Story: Settling In

The lines in my palms were starting to sweat and a heat starting hitting to come over me, giving me one of my headaches.  I walked behind them all whilst eavesdropping on their conversation.  They mostly talked about a recent party they had where they all got so drunk that one girl ended up in hospital.  That made me even more nervous.  What if they made me that girl?

   Cassy turned round 'You alright?' 

'Yeah' I replied with a smile.  I know it may sound like the same story as my old school but it was different.  I had to keep telling myself that.  I had to hope that things would be different because I can't go back. Ever.

    I started to chat away to them until they said that one question that always scared me "So how come you left your school?" I never knew how to answer it and I didn't want to lie but it was too complicated to tell them the truth right now.  I still had to figure out everything before I could start explaining things.  

   In my head I kept thinking 'keep your guard up. Don't let it down, if you do it will all be over'.

"Just fell out with some girls."

They nodded their heads.  I got the impression that lots of people moved to the school for the same reason or maybe we all just used the same excuse.   The school seemed to pick most of its kids up through the years and almost reminded me of a refuge.  I was part of it now and would probably be the last to join.

   Me and Cassy started to joke around and I felt like myself again.  Things were starting to work out and hopefully it would stay that way.

     

Story: The Beach

My eyes looked over the water as the  sun gleamed over the ripples of water.  It was so beautiful here.  I had forgotten after being away for so long.  The boats as white as snow glided over the sea in the distance taking me back to my sailing days. It was a perfect day for sailing.  A good amount of wind and a heat that made the water seem like heaven.  That beautiful sun. The sun that lit up the pale blue sky.  I looked over at him sitting on the grainy sand, it wasn't quite like the sand in Portugal but it was about as good as it gets in England. His washed out blue shorts made his eyes light up and his surf board style made him fit in perfectly here, unlike me, I stuck out like a sore thumb.  The only unusual thing about him was his very fair skin, but I thought it made him rather...beautiful.  The sun shimmered over his porcelain skin.  He sat there as cool as a cucumber; not a worry in the world.  He slowly turned his head towards me and looked into my eyes unintentionally captivating me.  

"So what was it like there?"he tentatively asked.

I flinched at the thought of talking about it.  I hadn't talked to anybody about it even though I knew everyone wanted to ask.  Only he had the courage to ask me.

"It was...urm...I don't really talk about it."

He tried to catch my eyes again but I didn't let him. I made sure my focus stayed on the ground. 

"You're not going to tell me?"he said with a little frustration or maybe anger in his voice.

I bit my lip and looked back over at the sea hoping that he would read the body language.

"Fine.  I couldn't contact you for two months, couldn't visit you because you didn't want that but I did it for you.... I didn't talk to other people and shut myself off from the world.. just.. waiting for you to come out and...be okay."

I could sense disappointment so I forced myself to look at him.  I could now see that I was starting to pay for everything that had happened in the world while I had been away.  Reality was starting to catch me up, and it was hitting me like a tonne of bricks.