hospitality ❥ h.s

one

I stared at the clock for the seventh time that hour. My fingers tapped the wooden desk I was sitting in to the rhythm of the ticking clock. As the time passed, my tapping got louder in volume, which caused peoples' heads to turn and face me. Their glares were enough to put a halt to my actions and they turned back to their paperwork soon afterwards.

I mentally groaned once I noticed the clock pointing to 2:54 p.m. Another six minutes and the classes will end for next two weeks. I knew these will be the longest six minutes of the afternoon. My hands brushed the brown curls that laid on top of my forehead away from my eyes, and I continued to look around the old classroom for a few minutes.

Those minutes didn't last very long, though.

Laying my head down on the desk, I shut my eyes closed and embraced the darkness inside of them. I thought of nothing but the dimness underneath my eyelids, and I slowed my breathing as the seconds passed.

I fell asleep for those last five minutes, and it was a peaceful slumber. It was one of the nicest sleeps I've had in a long time.

The deafening sound of the bell is what woke me up from my restful sleep, and I mentally cursed at it the second the noise had reached my ears. I picked up the bag from under my seat and threw it over my shoulder so I could leave the place that I like to call "hell".

Once I reached the hallway, I wished I would have gone back and sat down in the classroom again. The students were everywhere; they were being their loud, cheery, and annoying selves.

I pushed past them carelessly, not giving any one of them a second thought as I headed for the exit. Over half the people I walked past either stared at me with fear in their eyes, or stared at me with hate in their eyes. And I'm not sure which one's worse.

And it wasn't until some guy yelled my name in the middle of the hallway that I decided to make a run for it. I didn't even turn around to look at the guy; I just ran away without questioning him. I ran like the coward that I am.

I made it out of the campus faster than I thought I would, without even pausing to take a breath. That was the fastest run I've ever ran, to be completely honest with you. My feet continued moving, but slower this time.

My feet never stopped moving, and as much as I would have wanted them to, I knew I had to get home. That would be when my spring break would really begin, at home.

The streets in Baltimore were busy most of the time during spring, so I ended up merging into the crowds of fellow citizens.

Then I remembered something from a long time ago when I was younger and lived in London with my parents. My mum and I were taking a walk to the park; it was a busy day, so the streets were packed with people. She told me as people passed by us that we weren't much different from them. We all had places to go, and people to see, and things to do and accomplish in life. I took those words very seriously back then.

But what I had realized when I was walking in the hectic streets of Baltimore that day was completely the opposite. I mean sure, we all have places to go to. Their places would always end up being bars, clubs, anything exciting and full of activity. However, my place would always end up being my lonely flat.

And it was on this very day, on these incredibly busy streets of Baltimore, Maryland that I bumped into her. It was accidental of course. I'm not the type of person who goes around bumping into random people on purpose. Hell, everyone bumps into everyone here. I just happened to have knocked her down to the pavement. One second I was perfectly fine, walking down the crowded street, and the next I was looking down at a girl who had fallen onto the ground after making such harsh contact with me. It's not a pretty sight.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, kneeling to the ground so I could speak to her properly. "I didn't mean to knock you down like that." I took her arms and helped her up from the ground, preventing anyone from stepping on her.

"I'm fine," she said, brushing dust off from her jeans. I gave her a wry smile. "That was quite a fall wasn't it?" She smiled at me as an attempt to make me feel better from what I had just done. And it wasn't until I took in her appearance that I felt like running away.

She was beautiful, no, way beyond beautiful actually. Long, brown curls of hair fell just below her shoulders, and her hypnotizing blue eyes could stand out in all of the crowds in the city of Baltimore. Long eyelashes and a wide smile; this girl was one real beauty.

Much too beautiful to be seen with me, anyways.

I opened my mouth to speak to her, but no words escaped my lips. Just silence; awkward silence. And I hated it.

I tried again, but I got the same result. Nothing. I could tell by her slightly amused facial expression that she knew I was struggling with my words. It wouldn't be long before she starts laughing at my hopeless attempts. It's no surprise, everyone always laughs at me.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, stepping a bit closer to me. A little bit too close for my comfort.

Panicking, I shook my head at a rapid pace, and then walked away from the mysterious, yet beautiful, female.

And it wasn't until I was halfway home that I realized I had made the wrong decision. I winced as my mind began to speak.

Fucking idiot, I thought, she was right there in front of you! A nice, pretty girl who didn't even laugh at you for once. The least you could have done was talk to her. One fucking word would have fucking sufficed.

My subconscious continued yelling at me as I walked back to my flat. I felt ashamed of myself, embarrassed even. I am fucked up.

It wasn't long until I finally reached my flat.

Once I closed the door to the lonely flat, my back fell against the surface of the wooden door. Closing my eyes and pinching my nose, I remembered the collision with the pretty girl. It was actually pretty hard to forget about it, to be honest. I sighed as the memory played in my brain over and over again, I was so desperate to get it out and forget it for the rest of my life.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize I had unconsciously walked to my bedroom and was now laying on top of my bed. I laid there thinking of ways I could really have one of the best spring breaks of my life. Ways I could show the students in my college who I really am. What I'm really like. Things I would never get the courage to actually do.

Because to them, I was just "that kid Harry." I was nobody to them. And I would always be a nobody to them.

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i hope you enjoyed the first chapter! i am so excited to be posting this story!

this story will be a short story, so it'll have about 10-15 chapters, but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

please don't forget to vote and comment, i love receiving feedback on my stories

anyways, i'm off

see you later my lovelies xx