He'd just come back from town, having run errands for his father before coming back home. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Iris Beatham was lovely, a vision with soft looking blonde hair and heart stopping violet eyes- and she'd talked to him. Tom was no one special. He wasn't terribly gifted in anything like Iris at playing the spinnet, and he wasn't overly kind the way she was.
She'd smiled at him.
Tom jerked out of the memory, just in time to stop himself from toppling over at bumping into someone. The other person wasn't so lucky, the figure easily falling to the dirt road that led to his house. Strange, no one ever came up the road. Only his family and their estranged neighbor lived up here.
"Are you alright?" He asked immediately, lending a hand out to help whomever he'd bumped into in his inattentiveness.
It was a girl. One, he thought he recognized as his previously mentioned neighbor- though he'd never seen any of them up close before. Old man Gaunt, for that was the name, never had anything to do with the townspeople. This must be his daughter. She was a homely looking girl, with dark, lanky hair and a dull looking face that stared up at him with large eyes.
"I-I'm fine," she stuttered.
Poor girl, he thought. She must be traumatized. Everyone says Gaunt is a monster. The children themselves were always sent away to some boarding school and no one ever saw them either.
"Let me help you up," he said, motioning with his still outreached hand.
Slowly, she took it and he easily lifted her to feet.
"There," he said, "all better. I'm terribly sorry for that, I wasn't watching where I was going."
She just stared at him, as though she'd never seen another human before. He was starting to feel uneasy, but tried to act casually- being kind the way Iris would have.
"Are you alright?" He asked again, face showing genuine concern.
The girl blinked and her eyes focused. "I'm okay. I wasn't paying attention either."
He smiled at her. "I suppose we'll just have to call it a truce then. I haven't seen you around before. Are you Gaunt's daughter?"
She shifted uncomfortably and averted her eyes at the mention of it. "Yes, my brother and I've just come home from school."
"That's wonderful. We're neighbors, you see. My name is Tom Riddle, I live just over there."
He pointed, but she didn't look. Just nodded. "I know. I'm Merope."
That was a strange sounding name, but it would have been rude to say so. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Merope," he said with a playful bow. "I'm afraid I have to get home. My father is expecting me."
"I should too," she said quietly. "I'm not allowed to go wondering. Father might get cross."
It showed. Her skin was pale and she looked like she might not be used to sunlight. "Well, hope to see again."
He was happy to get away, feeling pity for her and the hard life it was easy to see she had. She looked defeated, like a free spirited horse that's been broken. Iris was like a free spirited horse. Tom wondered if she might like to attend the Cauley's Summer Social with him, not noticing the pair of sad eyes that watched him walk away.
