blurred colours •

chap. 01

GRAY

I EXPECTED THIS summer to be fantastic, astonishing even. Before school ended, I brainstormed a bucket list in my head, mapping and plotting ideas of where I would like to visit throughout UK.

That fantasy never came true - even though it's only been two weeks into summer I just know it won't happen. You can always dream, but you should also be realistic too, however. Dreaming is basically what all sixteen-year-old girls do in their spare time, or any time for that matter, I decided that for myself I should crush all the fantasies stormed up in my head before someone else does.

The furthest I've been since the end of school is to the café, Terry's, where my two grandparents work at. I'm not sure if that's a complaint or not, I love going there, even if it's just across the street. I also love my grandparents, but working there has been super time-consuming.

I'm not one to complain, so when they asked me to help them out on weekends I'm not studying for school, and on holidays, I couldn't refuse. It's not as bad as it seems, especially since I met Maxine.

He's also been working at the café since his university days, my grandparents treat him like their own son.

Max has been like a brother I never had, he'd joke around with me and we'd be like a team. When no one else is working at the shop, we have a routine to take turns behind the till and make sure everything is running smoothly.

Two weeks after I had met him, he introduced me to his girlfriend, Fiona. They've been dating ever since sixth-form and is the cutest couple yet. Last year, he asked me advice on how to propose to her, and I told him it's only romantic if he comes up with it. Conveniently for him, she said yes and they had a really cute wedding. 

It's the only time I spent dressing up, Fiona's mother helped me with my dress and make up. She claimed that I was too young and beautiful to waste time.

Maxine and Fiona has basically been family since. Gina, my seven-year-old little sister, loves them with all her heart, the same goes for my mother and me.

It's been this way since we basically moved here, three years ago. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Although, studying for school has changed it up. Being in my first year of sixth-form has made things difficult, not just for me, but for everyone around me. I wanted to get the best grades of my ability, therefore I made sure that I had time to study hard.

My two bestfriends, Elliot and Maya, wanted the same too. They pretty much pushed their families away, in order for us to stick our heads into books. Wanting to study a lot, isn't normal, whatever you define normal as. People in our year have thrown parties pretty much every week, I don't think I've ever been to even one. I've read too many stories about them to know what will happen there.

I guess this is why I made the bucket list, even if it's just sitting at the top of my head. All that studying was extremely stressful, even though I don't know if it paid off or not, as we haven't got our results back yet, I wanted to celebrate.

Today is the day that I decide to introduce the bucket list to Maya and Elliot. We're sitting at a corner, window in Terry's, when I bring it up.

"No way," Maya groans, dropping her face in her hands. "I haven't even fixed my sleeping pattern since school ended, I have to live off coffee. Coffee. Do you know how much I loathe that drink?"