Hello!

So this is chapter 3!

It's actually hard to believe that I only wrote chapter 3 about a month ago (or longer) as I came up with the idea when I was bored on holiday, I wrote what was the first chapter in my iPhone notes and it lead onto something I could see devolving in my mind (which we may have already covered is extremely strange, I need some sort of filling system or something my brain is so unorganized!)

So in this chapter more is slowly revealed and you get to meet more characters :)

Thank you :)

Lauren

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(Wow apparently this whole intro thing is two hundred words not counting this bracket bit)

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Daniel P.O.V

After an enjoyable evening of a home cooked meal consisting of crab (caught by Dad) with local grown potatoes and runner beans, we all settle in for what turns out to be a good nights sleep.

The next day I wake up at seven and hurry down stairs. I find Ellie in her school uniform helping herself to some cornflakes.
"Good morning" I whisper knowing that most people are still asleep.

"Is it?" She mumbles, her mouth full.

I feel something furry brush against my ankles, startling me at first but looking down I see our black and white cat Murray.

"Good morning Murray"

He meows at the mention of his name.
I look over to his empty plastic food bowl.

"Did you not feed him?" I ask Ellie

She rolls her eyes and walks out of the kitchen.

"I'll take that as a no..." I mutter to myself and Murray

Murray's amber eyes look up at me and he meows again.

"Poor Murray" I coo as I bend down and open the cabinet.

"Chicken or lamb?"

He just rubs his body against my back, his fur ticking me.

"Chicken" I decide and I pour the sachet into the bowl.
I refresh his water and bore myself by watching him munch away as I put the bowl down next to him.

"Bye" says Ellie

"Bye El"

"Have fun without me"

"Don't worry I will"

She scowls, flicks her long chocolate hair over her shoulder, readjusts her bag and marches out of the house, slamming the door behind her

"Drama Queen" I mutter getting out the bacon from the fridge.

"Morning Dan"

At the sound of her voice I immediately spin round and smile at her.

"Good morning Hazelnut"

She rolls her eyes at the nickname then runs her hand through her hair making her bed hair more static.

"Oh my god Murray!" She yells scooping him up and hugging him.
I chuckle as his eyes widen and he meows loudly.

"You were only a kitten when I first saw you" she whispers in his ear, just loud enough for me to hear it.
He struggles in her grip and she delicately places him on the floor.

"Sleep well?" I ask placing the bacon in the frying pan.

"Like a log, first time in days"

Something flickers in her eyes, sadness...Frustration...Relief?
She must be absolutely heart broken, if I ever meet this Harvey guy...well it won't be pretty let's just say that.
I turn to the bacon and flip it over anxiously knowing that Haze is watching and my cooking skills must be at a high standard.

She sets the table for us while I am putting the sizzling bacon onto two china plates. She then sits down, waiting for breakfast.

"Do you want yours in a sandwich?" I ask

"Yes please with ketchup, but no butter, I hate butter"

"That's funny I hate it too"
She smiles and rests her head on her hands as she watches me intensely.

"I know, remember when we both argued to your Mum that she had given us the buttered sandwiches instead of the ones she had accidentally given James with no butter?"

I rack my brain, trying to think of the memory, I can kind off see it, but it's very brief.
As I go to get the bread out I notice a note on the fridge from Dad telling us that he had set out early.

"Dad's gone fishing" I tell her as I stretch my hand towards the bread box.

"Does your Mum work?" She questions as I squirt the ketchup.

"Yes but not full time, she works in the local supermarket as one of the managers"

"Oh okay"

"We rely on Dad's payment from his lawyer job, this house was most of it, but he still has a lot of it in the bank, he always wanted to be a fisherman"

"And he made his dream come true?"

"Well after a stressful case, he quit and bought a boat, he even showed me how to control it"

"Really?"

"Yes" I say as I place the plates down.

"Morning all" says Graham as he smiles at his daughter.

"Morning Dad" she says as he puts his arm on her shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

"Morning Graham" I say with a grin.

"Do you want some bacon?" I ask getting up.

"Don't trouble yourself Dan, I just fancy some cornflakes" he says pushing me down.

I get up again, be he stops me.

"I'll do it, sit down please"

I gladly sit down as James comes downstairs looking bright and refreshed.

