Sealed with a Kiss ✔

Chapter Seven | Sealed with a Kiss

Dedicated to the awesome Tamaradw for her support, she's helped me so much and her story 'Skipping Time' is great, go have a look!

Two more weeks of school actually seem impossible to endure. I honestly don't know how much more homework, infuriating teachers and Levi I can handle.

There are, however, some upsides to what looks like a bleak month ahead. And that is the awesome, legend of a man, Granddad Parkes. The fact he's visiting was the first thing to cheer me up on the cold Saturday morning I woke up to. It's currently eight a.m. and I have the task of getting the spare room ready for Granddad.

The spare room in our house sees little use, most of our family live pretty far, too far to see them outside of times like Christmas. The bedroom's curtains are drawn and as soon as I pull them open a sigh full of wonder leaves my mouth.

Outside the sky is streaked with pink and strewn with orange clouds from the rising sun with bits of white-yellow light filtering through the clouds and down out below. It looks like a picture cut out from a holiday magazine, I've almost forgotten how pretty winter sunrises can be. Temporarily abandoning tidying the spare room, I rush off to my room to my desk, in the drawer of which is my camera. It's easily the most favourite of all my possessions.

Heading back to the spare room, I open the largest window- it's one that swings out vertically so I have plenty space of take a picture without any glass in the way. The cold winter air hits my face and my breath comes out as foggy air as I angle the camera and then decide the composition for the picture before taking a few snaps.

As soon as I have something I'm happy with I immediately shut the window, turning the handle quickly against the biting cold air.

Mum comes bustling in, holding a pile of bed sheets and pillow cases before dumping it on the bed. She's muttering something incoherent under her breath and I have to grin when I notice how strongly she smells of laundry detergent.

Out of all the people in my family, which there isn't a lot of considering it's just Dad, Mum, Evie and I, I probably look the most like her.

Mum's hair once matched mine but some time ago she'd had it dyed and decided she liked it better blonde. Then there are the famous 'Newell eyes' both Evie and I have. They're a bright sort of blue that runs through all the women in Mum's family.

A look of excitement comes over her eyes when she sees the camera in my hands; she's the one who's spurred my interest in photography. Mum's made loads of attempts to try and push it further and maybe get me to try and make pieces of art from my pictures but taking photos is where my talent ends.

"Let's have a look," she says, coming over and peering over my shoulder. I change the mode to display the pictures and she gives a noise of admiration.

"Gorgeous," she says as she nods, looking at me seriously. "You really should do something with these."

I snort, shaking my head, putting the camera back into its case and leaving it to rest on the window-sill. "It's just a hobby."

"Yeah, I know. You're all science-y." Mum rolls her eyes. "But look at those!"

"I dunno, I'll look for a competition or something," I say in an attempt to ward her off. I think she's slightly disappointed neither Evie and I have shown an interest in art, well Evie is only five but she's been showing more interest in playing with Lego than crayons. Mum, however, is an art teacher at a local college but sadly none of her artistic talents have rubbed off on her daughters.

I spend the rest of the morning tidying the room and getting it ready before having a shower. The smell of Dad cooking lunch fills the house and my stomach starts rumbling. The smell of whatever the hell he's cooking lures me downstairs; I practically jog down the stairs.