Flowers in the window (r.v.d)

chapter one

Authors Note:

Just wanted to say that this story starts off slow but I promise it gets better. This chapter is necessary to set the scene and introduce the key characters and if you read past here, the exciting parts will come ... so please keep on reading :)

As the city glimmered in the darkness of the night, I walked over to the low hanging balcony overlooking  Paris. The room was filled with the rich odour of blooming flowers and a light summer breeze caused the curtains by the window to cascade. Squinting my eyes, I was able to faintly make out the glowing structure of the Eiffel Tower. It had been a solid two hours and countless missed phone calls (from my mother) since my arrival and every single piece of luggage had been unpacked and unceremoniously dumped into a nearby cupboard. And now that I had nothing more to do, I happened to notice the absence of my room mate. It was nearing late night meaning that this roommate of mine may never arrive. Which would mean that I would be subject to spending the night  alone. Bored. And I didn't like the sound of that at all. After all, I hadn't travelled 24 hours to a prestigious art school in Paris not to have a roommate. Refusing to overthink the situation anymore than I already had, I grabbed my coat and slammed the door shut behind me with gusto. The darkness felt light in comparison to the heavy blanket of night which often draped over me back home (in London). 

As I wandered across campus, I watched as  laughing students walked past me in groups, the appearance of people becoming fewer and fewer as I wondered further into the depth of the buildings. Sudden urgent vibrations from my phone caused me to stop in the middle of the road as I fumbled with my pockets. I sighed as my mum's name lit up the phone screen. It wasn't that I was avoiding her, I just... (fine I was avoiding her). Ever since he'd left us, she'd fallen to pieces and had selfishly left  me to care for my younger sibling while she'd broken down. I'd never found it in myself to fully forgive her. Reluctantly, I answered, flinching at her shrill voice. 

"Aster, finally. I've left 5 voicemails and I've been worried sick. The least you could do is call me" 

"Sorry, I was busy unpacking" I mumbled as I began walking again.

"Surely calling your mother comes before unpacking" She spat into the phone. I squeezed my eyes shut, a headache already forming from her bitter words. 

"I'm sorry" I grimaced "How's Tahlia?" 

"She misses you" Her voice grew significantly quieter as she mentioned my younger sister. 

"Tell her I miss her. You've been taking good care of her yeah?"

"Yes of course I have." She snapped into the phone and I could just picture her eyes burning with fury at my assumption of negligence. 

"Alright then I have to go sleep" I lied "Love you" 

I didn't wait for her response before I hung up sighing in relief. Deciding that there really wasn't much to see this late at night, I began heading back to where my room was, soaking in the stillness of the night. Where had all the students gone? As if someone had read my mind, two figures walked towards me their silhouettes ghostly in the faint moonlight. Their rowdy laughs rang through the empty streets and I steered to the left side of the footpath as they approached. 

"Bonjour" One laughed giving me a mocking solute. 

They were both obviously wasted (a bottle of champagne was clutched between them) and I watched dumbstruck as the other (the taller one) bent over pissing himself laughing. It really wasn't that funny. God, if all the students were like this I would neck myself within the first semester. I thought Paris was meant to be romantic, with good looking guys who dropped off flowers in the window. Not that these two weren't good-looking (from what I could tell) but they certainly didn't strike me as the stereotypical romantic French type. Shaking my head, I picked up my pace leaving the two laughing boys mere silhouettes against the silver rays of the moonlight. 

When I arrived in my room, it was just as empty as before. No room mate in sight, nothing out of place. Fine by me, I decided as I sunk onto the bed nearest to the window with the intention of merely enjoying my solitude. I caught my reflection in the window panes grimacing at the disarray of my usually straight blonde hair and the starkness of my wide blue eyes against my pale skin. I hadn't planned for jet-lag and my lack of sleep to drag me into darkness, but I couldn't resist as my head fell onto the plush French pillows. 

I was woken in the morning by the sound of banging and crashing  which I unhappily noted was not  the singing of birds as I'd intended. Opening one eye with tired anger, I watched as a slim girl entered the room, dropping her bags as she saw me. She wore a simple floral dress complimenting her golden brown skin and dark locks paired with bright red lipstick. Seeing me, she instantly ran over, kissing me on both cheeks in an almost frantic manner. She smelt like summer. 

"Ciao tesoro mio. Parli Italiano?" She asked enthusiastically. Upon seeing my confused expression, she merely laughed. 

"Est-ce que tu parles français?" She asked in French this time. 

"I speak English and that's about it" I said yawning, her excitement already overwhelming me. 

"Ah of course, should've known" She spoke in a thick Italian accent and her hands moved aggressively with every word she uttered. 

"I'm Bella. I've been studying here for the past year." She kissed me on the cheek again, her dark brown eyes sparkling in happiness. 

"I'm Aster" I smiled  pushing myself off the bed. It was then that I realised that the brief moment of solitude last night might have been the last time I was alone this semester. 

"I see you already chose a bed so I'll place my stuff over there " She sung over to me, and for the next hour she didn't stop talking, her words stumbling over each other as she commented on everything she saw, told me about her life, all the while never ceasing to dramatically gesture. By the time it was time for my first class of the day, I knew everything about her ranging from her birthday (7th of  November) to her relationship status (happily single). As the day continued, as did her steady stream of words, I felt myself slowly warming up to her, slowly beginning to laugh at her fruitless jokes and random comments. 

It was just before sunset, however, that the noise she created threatened to overwhelm me and I made an excuse to steal away for a second, my body instantly relaxing from the lack of  chaos. I hadn't decided whether I completely liked her overly cheerful nature yet or not. Following a random pathway, I found myself in a park, the trees alive with an array of flowers. I sighed in quiet joy at the fresh odour flowing around me. From my spot under the tree, I had a clear view over the city of Paris which was currently cast in angelic pink light from the setting sun. My moment of peace only lasted a few moments before loud voices echoed towards me. With my heart sinking from the disruption, I turned to look over my shoulder, biting my tongue as two boys accompanied by a petite girl strode into the garden, barely sparing me a second glance. I couldn't deny it: both boys looked like models. One was extremely tall with broad shoulders and creamy green eyes, barely visible under his curtain of light brown locks. His lips were shaped so artistically I thought they were painted, their colour a poisonous red. The other had bleached blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, his good looks making up for the fact that he only reached up to the other guy's shoulders. They were both dressed in typical Parisian chic and I could feel their wealth rippling off them. 

"Bonjour!" The blonde one said cheerfully as they walked past me. Hang on... they were the two from last night... I was sure of it. The taller one didn't even look at me as he continued walking, as if it were his own cat walk, his hands caressing the girl's body. I swallowed my distaste. Honestly where were all the boys who would drop flowers in my window and sing ballads to me under the glow of the city lights. There was a garden right here, blooming with beauty and flowers, just no boys to pick the flowers for me.   

Authors note

Welcome to flowers in the window. Firstly, I'm sorry about this chapter (it was one of those boring chapters that are kinda necessary for the plot of the story). I promise the next chapter will be more interesting :) Also, you're all gonna have to bear with me throughout this story because I'm probably going to write some insane things... but that's the whole fun of it right? Anyway if you enjoyed this chapter plz vote/comment  etc.