I turned round the corner

She turned round the corner and saw a figure only a few meters away wearing a leather jacket with a grey hood hiding his face, standing outside the gates of their school which had been deserted for the weekend, in the exact spot they'd agreed to meet. As she began to approach him the figure turned and saw her, revealing a face from behind the hood. She smiled to him as she got closer, but was not greeted with the usual warm smile in return. She soon reached him and he stood there facing her with a blank emotionless expression, as dull as the weather that day, two cold grey eyes staring at her, one of them partly covered by a flop of dark brown hair.

"Hi." She smiled to him. He did not respond, instead continuing to stare at her silently as he slowly removed first his right earphone and then his left.  "You okay?" She asked nervously, trying to break the awkward silence. Slowly he shook his head without breaking his icy stare, as he began to carefully wrap the earphones around his hand, griping the wire tightly. "Oh," She said quietly and looked down at the damp pavement. She looked back up a moment later to find him still staring at her, his blank expression unchanged. She dared to ask, "Why not?"

There was a moment of cold silence before he spoke,

"You know why."





























































































































She sighed and glanced back down to the ground guiltily. It was true, she knew why, they both knew why. He took a breath, "Come on." He said, as he turned and began walking, she followed him. The sports field of the school was easily accessible from the pavement, so they walked over the soggy grass in silence, until they reached a gap in the fence at the end of the field. He squeezed carefully through the gap and she followed behind him.  On the other side of the fence she found herself in a small wooded area. He led her a little further in until they were at a small dirt path which was becoming overgrown and obviously wasn't used by many people.  A ceiling of leafs and branches sheltered the spot where they were standing, so the ground was dryer. They stopped and he turned to her. He took down his hood and stepped closer to her, then reached his arms out and gave her a long hug. She put her arms around him and hugged him back. After a few seconds he pulled away slightly, just enough so he could look into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, his hands still on her waist.

"I don't know," She said. "I guess, I was scared. I didn't want to upset you."