Bloom

Two: Friendship blooming and costume party (7.3K)

Hi everyone! Thank you for the lovely people who read Chapter One. I honestly didn't think anyone would pay attention to it and even though I firstly write for myself, it gives me butterflies to have people enjoy this story.

If there was one delight that living in London had given me, it was the late mornings accompanied by the noise of the busy streets outside my flat. Metropoles were usually known for their non-stop hassle of people and the famous no sleep policies however I, for one, loved the business of it. Those were advantages I had never known, having been brought up in a very small city surrounded by mostly fields and cottages. Ever since I was ten and discovered how quiet – too quiet even- some of the villages around me were, I made a promise to myself that as soon as I could afford it, I'd move to a bigger city. London happened to be that said-city.

I had woken up early that day, getting ready for classes that started at eight a.m. to end up at my job by ten. Most of the classmates I had met were pretty much annoyed by their part-time job, not finding it to be as interesting or helpful to develop some work abilities, I, however, enjoyed my job very much so. Maybe being a bookworm was the main reason for me taking an interest in working in a library, or maybe it was just knowing that my schedule wasn't the busiest and I was working close to my flat.

Luckily, when I attended my first proper interview with Elisa, we had agreed on a few compromises; I had my Tuesday afternoons off – non-negotiable-, my shifts couldn't be more than two hours long at the same time due to my classes and finally, the agreement I preferred, I could borrow any books of my liking as long as I let my colleagues know. It was a lucky situation I was in and despite all of the convenient aspects of my work, I was more than happy when I got off on this shiny Friday.

Going back to my flat to shower and head back to town according to my plans had been easy. What hadn't been was a sudden – Yet somehow predictable – weather change. My friends and I had agreed to have lunch at a quiet pub called 'Ale & Pie' near St James' Park. It was by far my favourite spot in the city and the delicious smell of tea and French fries when I visited the place for the first time back when I was seventeen.

My friends still being quite new to the city, I thought it'd be a good way of not only showing them around but also have some good food for our weekly catching-up lunch. However, when I pushed the door, I saw my four friends already sat at the table only waiting for me – I hated being late.

"I have to get used to this stubborn weather and bring an umbrella with me everywhere." A small puddle of water was forming at my feet from all the raindrops dripping from my more than soaked clothes.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually. I always thought it was an old tale until it happened to me and I adopted the habit." My friend Daniella said while I took a seat and picked up the menu that was waiting for me on the table. All of my friends had already chosen their dishes, I joined them after a few glances throughout the carte du jour. Our waitress came to our table, took our orders in, picked up all the menus and let us pursue our conversation.

I reached for my phone seconds after it had vibrated in my bag. I had so many emails I was waiting on: a few concerning classes, university organisation or even my work schedule. A surprised look appeared on my face when I realised it was simply a message but not a regular one. Harry was written at the top of the one-sided conversation.

"Earth to June, earth to June. Are you listening?"

"Oh sorry, I-" My eyes left my screen for a few seconds to see four heads turned to me.

"What's going on?"

I weighed whether or not I should mention anything of what had happened the previous night and before I could stop my mouth, I started. "I forgot to tell you what happened to me yesterday," I confessed to my friends. "Well, yesterday afternoon I met this man in the park and-"