Heart Strings Version 2

HS Version 2 - Ch 2

We noiselessly took some seats near a couple of "earphones" who had apparently not heard.

Five minutes into the journey I nudged Sam, 'so, um, what moves did I have?'

Sam grinned wickedly as David dug his elbow into my ribs.

'That'll be for me to know, Holly to find out, and you to keep guessing.'

I scowled.

When we got off the bus in town we saw Holly standing casually by the bus stop. A total coincidence she was there according to both her and Sam, but we couldn't' turn them away... They both had strangely heart-melting puppy dog eyes.

As usual, we hung around nowhere in particular, just drifting around shops buying drinks, being the scary teenage delinquents the older generation enjoy to label us as.

Eventually, after an hour, David and I sat on a bench whilst Sam and Holly voluntarily sat on the floor in front of us and on top of that they began to feed each other Kit Kat pieces. I kid you not.

'Guys,' Holly suddenly muttered aloud. David and I looked at her - Sam was already doing so. 'When is the earliest you would ever get married?'

'I don't know,' Sam began first, as usual. 'Straight after Uni I guess. Though anything can happen if you fall in love...'

Holly smiled hesitantly at him.

'Bit of a random question, don't you think Holly?' I grinned.

'Yeah, I guess, but,' she paused, 'if you think about it... We are legally allowed to get married at sixteen aren't we? With our parent's consent... This year we are all going to be seventeen. It just makes you think I guess. We've now started our first year of sixth form. We are adults-'

Before she could continue Sam grabbed her in an amorous hug and kissed her.

David and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

'Guys, public place?' David sighed with a small smile on his face. 'I guess we know who's getting married first?'

At that, they parted, Sam blushing and Holly chuckling softly.

'Leave us alone, we're young, we can have fun! Can't we Sam?'

'Sure Hollister,' he nodded weaving his fingers in between hers.

I grinned at the both of the them. 'Hollister was a pet name Sam had given Holly which fitted her perfectly seeing as it was the brand label you saw on most of her clothing and accessories. (At that moment in time she was wearing a Hollister top, and bag.)

'Ah, Nathan... Are we ever going to hear you say those words?' Holly asked.

'What words?' I wanted to know.

'I do?' David offered helpfully.

Holly laughed ,'those, yes, and "I love you".'

I nudged her knee playfully with my foot, 'well, if you listen carefully, you'd know I say it all the time! Look here, an example; "I love you, I do".'

She nudged me back with a smile on her face. 'Seriously Nate, You need to allow yourself to fall in love at some point. You can't keep playing around with girls the way you are.'

David and Sam turned to me.

'Why not?' I retorted jokily.

Holly looked at me sadly. I looked up ahead of her and watched people pass us by.

Truth was, I wanted to be in love like Sam and Holly were. I really did; but every time I met up with a girl and she wanted to see me again I just found that she was so dull and it was clear she only wanted me for one thing. It's funny how it was always the fucked up, slutty girls who wanted me... And the ones who weren't were too introverted to talk to me or be interesting when we actually went out together...

Eventually, when I was fifteen -not long after my parents got divorced- I stopped looking for better, stopped hoping for better, stopped dreaming about a stupid romantic encounter with a girl that didn't exist. I started giving those fucked up girls what they wanted, which was quite obviously sex, and started cheating on the nice girls, using them to fuel whatever need I had.

It's funny because I met holly before Sam did. It was Holly I was going out with the day I'd found out about my parent's plans to divorce. Someone had introduced a month before. In a week we were dating, in days I was cheating...

I was a sad case, and Holly was a girl that I could have actually loved. She was beautiful -yet she didn't know it-, mad and fun-loving, different and totally random every day, thoughtful, and she wanted me for me -cheesy as it sounded.

If I wasn't so pissed off with the world around me, if I didn't feel betrayed by my parents, by love, by relationships, I may not have had sex with her that night stealing her virginity as well as throwing mine at her. I may not have dumped her the next day. I may not have begun a path that landed me the title of a Heartbreaker.

'Nate, you've spaced out...' Sam waved a hand in my face. To this day he doesn't know about me and Holly. We were going to tell him, but when he started telling her that he loved her, she decided against it;she didn't want to hurt him.

And to this day, I don't understand why Holly doesn't hate me for what I did to her, but I'm glad because she's a great person, and she's good for Sam.

'Look, I will probably fall in love, okay? Just, maybe, when I'm in my forties or something hopefully...'

They all laughed, unaware that I was being completely serious.

I smirked and rolled my eyes, going along with it when my eyes caught sight of a familiar face.

It was Persephone and the two drunk girls from the day before; Amy Lloyd and Mel Ali, and they were heading towards us.

Persephone seemed to only notice me as I noticed her. After her eyebrows rose in shock, she allowed me a hesitant smile which grew slightly when I grinned widely at her. After a moment, she looked away though, apparently embarrassed, and both Aimee and Mel turned to see what she'd been smiling at.

As soon as they caught sight of me, they beamed and waved.

I nodded slowly at them, the smile still in place. Suddenly, I was sorted for the next weekend; I would just have to ask them on Monday...