The Beginning Of The End by Natalie Holmes (read the beginning after the end novel .txt) 📕

slightly humid.

The man behind the counter, who looked to be in his late fifties was welcoming and jovial and did a lot to brighten the dark room. His wispy salt-and-pepper hair stuck out at all angles and his stomach bulged under a red flannel shirt. He wiped is hands on the dish towel flung over his right shoulder and smiled warmly, joking with Harlow and Amy when they ordered their drinks. Which -despite the fact that it resembled muddy water- tasted a lot better than it looked, she was relieved to find. He shooed us away to take a seat and told us he'd bring the drinks over. An elderly lady was the only other person sat in the room, she sat on the far side, near the counter, drinking her tea and staring blankly at the gloom outside.

Harlow sat in a booth by the window that had old cracked seats with the stuffing busting out of the unravelling seams. Opposite her Amy looked like she had just stepped off a catwalk, not the mini storm that was currently raging outside. Her shiny blonde curls hung perfectly to her dainty shoulders, her blue eyes were cheerful and her skin glowed as if it was lit from within. She had taken off the pristine white Mac to reveal an expensive looking navy blue cashmere sweater and dark, tight fitting jeans that fit snugly to her subtle curves. And despite the water collecting on the floor outside her ballet pumps were perfectly dry, unlike Harlow's own feet, which were freezing due to the small puddles that had formed in her canvass shoes.

Harlow did her best to repress the pang of jealousy she felt, especially when she caught a glimpse of herself in the window's reflection. She currently looked like a drowned rat, her hair was knotted from the wind and rain and her skin was deathly pale because of the cold. Her dark, damp clothes hung lankly off her small frame and her slightly plump lips were blue. She gripped the cup tightly, trying to soak some of the warmth into herself and stop the shivering. She blew across the top of the steaming hot chocolate and tentatively took a sip, sighing to herself as it left a warm trail down her throat.

"You look like you might catch hypothermia or some crap if you don't dry out soon" Amy exclaimed, eyeing her critically "Come on" and before Harlow had time to reply, Amy had put her Cappuccino down and picked up a huge white bag from beside her, that she hadn't noticed before. Grabbing her hand she motioned for her to put the drink down, and when Harlow just stared blankly back she huffed and snatched the drink herself and put it on the table, she then dragged her from her seat, across the room and through a door marked as the ladies bathroom.

The small room had the same dark décor as the main room, and along the wall to the left was a row of sinks with a large mirror hung horizontally above them. Opposite the sinks were some hand dryers and directly in front, three stalls. It smelt of heavy floral air freshener and the large lights above gave the room warmth.

"What are you doing?" Harlow gaped, mystified at Amy's back, she had put her massive bag on the side next to the sink and was routing through it intently, "I'm looking for something" She replied distractedly. She stood awkwardly and avoided looking in the mirror, waiting for Amy to explain why she was stood in the bathroom. "Ah Ha!" Harlow jumped slightly and looked to Amy, who held a hair brush in one hand and a black jumper in the other.

Amy smiled triumphantly at her and Harlow frowned. "Go on in there and take off your pants and top" Amy instructed while giving her a slight nudge towards the stalls. "What? I am not taking my clothes off!" she looked at Amy incredulously "Yes, you are, you'll freeze to death in those" she said pointing dismissively at her soggy clothes. "Come on, pass them over to me and I'll dry them for you" She motioned towards the hand dryers and gave Harlow another prod towards the stalls. For a moment she just stood there shifting uneasily before realising she was still shivering. Rolling her eyes at Amy's impatient sigh she trudged into the stall.

After peeling the wet fabric from her cold skin, Harlow chucked them over to Amy. She looked down self-consciously at her body, even alone she felt uncomfortable in her underwear in a public bathroom. She heard a rolling noise, and something tearing, then Amy's hand appeared above the door clutching a bunch of paper towels "Here dry yourself off a little" Harlow smiled, she had only just met this girl, but already she was being kinder to her than anyone else had ever been. "Thanks" she answered and began to rub her frigid skin with the rough paper towels.

The noise of the hand dyer cut off any chance of a conversation and Harlow waited patiently for her clothes to be passed over. After a few minutes the noise stopped, and the silence rung out. She could hear Amy muttering something that sounded like "Crappy dryer" and then huffed out a sigh. "Is everything ok?" Harlow asked uncertainly. "Uh, yeah! Just gonna use some paper towels to dry these up a bit more" the overly enthusiastic tone in Amy's voice made her a little worried, what was going on out there? After a moment of silence, the lights above brightened almost to the point of being blinding, then dimmed again, leaving blotches in her eyes. Harlow's brow creased, "What the hell was that?" she muttered to herself "What was what?" Amy's voice had shot up an octave.

