?" I asked. 

"That you were some stuck up posh kid." He laughed. 

"Yeah I get that a lot. My adoptive parents are the owners of the Elise corporation so I live in the big house and went to Brighton College but before they adopted me I was a regular old unwanted foster brat."

"The Elise corporation? Your parents are Crystal and Claudia? Jesus Christ I was obsessed with their love story as a kid, Claudia is kinda an inspiration to me." He said. 

"Inspiration how?" I asked. 

"Oh y'know just the way she came from nothing and then became....well Claudia Elise." He blushed. "Anyway I gotta go, keep the pack for me? Need to try and make a good impression on these new foster parents or I'll be on the streets tonight." He said, tossing the pack of cigarettes at me. "See you round, Elise girl!"