one
Dust lay over every surface like dirty snow, pristine dust layer, not a foot print anywhere, dust bunnies the size of bowling balls tumbled across the floor boards toward unseen skittles, free papers piled up to the letter box and cascaded all the way to the foot of the rough wooden stairs, old tea cups lay on a coffee table thickly encrusted with dried up mould, dust covered mirrors, smell of mildew, stale air, air thick with dust, shafts of light bursting through gaps in the boarded up window but she loved it. She loved every single bit it.
That was the weird thing about Lara Elson, everything else that everyone hated, she loved. She loved the ancient history of the Egyptians, the facts of different mountains and she especially loved abandoned houses. This house was special, this house wasn't just abandoned, it was lived by. Although it smelt like mould and growing fungi, there was still life here and she couldn't stop herself from taking pictures, sure she knew no one around here but that's why she had her journal to write in, to keep herself company, to keep her pictures company whilst she discovered more inches of the houses.
The roof now sagged in the middle and were it not for a hole that let the pooled water escape, it would have caved in long ago. The paint that had been white was not so peeled off that it looked out of place amid the dark of rotting wood. The windows were boarded up by the family who thought they would return one day. It was a fine house in it's day, but for most of it's life it had only sheltered insects and the occasional bird.
If it wasn't for the sound of footsteps behind her, Lara would've continued venturing in what she called her sacred place but the footsteps were rushed and that made her rush as well. She scrambled with her camera and notebooks together, panicking as the footsteps got louder as her own actions became quicker, standing up on her feet and trying to rush out the backdoor, but that didn't excel as she walked straight into the person with the footsteps, she managed to drop one of her notebooks as the other fell only to be caught by a hand. Lara looked up, eyes staring intently into blue eyes as his was staring into the same colour.
Something in her just thought it was absolutely necessary to let out a shriek, which she did and watched as he shut his eyes and crinkled his nose, tilting his head to one side of his shoulder as if to drown out her tone.
"Jesus, calm down!" he gibed, his voice quite deep and unexpected.
"I'm so--sorry," Lara mumbled, darting her own eyes away from his for a split second before looking up again, hands trembling from being so nervous.
"Are you from here?" he asked, almost to himself, his gaze was anywhere but to her, he passed her notebook back that he had caught and she was thankful for because her notebook was scrambled with ripped off papers and scribbles.
"Um no," she answered quickly, wanting nothing more but to go home. She looked at him once more before pushing past him and leaving. It wasn't that she was the awkward teenager that everyone expected her to be or thought that she was, it was simple, she didn't know what to say to him, maybe it was his sparkling blue eyes that led her to become a little mesmerised by him for a few seconds.
x x x
Parking her rusty old bicycle that her father had given her outside the house where the bushes covered half the walls, Lara took a deep breath before slipping her shoes off but leaving her socks on and entered the house. "Lara, darling, where have you been?" Lance, her father, asked the moment she closed the front door, she only shrugged as a response, hearing him sigh loudly from the living room. "You can't keep disappearing anytime you want, it's not safe."
"What makes it any different? You always disappear from your problems so why can't I disappear from mine?" she asked, her tone cold. The consent that was normally supposed to be asked, wasn't, when her father decided to drop the bomb and told her that they were leaving to England for no reason. "Now if you will excuse me, father, I'm going upstairs."
Grasping a water bottle from the kitchen counter, she walked past her father, his eyes who she could tell was filled with momentary sadness but it wasn't her fault, he was the one that brought this upon himself. The cold, slick black metal was pressed against the wall, the light shining through her window reflecting the little collection of dust that was evidence to something she hasn't touched for years, the shivers running down her spine as she was about to touch it but pulled away instantly, reminiscing the old missed memories of Mary her mother; strumming the nylon strings in a jazz manner, a tune that she had fallen in love with since she was nine years old.
A brown envelope laid on her dresser table, waiting for the day it will finally be held and given attention to but she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to acknowledge where her mother was after all these years she had left them. Lara drew her attention away from the envelope, her eyes peeled back on the guitar, "She left because she loved us. You can't stay mad at her forever you know." The sound of Lance startled her heartbeat but she had no intention of standing up and acknowleding his presence.
"Watch me." She whispered to herself, her slim fingers tracing the cold metal underneath the string, the little old scribbles drawn on when she thought back to all the old little memories that had meant a lot to her but was nothing now. Mary was gone and that was that, no explanation was needed or had to be said.
"Lara," Lance placed a hand on her shoulder. "The Irwin's invited us to their barbecue party tonight for the whole neighbourhood and I told them we're going to come--"
"I won't be there." She confirmed only to make him roll his eyes at his stubborn daughter.
"You will be there, I told them you were coming and they're excited to meet you for the first time, this could be your chance at making friends."