She blinked to dispel the spots that danced in front of her vision. "The lights, they just went really bright for a moment. That was weird" she said staring at the offending lights above. Amy laughed a little tensely "They did? Huh, probably a power surge or something, nothing to worry about" Harlow's frown increased, wondering what the strange tone in her voice was. "Anyway," she continued quickly "Your stuff is dry" Her clothes appeared above her head and Harlow forgot all about the lights, she was just happy at the prospect of being clothed again as she reached to get them.

Her fingertips tingled as they touched the warm, dry fabric, the peculiar sensation travelled languidly up her arm and across her body. The tingling became a glowing warmth, serene and calm, like a balmy summer sun shone down on her, warming her chilled bones. A smile broadened across her face, which turned into a scowl as the feeling fizzled out until it was gone completely and Harlow wasn't entirely sure she hadn't imagined it. She looked intently at the clothes, totally perplexed. She was surprised they had dried so quickly, but was more worried about what she had just felt. She looked to the ceiling in exasperation. For the second time that day, she was sure she was going insane.

Trying to put images of being carted off to a psychiatrist to check her mental stability to the back of her mind, Harlow dressed quickly, sighing happily as the warm clothes wrapped around her. Feeling a lot better, she stepped out of the cubical, only to be faced with her reflection in the large mirror to her left. Her hair was matted and windswept, and her pale skin looked deathly white, which wasn't helped by her grey eyes wide with shock at her appearance. She looked like the un-dead. Amy's reflection appeared next to her "Here, use this. And put this jumper on under your jacket so you don't freeze to death" She said handing Harlow a hairbrush and black sweater that looked really expensive, her thoughtfulness really took her by surprise.

After detangling her dark hair, she handed Amy the brush back, Harlow looked down at her feet "Thanks" she mumbled awkwardly, the girl's kindness made her uncomfortable; in her experience people were only nice if they expected something in return. As if sensing her thoughts she chimed in "Don't sweat it, it's just a jumper, and anyway it's so last year" Her mocking tone and over exaggerated eye roll put Harlow at ease, and made her chuckle. "People aren't usually so nice to me; I'm kind of a loser. But don't worry, you'll have no problem fitting in with the cool cliques at school." She hoped the envy hadn't noticeably coloured her voice. Amy snorted inelegantly "As if! That isn't really my scene kid, I prefer people with substance" she said grinning and giving Harlow a conspiring wink, she made her way out of the bathroom.

Back at the table, the hot chocolate had cooled enough for Harlow to sip it without burning her tongue and the girls sat in a comfortable silence. The rain outside had subdued to a drizzle, the sky had began to clear and even the wind wasn't whipping the trees back and forth as much. She watched a rain drop slide slowly down the window pane leaving a watery track behind it, and tried her best to keep her thoughts off the events of the day. Her head felt like mush, she was finding it difficult to make any sense of a lot of today. As if reading her thoughts, Amy cocked her head making her look almost bird-like and gazed at Harlow inquisitively "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm okay, just kind of had a weird day" Her mind drifted back to the dream and that mysterious boy, then thinking she had seen him walking past the music room. Weird was an understatement. "Tell me about it, it'll make you feel better" Amy smiled encouragingly. Harlow was about to refuse she had only just met the girl after all, she didn't want to scare her off with crazy ramblings oh her horrible day, but as she met eyes with Amy she felt a strong impulse to tell her everything. It was yet another strange thing to add to her list, Harlow wasn't the kind of girl who shared secrets or let anyone in enough to see her true self. Especially a stranger she knew nothing about. And yet she felt herself unable to look away from the pretty blonde in front of her, unable to stop herself leaning towards her, and telling her everything.

Amy nodded in sympathy when she told her about her mother, as if she knew exactly how she felt, It made Harlow wonder if she had parents who didn't care about her. But she was sure the blonde haired, blue eyed beauty couldn't possibly be the product of parents who didn't love their daughter, she was too flawless to come from a dysfunctional family. She was about to ask her what her family was like, but she felt another urge to tell Amy all about the rest of her day, before Harlow had time to think it was weird to suddenly want to gush about herself, she was speaking again, almost without meaning to. The words just poured from her without any real conscious thought.

She started to ramble on about the dream, just thinking about it muddled her thoughts so she told it all out of order, saying the first thing she thought of, "It felt familiar and safe. And I was on my own at first, but it was so stunning, and I knew it somehow, so it was ok. I was just wondering round, the sky was so clear and the moon was huge, I felt so calm. Then he was there, this guy. He was amazing, so beautiful..." Harlow got