'Just showered, man that shower is wicked!"

I grin at his enthusiasm.

"Where's Laura?" Asks Haze

"That's what I'm greeted with? 'Where's Laura?' not oh how are you dear brother, good morning to you, how did you sleep?"

She rolls her eyes as she chuckles at her own little joke.

"What am I talking to the Queen? Can you serve some scones next time?" she asks narrowing her eyes.

Oooh burn.

"Anyway..." I say awkwardly

"Laura's having a shower" James says stiffly.

"That's all I needed" she adds

Ouch, this girl's got a temper!

James glances at me with an expression that I will take as a warning as to not get on Hazel's bad side.

"So what are we doing today?" she asks beginning to calm down.

"Well, I was thinking we go out on my scooter" I suggest, I'm not really sure to be honest it's the first thing I think of as there's so much we can do but there's no rush.

"Whoa whoa whoa, just hang on a second here; will she be wearing a helmet?" interrupts James looking disapprovingly at me as if I'm some sort of criminal.

"Yes of course, I have two"

He breathes a sigh of relief.
Laura comes bouncing downstairs, beaming.

"Morning!"

"Morning Laura!" Says Hazel, grinning.

"Oh come on!" Yells James

Laura flips her golden hair out of her piercing blue eyes.

"James"

James snaps out of his irritated mood and looks over at her with a gentle smile.

"Yes love?"

"Can we go for a little walk? We need to discuss that thing"

"What 'thing'?" he asks before I get the chance.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about" she answers frowning slightly.

"Oh that "

I look over at Haze hoping that she understand this more, but to my surprise she looks just as baffled as me.

Hazel P.O.V

We leave the house after we both have showered and walk into the cold and dusty garage.

A large black object sits in the middle of the room with a black cover covering it, nerves start filling my stomach as I examine the black shape wondering what it looks like.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah" he says grinning.

He takes off the sheet gently, making me more and more anxious to see what I'm dealing with.

"Oh my God!" I say

In front of me is a gleaming red scooter with shiny silver handles and rubber tyres, complete with a long comfortable seat enough for two people.

"Isn't she a beauty?" he says patting the seat admiringly.

"It's brilliant"

His emerald eyes light up at my words, I feel my stomach squirm but I don't think it's nerves this time...But I shake it off quickly.

"I'm glad you think so, where do you want to go?"

That's a good question, I have no idea what is close by, my mind seems to have gone blank.

"I don't mind, you're the expert of this place"

He smirks at me and shakes his head, his brown hair becoming messier as he does so.

"I'm no expert; trust me, even I get lost"

I smile at his modesty, he isn't egotistic at all, I'm so glad.

He's nothing like Harvey.

Stop it Hazel!

"Lets go to the town; there's a sweet shop I love there, it's walking distance but I much prefer going on my scooter, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uh...I guess'

"Do you honestly want a helmet? I never wear one"

Oh and he's a bit of a rebel too!

Shut up Hazel.

"Nah I'm good"

He guides his 'beauty' out of the garage looking at it like it's made of gold.

He looks at me and his lips curve into a smile.

"I don't want you falling off, so you need to put your arms round my waist tightly, it's a bit awkward I know, but we're friends right?"

I look at the ground processing what he's just said, then I look up into his sparkling green eyes.

"It won't be awkward, and of course we're friends!"

He nods and then pulls on a pair of sunglasses which results in me stifling a laugh.
He sits on the seat his hands gripping the handles securely. I nervously it behind him, but as soon as the engine is going I put my arms round his waist tightly, I rest my head against his back and close my eyes.

"Ready?"

"Um...yeah"

Without me expecting it, the scooter starts moving at quite a fast pace. I grip him tightly. I'm probably really hurting him, but that's the last thing on my mind.

I open my eyes a little bit so my eyes are in slits.

But it's all just a green and yellow blur.

I open them fully; I am amazed at the result.

Lush green fields covered in golden wild flowers rush past, the sky disappearing behind some trees in near distance, a large group of cows stand mooing at me.

The fields soon disappear, much to my disappointment. To be replaced by a small town.

This is the one I saw on the way here I think.

Suddenly we've stopped moving, I'm still clinging onto Dan with all my strength.

"Hazelnut?"

"Yeah?"

