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

little, I'll be okay; I just need to get home." It was at that point that Harlow realised that the bus had long gone, and there were a few people staring openly at them, they must have seen the spectacular display of her clumsiness. She cringed again and this time she couldn't stop the blush colouring her cheeks.

She decided to stop the whole embarrassing ordeal right there by choosing to walk home, rather than having to make awkward conversation with a stranger who she had just been in a very compromising situation with. She pulled her hood further down to cover her face, muttered an incoherent apology and goodbye to him, and then proceeded to walk away as quickly as she could. She didn't get very far before he caught up to her, and despite her quick pace he kept in step with her with no effort at all. "Mason" he said sticking his hand in front of her, "What?" she replied "My name" he grinned "it's Mason, just thought I'd introduce myself since we were getting so well acquainted back there" He wiggled a suggestive eyebrow at her and her face burned up again.

He seemed to enjoy her embarrassment, he was laughing at her, which made her angry again "It wasn't like that!" she spat back at him, stopping dead. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry, I was just kidding!" He stepped in front of her; to his credit he did look genuinely sorry. "Let me start over." He held his hand out again "Hi I'm Mason" Her anger dissipated again and Harlow rolled her eyes "I'm-"her name got stuck in her throat as she took his hand in hers, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she got an icy chill down her spine, her stomach knotted and her mouth watered as if she was about to be sick. She couldn't really explain the feeling she got when she touched Mason's skin, it just felt wrong. She wasn't scared, but her instincts were telling her she should be. She was careful to keep her face still, she didn't let any of the emotions she felt show visibly.

She was baffled; she had no idea why she should be scared of Mason. He seemed like a nice guy, a little cocky, but nothing that should be causing her to feel like something was seriously off about him. Her mind reeled, she was so sick of feeling like she was losing her mind today and so she ignored it all. Only a few seconds had passed, Mason looked at her expectantly and despite everything inside her screaming at her not to tell him her name, she pushed the worrying thoughts away and replied "-Harlow" she thought she saw something indescribable cross Mason's features twisting them into something grotesque -but only for a split second- Harlow snatched her hand away and instantly the bad feeling was gone and Mason was back to the good looking guy he had been a second ago.

She gritted her teeth wondering why her mind chose today to slip into insanity; she just had to hope she was doing a good job of covering it up. After years of being the loner, two people have tried to befriend her in the same day, she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. And so she plastered a smile on her face, and forced down all her craziness and strange emotions "So, Harlow, that's an unusual name. Bet you're the only Harlow in town aren't you?" they were now walking again, it was an hour's walk to her house from here, but Harlow thought it would do her good -Maybe it would help her to clear her head.

"Yeah, as far as I know" she responded eventually. She didn't want to talk about herself so she switched topics, "Are you new in town? I haven't seen you around before" he smiled as if he had just been reminded of a funny joke "No, I guess you just haven't had the good fortune of running in to me yet," his smile widened "Well now you have, quite literally" this time she smiled at his light mocking instead of getting embarrassed and angry "I'm home schooled, and I don't get out much, I'm kind of a loser, actually" they both laughed, though she was more amused by the absurdness of what he just said. There was no way that Mason could ever be described as a loser, she was willing to bet he was just saying that to put her at ease.

"Speaking of school, isn't that where you should be?" He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she sighed "Yeah I should be I'm just having a bad day. I needed to get out of there" she rubbed her neck and looked to the floor, she hoped he wouldn't ask about it, she didn't want to talk about today -to anyone- especially after the way Amy reacted. He must have sensed her reluctance to say anything more about it because he bumped her shoulder playfully "Hey, no need to explain it to me, I should be at home right now learning about World War Two. But my dad..." he sighed and the look on his face was very similar to the way Harlow looked whenever she had to talk about Lisa, ashamed and upset "He's just hard to be around"

She smiled weakly, Harlow was getting the impression his dad and her mother had a lot in common, and so she could relate completely with how he felt. "You live down this way?" she pointed down the road, they were out of the main part of town now and in to the quieter areas, there was no one around and Harlow felt relieved. It was now much less likely that she would be seen and promptly dragged back into school. "Yeah I live out on Black Oak Farm" he said gesturing in the general direction of the farm. She knew where he meant, it was in the southern part of the wooded area that was behind her house, though it was on the other side of the road that split the forest in two. She had thought that Black Oak was empty; it was certainly no longer used as a farm, but Harlow nodded anyway.

