Wait For Me

Chapter 1.

The air was cool as I took a step out of my flat. It softly blew against my bare arms; I was only in a tank top and some denim shorts due to the nearing summer. My key rings clinked together as I locked the door behind me and I smiled weakly at the dangling miniature LP record I had received from Noah before I had moved.

We had relocated south to Stamford - away from my north eastern roots and away from him. My mum had insisted on moving further south but I knew the first place Zach would search would be right at the other end of the country.

Soon after, I had 'lost' contact with him. I knew that talking to Noah would only create a loophole, allowing Zach to find me.

My eighteenth birthday swung around so fast it didn't even feel real. How could two years have already passed? All I wanted to do was find Zach, and tell him I had waited for him. I was finally eighteen and we could be together. Yet, every attempt at finding him was useless. Karen had clearly used all her power to block any contact information being leaked. I was distraught, but my mother and Aunt Pat insisted that perhaps it was for the best.

That weekend, Alyssa had come to visit me for my oh-so-exciting eighteenth party and met the few friends I had allowed myself to meet in college. First up was Lachlan, who used his Glaswegian heritage to lure and charm any girl who had a soft spot for his Scot accent - thankfully Alyssa was immune...I think. Then there was Imogen, who kept to herself, collecting any games and comics she could find and last but not least, Oscar - his father was a Wilde fan, so naturally had named his son accordingly.

Despite their best efforts, it was clear I had no desire to abuse my new adult status and get ridiculously drunk. The whole thing was like a poorly executed charade, a charade I had to go along with - so I did - I got so out of my mind on vodka, cider and various other cocktails I was almost in another universe dancing to ACDC's Back in Black.

Another year went by, and contact with Alyssa was minimal at best. She didn't have the money or the time to keep visiting, since she was in university like me, and had found her own set of friends. After a few more months, we just stopped speaking altogether. I never held it against her and we still had each other as friends on every social network site we used, but I knew we would never be as close as we were.

A year through my Classical Civilisation course and after Alyssa and I had stopped speaking, Imogen and I had decided to find a part time job, for the days we didn't have classes. I needed the extra money to furnish my dump of a flat - I was sleeping on a single mattress on the floor since my rickety bed frame had decided to break in half as I was sleeping on it - and she needed the money for her ever increasing game and comic collection.

After applying for at least twenty part time jobs, we were finally accepted at a pub in town called The Pegasus. I was part of the bar staff, and Imogen had bagged herself a waitressing position. For the first time in three years, the constant presence of him had begun to fade from my mind. The fourth year passed, and I still kept myself busier than ever.

My boots hit the pavement quietly as I sauntered past the different houses. A tinny rendition of the Bloodhound Gang rang out from my side and I hastily dug my hand into the brown leather satchel that hung from my right shoulder and curled my fingers around my phone before swiping the screen to answer.

"Louise?" Imogen's small voice echoed from the small speaker. It was still strange hearing my full name out loud so often - after moving to Stamford, I had decided to introduce myself as Louise, nothing more, nothing less. I wanted to leave Lou behind. All I ever thought when my mother called me that after that night was the way he screamed my name and begged me to wait. It was constant torture. So I left it in the north east, along with everything else.