I will always remember the day Sky Clark moved in to the house next door, because it was day she became my first real crush. My Mum, as usual was being nosy, and called me to the window to see the new neighbours. The first thing my eyes were drawn to was a petit girl in a pretty white dress and tan sandals with long beachy blond hair. Even from the living room window, I could see her sparkling green eyes. Following her down the driveway was a tired looking man in a check shirt, holding a set of keys. As they got closer, my Mum and I ducked away so they wouldn't see us. Probably not our finest moment. The man unlocked the door and while the girl entered, the man went back up to the removal truck. The girl came out of the house and helped him carry boxes. You could see she was struggling with hers. The next thing I saw was my older brother Joe jogging from the pavement in front of our house to help her. He'd been on his way home. A appreciative look spread across her face, and then a laugh, probably from one of Joe's witty lines. Maybe it wasn't over yet. Maybe this girl would have more sense and not be entranced by Joe's moody dark clothes and wicked personality. Maybe. Or probably not.
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For other people in my school, Summer holidays meant going to somewhere more exciting than Sandfield (which was anywhere really), or perhaps going out with their friends. For me it meant a walk on the beach by myself in the afternoon. Suffice to say, I wasn't the most popular guy at school. My brother was. I was just a plain, tall, the boy at the back of the bus listening to bands on his IPod that the other kid's parents listened to. It had always been that way, me a loner, my brother a king, until I happened to come across Sky on the beach on a typically British, dull day.
"Hi" she smiled at me as she approached, her light blond hair blowing in the wind, around her head, like a kind of halo.
"Uh, hi" I mumbled, but maybe it came out more like a grunt? Damn my social awkwardness. Sky was the only girl I had ever been remotely interested in pursuing. There were pretty girls in Sandfield, but none that could compete with Sky. They're only fashion inspiration was one another, so once someone wore something slightly different, the rest would follow like sheep. The same went for hairstyles and lipstick colours.
"You're my new neighbour, right? Joe's younger brother?" She said.
"Yeah, pretty much. I'm Dylan." I muttered. This came out perhaps a little more gruff than I intended.
"Nice. My name is Sky. Nice to meet you, Dylan" and she extended a hand. I lifted my head slightly, gave a shy smile and shook her hand, her bracelets jingling as I did so.
"You do this often then?" She asked.
"What, walk round the beach like a loner?" I grinned.
"Hmm, I think we'll call it "walking with your thoughts". Sounds a little more poetic don't you think?" She said.
"I like it. Makes me sound like some sort of wise guy, instead of a friendless teenage boy" I laughed. She giggled.
"Well, Dylan. You can tot your friend count up to one." And Sky put her arm through mine, and we happily strolled along the beach, like we did most afternoons in that summer holiday.