They walked in amicable silence for a while, just enjoying each others' company without pointless small talk. She looked at the houses they were walking past, this was one of the few places in town that had been modernized, all white picket fenced, manicured lawns and untarnished red bricks - This was the area the majority of her school came from - and compared to them, her house looked like it should be condemned. "Do you live round here" he nodded to the perfect houses, with their perfect shiny cars. "No" she looked to the ground and didn't add anymore, she didn't want to tell Mason she lived in the area mainly inhabited by the drunks, drug addicts and general low-life's of the town. He didn't ask her to specify where she did live; he just nodded and smiled slightly.

Harlow appreciated him not pressing her about the details of her life; he seemed to know not to ask. It was a breath of fresh air to be around someone who just wanted to be in her company, not just pump her for gossip fodder, which was the only reason anyone in school ever talked to her. It was 2pm now and they were coming up to the woods her house backed on to, across the road was the second half of the woods that Mason's house was in. School didn't finish for another hour but she doubted Lisa would be home, and if she was it was extremely likely she would be asleep. "You gonna be in trouble for skipping out on your history lesson?" she asked, looking at Mason through her peripheral. She saw the muscle in his jaw tick and he raked a hand through his hair messing it up even more, though it just added to his good looks Harlow thought.

"Yeah probably, nothing I can't handle" he tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. She turned her head to look at him properly, his lavender eyes had darkened and the shocking colour of them left her speechless the beauty and sadness in those eyes was breath-taking. Harlow did her best to convey her shared empathy, his smile lifted a little and she felt a kinship between them, a horrible cruel link they both had to each other. A parent that should never have been allowed to bring up a child. It was something she would never wish on anyone else, a childhood of screaming and shouting, bereft of care or love; it was no environment for a child. They had a silent understanding, neither of them wished to talk about it, but both knew it existed and found comfort in that.

The connection between them made Harlow forget all about what had happened earlier, now she just felt peaceful and calm. She was glad of this after a stressful day and she found it a lot easier to push all concerns of her going insane out of her thoughts. They had stopped walking now they had reached the woods and stood facing each other. Harlow smiled coyly, looking at her feet as she fidgeted, lightly kicking the leaves covering the floor. "I live on the other side of the woods" she said gesturing behind her, Mason smiled back, his eyes looked liquid again, capturing her gaze "How haven't I met you before? We live so close" she shrugged and bit her lip, trying to stop another blush. She didn't know how she could have never met him before when he lived in such close proximity, but she was happy to know her was so nearby.

"Well I better get going" she said, still smiling dumbly he nodded, but just as she turned away he reached for her hand. Harlow took in a sharp breath as an icy finger trailed down her spine, her mind was screaming "Run!" at her, over and over again it was so loud she was shocked when she saw no trace on Mason's face that he heard it too. She fought to keep her face stoic; she knew she mustn't let him see what she was really feeling. She forced herself not to snatch her hand back and smiled as best she could "I'll see you around, okay?" she was surprised to hear she kept her voice from shaking "That's a promise" he smiled charmingly and she hoped she was imagining the menacing edge to his voice. She swallowed and nodded fervently, she didn't trust herself to speak again.

Without letting her happy façade drop for a single second, she slid her hand out of his -resisting the urge to wipe it on her jeans- and turned to leave. She was still trying to curb her urge to run as fast as she could as she walked into the woods, and made herself look back to see Mason still stood there, watching her go. She held her hand up to wave, it was shaking and she had started to sweat. He smiled sweetly and saluted her, which strangely made her laugh. She spent the rest of the walk through the woods arguing with herself over whether she had imagined what she just felt, with everything else she had experienced today, she had to believe she had a very overactive imagination, either that or she was definitely losing her mind.

Chapter 5 - Secrets and Lies

Harlow paused at the back door, holding on to the handle, preparing herself. She held her breath as she opened the door, cringing when the