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

stuck for words, nothing did him justice. Any words she thought of seemed wrong to describe that boy.

"I've never seen anyone like him, he was perfect. The way he looked at me, it was so strange. So Intense. I didn't understand why he was saying the things he was. Like he didn't want me there, or didn't know why I was there" she swallowed hard, a feeling of sorrow washed over her, why didn't he want her there? "And it was the best and worse dream I've ever had, I didn't understand it at all. But it doesn't matter because I'd give anything to go back to that place" hearing herself say that brought her up short, she meant it though, she did want to go back, even if she didn't understand why. Just the thought of being there again, with him, gave her butterflies.

Harlow braced herself to tell Amy the next part, the part where she went completely mad, "Then when I was doing my guitar exam, I ruined it. I failed it because...because I saw him walk past the music room and I-" the words 'couldn't concentrate' died in her mouth as she was cut off by Amy choking on her cappuccino "You what?!" she croaked out. Harlow looked self-consciously at her drink, wishing she hadn't told her. "I saw him" she whispered fiercely, so quietly she was sure Amy wouldn't hear, but when she looked up the girl stared back at her, eyes like saucers. Strangely though, she didn't look shocked, she was staring at her in what looked remarkably like awe.

To her credit, Amy composed herself quickly. If she was thinking that she was sat with a girl who had clearly lost her mind, she didn't show it. She grinned at Harlow impishly "Ooooh sexy dream! Oh my god you could be psychic! What'd he look like?" Beneath the playful smile, she thought she saw an intense look flash across Amy's pretty features, but it was gone before she could be certain. Harlow wanted to know how Amy could be so calm about it, act like it's completely normal to dream about someone, and then think you see them walking past. But yet again, before she could question anything, she felt the impulse to talk again. It was like a subconscious nudge to tell her exactly what she wanted to hear.

Her slow working brain scrambled to explain what was happening, Harlow felt as if she were putting a puzzle together, each piece like a fragment of her sanity, but none of it was fitting together, and bits were missing making her head feel jumbled. There was a bigger picture she couldn't yet see, but she shied away from putting the pieces she had together, for fear of what she would see, her inevitable fall from sanity into the abyss of madness. People from dreams don't just materialise into reality, and Amy was not planting thoughts in her head. She had to get a grip, there was a logical explanation for everything, she just hadn't thought of it yet.

Maybe she was just so desperate for friends she was willing to tell all to keep her on side, maybe the boy she had seen wasn't the guy from her dream at all. Maybe it is perfectly normal to get strange feelings off clothes, like static or something. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Harlow felt a bubble of hysteria in her throat, but she fought it, she refused to believe she was really losing her mind. Instead she gave in and told Amy about the boy from her dream. She described him as best she could, but the words fell flat. They couldn't compare to his intense perfection.

Just talking about him made her heart beat in a rapid tattoo, the thought of those emerald eyes on her made Harlow flush, her face burned and her palms began to sweat. Her reaction was astonishing; she had to keep reminding herself it was all just a dream. He wasn't real. The thought made her sad, it was devastating to think she would only ever see that face in her mind, that she couldn't touch him, couldn't wrap herself in his safe arms, like she desperately wanted to. Harlow looked at Amy, who stared back at her, open mouthed she looked in complete shock but she couldn't comprehend why. Maybe Amy finally thought she had chosen the wrong girl to befriend.

Harlow's face now blazed with embarrassment, she cursed herself for telling Amy everything. She had only just made friends with her and she had already managed to scare her off. She looked down at the hot chocolate in her hand, it had gone cold and she swirled it round the polystyrene cup trying not to look at the girl she sat opposite. The strip lights above flickered, a bright pulse that made her head snap back to look at it. It was almost too fast for Harlow to notice, and then a phone ringing distracted her. Amy took a small silver gadget out her bag and after pressing a few buttons, frowned at it.

She heaved a sigh and looked nervously at Harlow "I gotta go, but I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Before she could reply Amy grabbed her stuff and left quickly. She sat at the table, alone, and tried not to feel bereft at the girl's departure. The room seemed suddenly very dark and dismal, and Harlow turned from it to look out the window while she composed herself. The rain had stopped now, and it looked more like an autumn day, she watched the clouds travel slowly across the grey sky moving to cast shadows over a different place. She wished in that moment, so severely that she could do the same, leave here and never look back. She could feel herself spiralling toward depression, so she quickly gathered her belongings and left the café. She had to get home before the tears came.