"You can let go now"

"Oh..right"

I let go of him, my arms slightly numb, and I look at his amused expression.

"What?"

"Nothing"

I frown at him as he struggles to contain his laughter.

"What?!"

He's about to tell me what is just so amusing when someone yells;

"Daniel! Oi Danny boy!"

I look over at the source of the voice to find a boy with sandy hair walking towards us.

"Oh hey Josh!" says Dan

"Is this Hazel?"

I nod shyly.

"This is my best friend Josh" Dan explains

"Nice to meet you" I say quietly

"The pleasures all mine"

"Josh!" shouts another voice.

Another boy and a pretty girl come walking over.

"Meet Ollie and Kirsty" Dan says

They nod at me with welcoming smiles.

"This is Hazel" says Josh as the look slightly confused.

"Oh yes, hi!" says Kirsty enthusiastically.

Kirsty is quite pale: she has flaming red hair and blue eyes whereas Ollie has dark hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hello there" says Ollie

"We're going to the park, want to come?" says Kirsty smiling.

No not really. I'm not trying to be rude but I've only just got here! I won't say anything.

"Not today guys, I want to show her round today"

Yes! Thank you Dan!

"Oh okay" says Ollie looking a little disappointed.

The three of them bid us goodbye then walk in the opposite direction.

Dan sighs, and then runs a hand through his hair.

"They seem nice" I say as he looks a little anxious at what I think.

"Good, they're my best friends and I'm so glad you like them, I told them all about you"

"Can I settle in a bit before we hang out with them"

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to let you do"

My phone buzzes.

"Hang on a second" I sat rummaging through my bag.

I pull out my phone and scroll down my messages.

It's a text from Tilly, (my old best friend)

-Hey I'm at your house, where are you?!

I text back saying that I'm on holiday for two months and that I did tell her and then I hit send.

Tilly and I haven't been talking since...
No I'm not going to talk about that.

"It's not him is it?"

I look up at Dan, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, his arms folded as he leans against the sweet shop window.

Who is 'him'?

Oh right. Harvey. He must know about that by now.

"Who do you mean?" I ask dreading is about to say.

"I don't really want to say his name, it angers me"

My mouth falls open but I shut it quickly, he doesn't even know what happened!
I'll tell him later.

"No it's not him; it's an old friend of mine"
He nods relief filling his eyes.
He goes to open the door when I stop him.

"Listen Dan, I want to tell you about...about Harvey...but I'm still very sensitive about it"

His eyes widen, his forehead creasing slightly.

"Oh no...you don't need to explain yourself to me, something similar happened to me last year" he falters

"Really?"

"Her name was Bella, but she moved to Cornwall, then the picture came up of her and her new boyfriend, but we had split up already, it still upset me though"

"Oh...well I do want to tell you"

"Then tell me when you're ready"

We are interrupted by an old woman opening the door.

"Sorry dears" she says kindly.

"Quite alright" Dan says nodding.

So we enter the shop, now with a slightly awkward atmosphere hanging between us.

I smile politely at the elderly woman behind the counter.

I gaze around gobsmacked; I am literally a kid in a sweet shop.

There is shelf after shelf of sweets, some new brands, some old brands in old fashioned glass jars, some include: mouthwatering éclairs, tasty chocolate raisins, gummy shrimps and bananas and much more.

The till is made up of an ice cream station where you can pick your flavour and topping and a fudge display, on top of that is a pot of lollipops in small, medium and large and a box of sherbets in every colour in the rainbow.

There is practically every sweet known in front of my eyes.

"Well?" he whispers as the elderly women watches us.

"This is amazing!" I confirm

He beams, his eyes lightening up again.

"You did bring money didn't you?"

"I brought what I had left"

He gives me a sympathetic look as I pull out the £10 note.

"Hey it's no big deal, as soon as we get home Dad's going to look for a job"

He nods quickly, and then turns to the fudge.

"Yeah hi, can I have fourteen pieces of vanilla fudge please?"

I pick out a lollipop and pay after him, the fudge smells heavenly as he hands it to me so he can put his wallet back in his pocket.

"Home?" I ask

"Yes, Mum's taking us to a restaurant this evening, so we should get back so we can check the plan, plus Mum wants me to go and get Ellie so she doesn't spend ages getting home"

"Okay, can I come?"

"Sure"