That Moment I First Saw You (TFF Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Time Will Tell

       Sometimes she just wasn't sure how she'd make it through the day. Sitting on the couch in the living room, Delilah boredly watched her phone as her parents argued in the kitchen. Even though the sounds of banging pots and pans intensified over time, she was not bothered by the noise. It had ceased to bother her years ago.
       It was an incredibly beautiful spring's day in late April where the days were starting to get longer but the air was still cool enough to where you had to wear a sweater once you left the house. This had always been Delilah's favorite time of year since in 5 days she would be turning 19. But lately, nothing had seemed to matter, especially the celebration of her birthday.
       "Well I don't care, I don't really care anymore," she heard her mother screech which interrupted her thoughts. "I'm so sick and tired of this. I want a divorce!"
       Yeah, like you'll really go through with it, thought Delilah. She'd heard that empty threat for so long that it no longer shocked her. Throwing herself out of her chair she knew that she'd heard enough bickering for a lifetime and could no longer stand it. She knew where she had to go to clear her mind from the strife. But first, she would make a spectacle of her leaving, just to see if they even cared.
       Marching through the kitchen with a disagreeable looking face and hunched shoulders, she first nudged past her mother who stood at the sink and then secondly by her father who blocked her path to the exit. Nearly making it to the door she was rudely pushed aside as he stepped back in her way.
       "Hey, young lady, where do you think that you're going?"
       "Out," she answered sharply and without hesitation. "I have things to do, people to see."
       "Oh, really?"
       "Yeah. I have a very busy social life, ya know. It's the curse of a college student." Smirking at her sarcastic remark, her father didn't seem to hear it and stood begrudgingly in the doorframe.
       "Ah, I see. Well I seem to remember you saying this afternoon that you couldn't go out to lunch with me because you were swamped with homework that's all due tonight."
       "Well, I work quickly," she mumbled lazily. "I finished it an hour ago." He cocked his head at her dubiously.
       "You're lying and we both know that well. I have to say Delilah that I don't understand where this is coming from." Glaring angrily at him, she glanced quickly back at her mother. While her furious gaze stayed fixated on Delilah's father, she knew that it would not stay that way for long.
       "Hmm. I wonder..," she said feigning confusion and tapping her lips with one finger. "Well, I'd have to say, that if you and mom have been given the permission to lie to me all these years about actually getting a divorce then I should be able to lie to you about what I may or may not be doing. Shouldn't I?" Flinching, her father seemed to be shocked and hurt by what she had said. It was at that moment that Delilah seized the opportunity that she had to finally push past him and leave without a goodbye to either one of them. No look back at her mother was even offered as she departed.
                                 ...
       Delilah used some saved up cash in order to pay for a bus ticket into town. Even without a job, she had still managed to save some money since her Grandma gave her 50 dollars on every special occasion, acting like she was still 10 years old.
       "At least she doesn't pay cheap," Delilah murmured to herself stepping out of the bus onto the sidewalk. The place was bustling with people, young and old, and before she even stepped away from the side of the bus she peaked around in caution to make sure that she did not see anyone that she knew. Ever since she had started anew at college last semester, she had encountered an unruly group of girls who had made it their life mission to make her life a living hell. It wasn't like she couldn't handle them fine, it was just with the way she felt, she might snap if she had to face anymore annoyances.
       Finally deciding that the coast was clear, Delilah pushed off from the bus' side and set off towards her safe place: the library. There she got lost in the amazing stories of other people who's lives were so great that you couldn't help but to wish that you were there in them as well. She dodged people on her way across the sidewalk, which made it seem like she was doing a grueling dance with the largest audience in the world watching her.
       "Nobody's watching me," Delilah mumbled to herself. "I'm just an average person walking on the street, doing normal things." And just as she was feeling relieved that she could escape the crowd which she feared, she was rudely awakened by the library doors not opening as she tugged on them.
       "What the..." Looking up to see their hours posted on the wall she scoffed at it saying that they were closed on Mondays. "Oh you got to be joking me," she growled angrily. "What type of library is closed on a Monday? It's supposed to be a work day!" At her outbreak, she quickly looked around to check if she had drawn any attention to herself, and was dismayed to see that she was catching concerned glances from passerbys. "Can things just go my way for once?" she whined pressing her head back against the wall. "All I need is a break from my miserable life, but even my safe place can't protect me now."
       She say there for a moment, undoubtedly pouting. She pondered going home but instead shook her head. It was only at that moment, almost like a lightning bolt had struck the earth, that a bright light flashed in her peripheral vision and Delilah looked up to see a small record store across the street catch her eye. Somehow, she had never seen it despite all the times she had been down to this part of town. Not surprisingly, she was inexplicably drawn to it to where she could not stop herself from leaving behind her dismay and walking to the building. It was only when she walked in that she realized why she had been so attracted to it.
       Inside, the store was small but quaint and everywhere you looked 80's memorabilia lined the walls. In addition, records from the 60's through 90's filled large bins which were neatly placed in alphabetical order. At first, Delilah did not know where to look until a black-and-white covered record which sat on the front counter caught her eye. Walking quickly over to it she had only begun to read it's name when a short, brunette woman suddenly popped up behind the counter.
       "Hey!" cried the woman.
       "Hey!" answered Delilah nearly dropping the album she was holding.
       "You thinking of buying that vinyl?" Surprised by her question, Delilah looked down and then laughed.
       "Oh, I don't know. I don't know who this band is-"
       "You don't have to know them to buy this album," chirped the women pushily. "It's ingenious. The best of it's time. It'll take you back to 1985...literally." She flashed her teeth so wide that it almost looked like she was growling, but Delilah shook off her sudden intimation she felt of the brunette.
       "Really?" pondered Delilah as she looked once again down at the album at her hands. "Well, I did feel quite drawn to it...and Lord knows I need an escape from my life so... I'll take it."
       "Excellent! That'll be $29.99."
       "Mmppff," Delilah mumbled as she pulled a wad of cash out of her pocket and handed it to the lady, "it'd better be good for that amount of cash."
       "Oh, it will be, I promise." It was at that the short brunette smiled kindly, handed Delilah the receipt and walked out of the room without a word or a glance back. The blonde girl starred after her as she left and shook her head.
       "Strange place," Delilah mumbled taking on last glance around the room and then leaving quickly herself. Once outside of the store, Delilah slipped the receipt into her pocket and prided herself in studying the beautiful album cover as she walked towards the crosswalk where she would cross in order to get to another small shop she frequently visited. Coming to the street, the walk sign turned white and she slowly shuffled along behind the other crossers as to not get caught up in them. She read every song on the back of the album carefully, trying to think of what each song must sound like. Hmm, the Working Hour sounds interesting.
       In that one moment, everything was fine but in the next, she knew something was horribly wrong. Looking up to the sounds of screams, she watched as the people walking in front of her looked to the left of them in horror and began to run towards the other side of the street. What the...she thought unknowingly looking to where they just had. There she watched as a large truck only 3 feet in front of her came barreling towards where she stood, without any signs of stopping. She only had time to inhale before the impact came.
       The sounds of horrified screams were all she heard as she could feel herself being thrown backwards. She let go of the album somewhere along the way and just as she quickly as she had left the ground she landed back onto it once more. The asphalt grinded on her skin mercilessly and by the time she stopped moving, she could feel something sticky leaking from where she hurt the most.
       She could not move, she could not open her eyes to even see if anyone was coming to help her. All she could sense was the excruciating pain in her head and the feeling of blood pooling around her. She was loosing consciousness, she knew it. In that moment, the last thing that registered with her was that the name of the album she had bought was Songs From the Big Chair. And then, the world went black.