As Edmund kneeled to tie his shoelaces, he noticed a blur of colour. He looked up to see the girl he had been crushing on for the last month. It was Faith, the girl in the pale floral sweater. That's what he called her in his mind. He had seen her on the first day of his new school, he was just about to knock on the door and enter his first lesson when a voice had called out to him.
"Hey!"
Edmund turned to see it was a slim girl with short cropped dirty blond hair running towards him. Girls usually didn't approach him so he looked behind him expecting to see someone else. When the girl reached him out of breath, she spoke again.
"Hey, sorry. I just wanted you to wait so we could both go in together."
Now that he got a closer look at her, she was quite pretty. She looked very confident with those bright eyes of hers and her great posture. She was wearing a pale sweater with a floral design. Underneath she wore some black leggings and black trainers.
"Shall we go in if you're done checking me out?" The girl said raising an eyebrow, with a playful smile on her lips.
Edmund immediately snapped out of his trance and started spluttering while the girl was watching him with amusement in her eyes.
"I- I wasn't. I mean yes lets just go in."
The girl knocked on the door with a satisfied smile on her face. When she opened the door her scent travelled up Edmund's nostrils, blinding him with the beautiful smell of lavenders...
Everyday after that Edmund tried to learn more about the girl in the pale floral sweater. He soon found out she was a dancer and that's why most of her outfits included leggings and comfortable shoes. Her favourite flower was lavender (no surprise there). And her favourite colour was light blue.
After stalking her on various social media websites for weeks he had finally summed up the courage to speak to her. He was going to do that today. He had to be sure he looked perfect. He had already checked if his glasses were crooked a few times and he was about to tighten his shoelaces to reduce the risk of tripping on them and making a fool of himself, which unfortunately he was very good at.
But then, all the breath from his lungs was sucked out because he saw her. But what shocked him was that it wasn't actually her. It was a framed photograph of her wearing that same floral sweater the first day he had met her. She was grinning at the camera. Her best friend Eva was carrying it with a grim expression on her face. People were huddled around her with the same expression, some holding candles some silently crying.
Edmund straightened, confused about what was going on. He approached the group anxiously. He asked a girl holding a candle what was happening. The girl looked surprised for a moment but that didn't change her dull eyes. She replied after a few seconds.
"Faith Winfrey, died last night. She got hit by a car while she was walking home after her dance class. The driver was drunk."
The first few words hit Edmund like a thousand bricks. He stood there wide eyed, not being able to form any words. Eventually his brain registered what the girl had fully said and he swallowed.
How hadn't he heard about this? He knew her dance lessons finished late and that it was usually dark after them but how? How was she dead? Why? He couldn't answer any of the questions in his head. He couldn't believe it. No. She couldn't be dead. It just wasn't...fair.
He followed the group of silent teenagers to Faith's locker. People had already stuck notes here and there. Candles were being put and Eva had just knelt down to put Faith's portrait.
Edmund was the last person to leave the scene. When he did, he didn't bother going to the assembly held as a tribute to Faith. He just walked out of school, hands in his pockets, a hard scowl on his face. He wanted to cry so bad. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. He wanted to hit something, break it. He wanted to take this rage out of his system.
Just then he past a flower shop. He stopped when he smelt something familiar. He smelt her. As if she was right next to him. He turned and saw a beautiful bouquet of lavenders amongst other flowers. That's when he couldn't suppress it anymore. Tears flooded his eyesight and he started running, not seeing where he was going. He ran and ran. Taking out all his anger and his sadness on himself by feeling his lungs burning, his calves aching.
Eventually Edmund stopped, granting the wish of his body. He fell on his knees, supporting himself by his hands. After struggling for his breath he shook with grief. He cried till he had created a tiny puddle on the ground.
He didn't even know her! Why was her death affecting him so much? It just wasn't FAIR! Life wasn't fair!
How could someone like her, so full of life, now be dead? He could still hear her melodic laugh, still see her smile when he closed his eyes...
She couldn't be gone. No...
❀
Later that day, Edmund walked back to school with the same bouquet of lavenders he had seen in the flower shop and dropped it off at Faith's locker.
❀The End❀
Hey it's Mimi! I hope you liked this short story! Comments and Votes are very much appreciated. Photo credit goes to we heart it.