Chapter 4 - New Found Kinship

The rush of air hit Harlow like a brick wall when she stepped outside, it was so cold it took her breath. Though the weather was considerably less severe than it was before she arrived at the café, the slight wind that was blowing her hair into her eyes was bitter, making her eternally grateful to Amy for drying her clothes. She pulled her hood up and tucked her chin down to avoid the brunt of the chilly weather. She felt deflated and worn out after a confusing and strange day and for once she couldn't wait to get home. She just hoped Lisa wasn't in - She couldn't deal with her right now.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she made her way down the street to the bus stop. She kept her eyes to the floor, weaving diligently between the meandering pedestrians, hoping to go unnoticed. If anyone recognised her she'd be dragged back to school and in the headmaster's office before she knew it, and in a town as small as the one she lived in that was pretty likely to happen. The bus stop was just in sight when she noticed the bus was coming, with an inward groan she began to run to catch it, the bus service was poor and if she missed it she would be waiting for a long time for the next one to come along.

The bus pulled in and a few people stepped off. Harlow ran faster making her legs burn but just as she reached the doors she hit something hard. The momentum she had built up caused her to bounce off the hard object - A person she realised - and fall backwards towards the ground at an alarming speed. She tried to keep herself upright, gripping wildly at anything she could, she caught hold of the person's t-shirt but she was falling too fast and ended up pulling them with her. She landed with a painful "Oof!" followed by another as the full weight of the person fell on top of her.

A sharp pain shot through her skull and everything blurred as a wave of dizziness shook her. When her vision cleared she was transfixed by two deep pools of silken lavender liquid, Harlow was so dumbfounded she couldn't look away. She could hear a faint noise -it was velvety smooth- but she couldn't concentrate on what it was, she was too busy trying to figure out what she was looking at. She felt a pressure on top of her all the way to her toes, and then remembered falling over, which managed to shake her out of her stupor "Ouch!" Harlow winced at the throbbing pain at the back of her head. "Can you hear me? Hello? Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there" It was that noise again she thought to herself, then realised it came from the person she had pulled over.

It was then that she figured out what the beautiful violet pools were. "You're eyes are a weird colour" she said densely "Nothing wrong with your vision then" His silky voice held amusement and a smile lit up his face. They were almost nose to nose and she could feel his cool breath against her skin, she then became conscious of the fact she was on the floor and a stranger was pressed closely to her. She blushed furiously and struggled to push the guy off her so she could get up "Whoa there! You had a nasty knock to the head, you shouldn't be moving, you could be concussed" He shifted to kneel next to her bt held her down by her shoulder. He looked into her eyes and Harlow's thoughts scattered as she was captivated by the striking colour of his, they were so unusual.

"Well," his voice was low, almost a whisper "Your pupils look normal. I think you're gonna live" He smirked and moved to stand up; he was so graceful Harlow wondered if he was a dancer. He held out a hand to help her up, but she was too busy gawping at him to notice. Now that he was stood up she had a clear view of him, he was tall -maybe 6"5- tanned and had "surfer style" sandy blonde hair. His hooded eyes stood out on his face, the colour stark against his skin tone. His mouth held into a light smile framed a perfect set of white teeth. She blinked dumbly, struggling for words, until he wiggled his long tapered fingers at her to bring her attention back to the hand he was offering her.

Harlow blushed again, she had been blatantly gawking at him, but he didn't seem to mind, in fact his easy smile had morphed into a cocky grin. A mix of her embarrassment and his self-assuredness made her angry, she petulantly ignored his hand and attempted to get up herself, she lumbered herself upright, then realised she had moved to quickly as her world titled precariously sideways. "Steady there" he said putting a securing hand on her upper arm; she clenched her teeth trying to stop the flush creeping into her cheeks. "I'm fine" she answered coolly, stepping out of his grasp.

"Okay," he held his hands up in front of him in mock surrender "I'm sorry, I was just checking you were alright. And as I said, sorry for running into you" He smiled warmly and Harlow instantly forgot about being angry, she also appreciated his chivalry, taking the blame when it was obviously her who ran into him. "Does your head hurt?" he said gesturing with a nod. She reached up to touch it wincing at the pain that throbbed from the point she had hit, "A