Dedicated to Bluehairgypsy thanks for the follow! will be doing for all followers!
please vote, comment and fan if you like!!
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: Bittersweet memories
~ Flashback ~
"That's not fair George! It's my turn to have a go!"
"In a minute Nance! And besides, YOU don't even know how to ride a bike!"
"I do too!"
"Do not."
"I'll prove it to you if you let me have a go."
"There aren't any stabilisers you know."
Oh. Ego isn't a great quality to have, but when you're a child you don't know any better. You get so hung up on proving the other one wrong that you forget to stay within the limits that refrain you from making a fool of yourself. I created a huge fuss over proving George wrong that I ended up making quite a big mistake.
I walked towards the bike with such confidence, but inside I had never felt more hesitant. It felt like jumping off a diving board knowing that you weren't able to swim. I knew I was going to embarrass myself, but once I set my mind on something there was no going back.
As soon as I perched myself on the seat I started having second thoughts. I looked back at George. The grin on his face had doubled since the last time I looked at him. I gulped as I glanced down the steep hill, my eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. What were you thinking Nancy?
"Go on then! Show me!"
"I am!" I was annoyed. Not at him but at myself.
I lifted my feet from the ground onto the pedals. I couldn't balance myself on the bike and I refused to look at George. He must be looking so smug right now. So instead I decided to use the hill to my advantage to help me ride. With one foot on the pedal and the other on the ground, I lunged myself forward and before I knew it I was riding the bike. My face was beaming with feelings of pride, inflating my ego even more. If only I could see the look on George's face. That'll teach him to make a bet with me.
I spoke too soon. The bike started gaining more and more traction, hurtling furiously down the hill. I had no control. I lost my balance and the bike tilted with me on it, rolling down the hill, full speed ahead. My body scraped and bumped against rough concrete road before finally rolling to a stop.
I felt; numb, stupid and deflated, as in my ego, which grew into the size of a hot air balloon to only burst from too much pride. I couldn't really remember what happened after that as everything faded to black. All I could hear was George's voice inching closer screaming my name.
The doctor said that I hit the floor head first causing a concussion, but other than a few bruises, I was ok. As soon as I got home George was the one to greet me first. I thought he was going to tell me, "I told you, you won't be able to ride the bike," but instead he gave me a hug asking if I was ok, and how stupid I was for doing something I couldn't do.
I still remember this particular moment because I had never seen such sincerity in his eyes. Whenever I was in pain George would be the one to make sure that I was ok and that I wasn't alone. I could always rely on him, for anything and everything. Friends like him don't come by often.
Little did I know that my feelings would become stronger for him as our friendship grew. He was my first love. And later on in life I regretted feeling that way. Sometimes you think you know a person, but priorities change, people change, times' change, everything and everyone changes but you. Little did the 7-year-old me know that some things don't last forever.
~End of flashback ~
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Nancy, it's 7 already! Wake up!"
My eyes opened, one after the other. I took a moment and realized that I was on the floor; I was lying on my stomach, with my head twisted to the right and my left leg under the bed. My duvet had abandoned me during the night. I was cold. I could feel my hair sticking up at the back and my pyjama trousers were dragging below my waist. I painfully rose from the floor slowly dragging my body towards the bathroom to have a shower.
Early mornings are the worst, especially when you have to get used to them again after the summer holiday. That's right. It's the first day of the last year of college.
After getting out of the shower I felt more like a human and less like a zombie. I opened my wardrobe and had to decide what to wear. This was going to be a mission, considering my wardrobe was just a heap of clothes.
I needed to wear something to blend with the crowd. I wanted to keep it casual, it wasn't hot but it wasn't cold, the weather was a perfect mix of both.
I opted for a black cropped jumper with light blue mom jeans and a pair of white converse. As for my hair, I left it down allowing for the waves to hide me away from people I don't necessarily want to confront today. Makeup was kept to a minimum of mascara, eyeliner and some tinted lip balm. I grabbed my phone and my backpack and gave a glance at the mirror before leaving my room. I looked average, which was exactly what I was trying to achieve.
I opened my bedroom door with my bag hooked on my right shoulder and my phone in my left hand and at the same time my brother had opened his door. He's 20 years old and I'm 17, we were no longer kids but we sure did behave like we were.
See this is a tradition that we have upheld for many years. I sure as hell was ready for this race. Our eyes locked and that was a sign of confirmation.
The staircase was in the middle of the hallway and within 10 seconds we both launched our bodies towards the stairs hurtling down as fast as we could. My brother threw his body off the staircase making it to the end before I was even halfway. He made it into the kitchen and grabbed the fresh stack of pancakes.
I have to say that I am at a serious disadvantage, purely because I am 5"4 compared to my brother who is nearly 6ft.
"Seriously!? Come on you win every single time and you always get the pancakes first. Do you not in the slightest feel a bit of pity for me?" I whined.
"Hey! I won fair and square and that's the deal."
He ate the pancakes as nosily as he could just to wind me up enough so that I would grovel on the ground for him to spare me a bit of food. If only I was wearing rags it would've looked like we were re-enacting the scene from Oliver Twist.
"Whatever, Rueben please can I have some? My bus is going to be here in 5 minutes, please?"
"Deals a deal. I won, I get the pancakes. Just go get some cereal."
"There isn't time, oh my god this is pointless I'm leaving!"
"Rueben." Mum warned him sternly as she made her way back into the kitchen. I could literally hear his eyes rolling as he passed me one pancake. Temper tantrums always work. Especially when you're the youngest sibling.
I left feeling smug but as soon as I opened the front door and took the first few steps outside the gate my stomach started churning. I hadn't seen these people in over a month.
