I remember the first time I saw her, golden brown. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. I knew from the moment that I first saw her that I'd never see the world in the same way again. This is my story. Mine and Poppy's.
It started before the party, before I saw her. We were going out, a load of us from school. Looking back my memories from before Poppy are kind of hazy. It feels like before I mat her I was living in a dream. Like I was out of focus and she sharpened my vision. I remember getting ready. Putting on a new pair of jeans and a polo shirt my girlfriend Ela had given me. I was hyped up about the party. We all were. It was going to be the highlight of the year, the start of the summer holidays, the end of exams.
We'd walked down from the station in the balmy summer air to the large London town house that belonged to a girl my friend Toby had gone out with at some point this year. As we walked up the long driveway, drinks in hand, we could hear the loud beat of a face. Thudding through our feet. Vibrating through to our souls. We'd arrived quite late and the house was already packed out with kids. Wasted. Dancing, sweating, Breathing. Stopping us from thinking straight. We were part of it all. Part of something bigger than ourselves. Part of the monster that was the party.
That was when I saw her. Time stopped. Stood still for a moment. Our moment. My mouth felt dry and my breathing shallow as I stared at her. Her smooth golden brown skin seemed to glow. Tight chocolate ringlets falling down her back. She was dancing by herself, hips moving, her curvy body looking devastatingly beautiful in a tight black dress and a thick gold chain that hung around her neck. Then she turned to look at me with her deep soul piercing brown eyes and time speeded up once more leaving me disorientated and flushed. Feeling as if I was incomplete without her. All it took was one look from Poppy and I was completely dependant. I was helpless in her eyes. Living for her, breathing for her.
A group of girls walked in front of her and then, as suddenly as I'd seen her she was gone. Toby came and found me passing me a beer and asking me if I was all right. Noting my red face. Telling me to get some air and that Ela was looking for me. Ela. The name barely registered. She was already from a different life. A simpler life where the most important things were whether you had good grades and not getting grounded. She was already slipping away from me. The girl I'd known since I was barely six years old.
I found a secluded balcony and slid down the wall coming to rest on the cool stone tiles on the floor. Sipping my beer and gazing out at the night sky. It was a clear night and the moon was full illuminating the world with a silvery glow. I heard the screen doors open, and their she was. A vision. She slunk over to me. Her steps slow and deliberate she came and sat down next to me her legs in front of her one ankle resting on the over. When her arm glanced across mine it sent electrical currents racing around my veins pumping her through my body. Making me start.
"I'm Poppy." her voice was low and sexy rendering me incoherent.
"Sebastian." I managed to choke out.
A slow mile spread across her face, parting her pink lips and showing rows of straight pearly white teeth. The smile lit her up. Making her even more beautiful in the soft glow of the moon.
"That's a nice name." was all that she said, and then she leant towards me and before I knew it we were kissing. Soft kisses that penetrated me. So sweet they hurt. She tasted of cherries and minty toothpaste, fresh and clean. Her smell was not dissimilar to washing powder. Our kisses grew more tender. Only pulling away from each other when we felt faint from lack of oxygen. Gasping for breath and feeling like I'd lost a limb. I stared in to her eyes and felt as I never had before. My inside buzzing. We stayed like that for a while. The world was timeless when I was with Poppy. We could have been there for hours or mere seconds. Gazing at each other.
I heard a gasp behind me and turned to see Ela. Hand over mouth a shocked expression on her pretty face.
"Seb?" she asked and then she turned and ran. I went after her.