Skybreak [not to be continued]

XVI

There were small smiles on the lips of the audience, especially the older members as I reintroduced the amazing work of The Beatles. I ran through many songs, from John Lennon's Real Love and Imagine, to the well-known classics of Yesterday and Let It Be, and the favourites of Hard Day's Night and Here Comes The Sun.

"Here comes the sun, do do do do, here comes the sun and I say, it's alright."

A small audience gathered around and swayed along to the slow swinging feel of the sixties music that I was playing. The atmosphere was relaxed, and many people were singing along, or kindly acknowledging me.

However, the arrival of the train interrupted my song, and many people started to board the train. It noisily pulled up the platform and I involuntarily shivered as the brakes squealed down the metal tracks. There was a brief commotion where the passengers getting off were pushing through the crowds but I tried to ignore the inconvenience. I continued with another song; regardless that most of my audience were now boarding the recently arrived train.

I got so in to it that I hardly noticed the person glaring daggers into my side. They had just got off the train, and my brain quickly scanned through who it could be, but pulled up a blank card. Feeling slightly intimidated by the stare, I turned into the direction of them to see no one, but the straightened hair of a figure disappearing into the crowd.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I thought. I was confused to who the person was, and why they were glaring so intently at me. Shaking my head slowly, I pushed it to the back of my mind and continued with my singing.

~

It was past one in the afternoon when I finally stopped for lunch. Walking slowly towards my new favourite coffee shop in London, the one I had visited with both Luke and Alaska, I passed many people in the busy streets. On arriving in the coffee shop, I could see Michael and Ashton in the corner of the shop, deep in conversation but there was also a sense of agitation written on their faces. I glanced around, however I was unable to see the other two boys. Regardless of their sudden reappearance into my life (after all, I hadn't seen them for several days), I didn't stop to talk to them but instead went straight to the counter to order.

It wasn't until I had sat down with my headphones in, sipping the hot drink and nibbling at the sandwich I had bought that I realised that neither Ash or Mikey were in good moods. They were sat discussing, fairly loudly so that I could hear them over my music, about someone who has quite obviously annoyed both of them.

"I can't believe that! He's been so upset about it, just to think they were once friends. I don’t know was we ever saw in her." Michael moaned, and I turned my music down as I tuned into their conversation.

"I never trusted that girl." Ashton spat out, his words dripping in venom. "She's a good for nothing -" His sentence was cut off his glaze meeting mine, as I stared (confusion clear in my eyes) at them.

Not even a minute after I had looked away, my 'hello' still fresh on my lips, I heard a shuffle as they threw away their rubbish and stormed out. Upset and confused, I changed the track for Green Day's Basket Case, pushed my headphones harder into my ears and let the emotive lyrics suck me in as I continued to slowly eat. The complex guitar patterns and heavy drum beats made my brain ache as the music blared straight into my ears. It consisted with the hot chocolate that was lusciously warm, but I drank it fast - gulping it down as it burnt my though. The food seemed tasteless because I had no appetite after the events occurring a moment ago.

Even after leaving the cafe and slowly walking home, the rudeness of the boys had upset me. I didn't go via the trains; the cool breeze was slightly cold on my arms as I thought about what I could have done to upset them or make them rude to me. My pace was fairly slow, and for once, it was not because of the precious guitar in my hands. I was confused about what I had done, and by the reactions they’d had, it seemed to be a big problem to them. I continued to dawdle, to the point where the thoughts were controlling me so much that I was about to break down.

With tears in my eyes, I stared at the entrance to the Jubilee line outside the block of flats, the place where we had been stood only days earlier, and sighed as my eyes lay their view on nothing but an empty space. The image of us laughing (three guitarists, the bass and Ash sat on his box drum) were still clear in my minds and the a few tears escaped the prison of my eyes.

The trickles of rain began again, dampening my already soggy personnel. I lowly laughed to myself: the weather was really predicting my emotions at the moment. I stumbled the last few steps before the door, nearly colliding with the person stood there. As I turned to lean down and grab the keys I'd dropped, he held them up for me. Looking up to thank him, the words fell of my lips as his beautiful eyes recognised me and immediately turned steely. The crackled voice of Alaska croaked over the intercom, but I held my gaze with the boy as he dropped the keys into my palm and ran off.

Looking down at the bunch of keys in my hand, only one thing was running through my mind. Why did Luke run away, and why was he even here in the first place if he obviously didn't want to see me?