"Why make friends, dad?" she asked, a little skeptical of his attempt at persuasion. "I'm good being by myself, if you haven't noticed. That's what I've been doing for the past few years. Being by myself."
"Lara you can't have this phase forever you know, there's a life out there." He tried to convince her, "I'm not going to let you do this. You're coming tonight and that's final, wear a dress or whatever-I don't care but you're showing up even if it means I have to drag your ass out of the house then I'll do it." He marched out of her room, stomping his foot like he wanted to crack the tiles on the floor but it was too bad because that was already done.
The cold cylindrical ring slid over her palm, the light tingling as she closed the windows of the bedroom, darkness instantly taking over as it shut, "Lara! We're leaving, let's go!" Lance called from downstairs, no response was given as she tugged on the hem of her dress, smoothing the crinkled sides. Rushing down the stairs, she didn't forget to bring her camera with her because it was almost like her lover, her companion and for her safe keeping. "You look nice." he complimented, Lara's lips pursed before walking out, waiting for him to lock the front door so they could start the awful walk to the neighbour's house.
x x x
"Hello Lance!" A chirpy, middle - aged woman greeted Lance, she was dressed in a red dress, they shared quick kisses on the cheek before she turned to his plus one, "You must be Lara! Oh gosh, you're beautiful."
"Thank you," she managed to say, smiling a little. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too dear," she gushed, startling Lara by a sudden hug, she looked to her dad who gave her a glare making her sigh and return the hug, "Come on in guys, the barbecue is all set up and all the other neighbours are here!" Lara could mentally groan at the sound of 'the other neighbours', meeting the lady was enough, she didn't want to dwell on the fact that everyone could socialise but she couldn't.
The Elsons' were brought into the backyard where music was blaring, fairy lights hung up on the fence, the smell of roast chicken and grilled sausages filled their nostrils and the damp grass aroma surrounded the area. The place was surrounded by people talking to each other, laughing, gawking, whatever it is people did at parties or barbecues. There were these teenagers, these kids, these babies who were in their own little world and then there was her, completely alone with her camera as company. Being herself and decided to skip the little introductions to the neighbours, she made her way to a small area where the fairy lights were hung up and the pots of flowers were set up, the scenery bright from the shining lights. The sound of the camera turned on and she was all set, crouching down on her knees, the camera lens focused on the details of the flowers in the pot, the reflection that lay off it.
"I see you're into flowers." A voice startled her, camera close to dropping. She turned around and almost experienced a heart attack when she was met by the same pair of blue eyes, staring into her own, carefully. Hitching a breath before giving him a shrug, she turned back around to look through her playback. "So I guess you don't do much talking?"
"I guess you could say that," she shrugged, her finger still on the playback button, scrolling through the photos. "I don't have much to say, ever."
"So is your thing with flowers serious?" the boy tried joke, of course she would've laughed at his joke if she didn't find it so not funny. "I didn't mean it like that I-"
"Oh please," she scoffed, turning around and brushing the grass that stuck to the dress, "I absolutely despise flowers, I only like the details, it's kind of interesting."
"Wow, you use big words," he laughed, pure confusion filled her as to how he found something so simple amusing, maybe there was something wrong with him or there was something wrong with her, he cleared his throat as he watched Lara turn the camera off. "How do you like the party so far?"
"Oh is this party yours?" she asked, genuinely interested at his nervous self, he was tall, broad and it looked like the main colour in his wardrobe was black.
He stifled a laugh, his hand on his stomach. "This lame barbecue? Of course not. It's my mate's, Ashton's. Ashton Irwin. He's the one over there." he pointed to a figure who was laughing uncontrollably at something.
"Well he looks like he's having fun," A sigh fell from her mouth. This boy was interesting, his whole vibe sent of some sort of mixed emotions, he looked like someone who was nervous all the time.
"There you are!" Lance suddenly approached the two, gripping at his daughter's shoulders, "I thought you've already left, I didn't see you-oh hello, who's this?" His gaze turned to the boy who she still didn't know the name of.
"Hello sir, I'm Luke." The boy introduced himself, "Andrew and Liz's son."
"Oh!" Lance cheered, "Your parents are great people, I can see you met my daughter, what were you guys talking about?"
"We were just talking about-"
"Nothing." Lara wasted no time to cut Luke off, "I was just leaving. It was nice meeting you, Luke." Not waiting for her father's protests or Luke's goodbye, she pushed past him, squeezing through the crowd of clammy bodies and the smoke from the grill, cursing at her damn self for not being able to last five seconds as a normal person.
-
new story, totally different from my other stories.
just a friendly reminder that your fave would totally bang you.
askfm: intanabdulx
twitter: aghastlrh
snapchat: intanjfc
- tan xx