I would like to say I'm a reserved person. High school changed everything. Hard to believe I was ever an extrovert. I have anxiety which tends to get the best of me most of the time. Second guessing everything and feeling like I lack control over most aspects of my life is draining. But I'm working on it.
As I walked down the road I saw a few familiar faces at the bus stop, but I barely knew them. I could see them looking at me. My heart began to beat faster causing my cheeks to flush red, my hands began sweating and all I wanted to do was hide.
All I could think was 'why are they looking at me?', 'there must be something wrong with me?', 'why are they talking about me'. All these irrational thoughts began to fill my head. And just as I felt like I was about to implode, I saw one familiar face, Leah.
Leah was my best friend. I've known her since we met at gymnastics class when I was 10. Since then, we were inseprable. Leah is beautiful, she is around the same height as me but is petite. She has long black luscious locks and bold brown eyes. Her skin is like the colour of sand radiating against the sun. She is perfect. Inside and out.
As I reached the stop she greeted me with a hug. A huge sigh of relief escaped by lips and the churning in my stomach subsided. My heart rate slowed down and my cheeks slowly returned back to their normal colour. I felt safe. I felt relieved. And I knew that, with her by my side, all is well.
............................................................................
The bus dropped us off to the front gates of the college.
"You ready to do this?" Leah asked.
"Yeah, I guess. Just can't believe it's coming to an end."
"Well, we're just going to have to make this a year to remember aren't we?" Leah said.
We made it halfway towards the main building when to my right I saw George and his friends. You remember the whole best friend forever thing I told you? Yeah, its all BS. He changed, he was no longer the George I knew. And even though I hated him with a passion for the things that had happened over the past 5 years, I loved him once, the old George, but he was no longer that person.
He was no longer the 7-year-old boy who cried for me when I smacked my head on the pavement after the bike dare. He was no longer the George who cared how I was or what I was doing or when I could come to hang out with him because we had so much to talk about life. He was no longer the George who looked at me with warmth, but someone who had become so cold to the point where the person who I once knew him as was long gone. There were times I yearned for the old George. But I knew he was never coming back.
George was your typical popular guy in college. He hung around with all the 'right' people. He was athletic, sociable and sought after by many girls. Tall, handsome and mysterious are the only adjectives you need to know that describe George. Especially mysterious, you just can't pin down who he is, purely because he doesn't want to be. He was cool. Got into some trouble with his friends, and was admired for his 'bravery' for the things he had done. All to make sure he earnt that 'respect' from his people. He worked hard for this position, I'll give him that.
Most of the students at college came from school, so he didnt have to start from scratch. I wish he was just someone who peaked at high school, but with his charisma, his charm, and his ability to talk, I just know that there's a lot more waiting for him after the end of this. I feel spiteful and bitter towards him. Why do bad things happen to good people? And how do bad people always make their way up the social status ladder? I couldn't stand him. And that made me sad. Because I know thats not who he is, but it's someone he chose to be.
He turned his head towards my direction and I immediately averted my sight to the reception doors. Since the beginning of college, and way before that, he pretended I didn't exist, and I intended for it to stay that way. He's not ruining my first day back. No chance.
It was time to pick up our timetables for this year.
"If my timetable is worse than last year I swear I am going to DIE." Leah exaggerated.
I rolled my eyes at her. The receptionist gave us our timetables after we gave our names and for Leah, it looked like it was Christmas day. As she opened her timetable sheet she looked relieved and looked at me gesturing me to open mine.
I had 3 consecutive 4:35pm finishes with 2-hour free periods in between. Kill. Me. Now.
I looked at her with utter dismay as she snatched the piece of paper from me. She was in hysterics, I, on the other hand, not so amused. We remained in front of the reception counter unaware of the person stood in line behind us. I felt a radiation of warmth from another body, unpleasantly lurking behind me. Whoever this person was, s/he was too close.
Before I could even react I heard a deep voice saying, "George Woods."
My body became stiff. Leah took it as a sign and started to walk away from the reception area and I followed behind acting oh so casual as if I didn't know who George Woods even was.
"Nancy, we're going the wrong way, we have to go the other way, we're going to be late. Do you really want to go all the way around the field to get to registration?" she whispered as we walked slowly down the hall.
I sighed knowing that Leah was right; I didn't want to be late on the first day of college. So as a sign of defeat I nodded and we made a sharp U-turn heading towards our reg room. I kept my head down refusing to come to a confrontation with George.
Unfortunately, the exact opposite had happened. As I was walking at full speed ahead I didn't pay much heed to what was in front of me. And before I knew it George and I had bumped into one another causing me to fall backwards onto the floor. So much for keeping a low profile on the first day back.
"Jeez, I'm so sorry Nance! You ok?" I heard him say.
I sat there for a while before snapping back into reality, "Uh, yeah I'm fine." I replied, refusing to make eye contact. He offered his hand to help me up but I rejected his offer and pushed myself off the floor.
"I'm really sorry. Are you hurt?" he sounded genuinely concerned. But really who is he trying to fool? The guy has barely spoken to me in the last 5 years. Why the concern all of a sudden?
I raised my eyebrows, "I'm fine."
"Good" he smiled. Urgh.
I gave him a nod as a farewell to mark the end of this unfortunate encounter. I tried to make a swift exit as I could see he was about to say something else. I nudged past his shoulder, a bitchy move I must say, but it's the treatment he deserves.
"Well, that was unexpected. Why all of a sudden the sweet treatment?" Leah asked.
"To be honest, I don't know. And frankly, I dont care. He can do one."