Author's Note: First Chapter, eek!
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One
It was a heavy silence that filled the sleek sedan, one born of early mornings after a summer of late ones, and the enjoyment of a warm latte clutched between nimble fingers. There were only two occupants in the vehicle; one, a man that looked to be in his late thirties (though was actually nearing his mid-forties), and the other, a sixteen year-old girl with an insulated coffee cup cradled in her hands and her eyes transfixed on the streets of Bristol as they passed by behind the tinted glass. Roderick Kentworth sat behind the steering wheel, expertly guiding the black sedan along, his tall figure folded down into his seat. His hair was a dark color, nearly black, except for a few strands of gray that brushed lightly along his temples. It was slicked back artfully, a few strands lying over his forehead, falling just short of a pair of light brown eyes that were exceedingly observant. The man had been charged with taking care of the Huntington-Barnes women for a little over twenty years, which would explain their morning trip to the west side of Bristol, where he would be delivering the teen-aged girl in his backseat into the hands of her best friend for their introductory day to Roundview College.
And he worried for her.
Eleanore Huntington-Barnes hid her green eyes behind a pair of dark, slightly oversized sunglasses in hopes that the bright rays of morning sunlight might leave her bleary eyes alone. She had rolled out of bed that morning only because both Jeanette and Lucille had barged into her room, demanding that she cease ignoring her many alarms and prepare for her first day of Sixth Form. She had resisted, vocally, yet still somehow managed to find herself dressed and waiting in Roderick's sedan, complete with her usual latte and a pair of rose gold aviators perched upon her nose. Her honey brown locks had been straightened and tousled, left to spill down her shoulders and back. The gentle pink skirt Lucille had thrown at her was a high-low style, cutting across her mid-thigh and falling with scalloped edges just behind her knees, the sheer material soft and flowing around her legs. It was paired with a top that had a sweetheart hem, banding around her back and showing just the trimmest sliver of ivory skin along her stomach, and a pair of beige wedges that left her a few inches taller than her typical five-four height. Her shoulders too were left bare, dusted with a faint shimmer thanks to her peony scented lotion.
And she just wanted to get the morning over with.
His gravelly voice cutting over the calming lull of piano music, Roderick spoke up, his eyes darting from the road to the rear-view mirror. "You sure you don't want me to drive you, love?"
She couldn't help the small smile that lifted her lips, Roderick's endearment leaving a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. After growing up with him as a constant figure in her life, he was much more than a simple butler, driver, or specially trained security personnel; he had become her friend. Still, Eleanore shook her head lightly, allowing quiet laughter to escape when the big man scowled disapprovingly. The last thing she wanted was to make a show of her arrival with someone who looked like a tank of a bodyguard on her first day at Roundview. It was one of the few minor victories she had won against her father, being that she would attend the state Sixth Form college with her closest friend instead of being shipped off to some prestigious boarding school of her father's choosing for her A-Levels. She wasn't going to muck it up by stepping out of an Aston Martin sedan.
She'd save that for later.
Besides, Eleanore knew she was kidding herself if she thought she wouldn't be recognized. Perhaps not by face, but the moment her surname was called aloud...it would all be over.
Jim Stonem was the picture of hilarity during Monday morning Bristol traffic. The father of her best friend, Effy Stonem; he left Eleanore with multiple opportunities in which she had to muffle her giggles behind her hand or her coffee cup, her eyes crinkled with laughter as they met Effy's crystal blue's in the side mirror of the dark green car. He ranted and raved, shouting profanities and applying liberal pressure to the car's horn. It had gotten to the point where his incessant beeping matched his curses almost perfectly, acting as an impromptu censor.
Perhaps it was fate, Mr. Stonem running over the bicycle that had been abandoned near the side of the road.
Even with the high-pitched shriek from Eleanore, and a shouted 'look out!' from Effy, there was no avoiding the black bike that had apparently been left upon the roadway. Unable to do much, Jim ran right over the bicycle, and promptly lost control of the older model car a second later. Forgetting to take his foot from the accelerator, he slipped and gassed it, propelling the car and its occupants toward the painted bollards lining an outdoor cafe area, complete with breakfast and lunch trucks. The car slammed into one a few meters down the paved road, the steel of the bollard crunching perfectly into the middle of Jim's hood and bumper- leading to another quiet screech from Eleanore, a round of expletives from the only man in the vehicle, and a mixture of a shriek and giggle from Effy.
Steam trailed upward from the newly dented metal only seconds later.
"For fucks sake!" Jim shouted, unclipping his seat-belt in such a hurry, it hung up. "Are you two alright! Effy? Elle! Christ, Kentworth is going to string me up by my-"
He grumbled and muttered as he swung his door open, crazed eyes already searching for the target of his morning rage. Curses fell from his lips with no end in sight as he observed the damage to his car, while Eleanore gave a sigh, her slightly shaky fingers reaching for the button of her own seat-belt, intent on exiting the vehicle for fresh air. Effy turned to look her over from the front seat, those bright blue's searching for any injuries before she gave a snort and slipped a cigarette from her bag, allowing a small puff of smoke to filter into Eleanore's lungs moments later.
"Fifty quid, Roderick will be here in less than five minutes." Effy hummed, inhaling deeply.
Eleanore rolled her eyes, giving her own quick snort of amusement.
"I might as well hand it over now, you and I both know he hasn't been too far behind," She murmured, green eyes searching the area through her open window and from behind her sunglasses. "He's probably just looking for a place to park the sedan."
The quick search led her though, not to the menacing approach of the man who had driven her throughout her life, but instead landed upon a boy. And as she watched him expertly smear ketchup across his face, smudging a decent amount near his temple, Eleanore couldn't stop the smirk that grew upon her lips.
He had to be nearly six-feet from what she could tell as her eyes appraised him, tracing over the outline of broad shoulders and trim hips. His chest was solid, as her appreciative gaze could discern, and his hair was a shaggy light brown, perhaps dirty blonde. The glint of a single stud earring in his left ear caught her eyes, distracting her from the way his red shirt and khaki trousers hugged lines of muscle on his solid frame. All the while, Jim raged just outside her window and, as she licked her lips and finally pulled her eyes away from the approaching figure of the unnamed boy, she took notice of a suited man striding purposefully toward them from across the park.
"Speak of the devil," Eleanore drawled, popping her own car door open before lifting herself from the clothed-over seats.
Effy snickered, flicking her cigarette ash to the cement and stone below.
"-you blind? Why is everyone around here fucking blind?! I'm doing nothing-"
Eleanore brushed her fingers through the gentle waves of her hair, fixing the windblown strands as she leaned back against the warm metal of the car's passenger door, her fingers twitching expectantly near Effy's outstretched hand, resting on the window frame. The darker brunette passed the cigarette over absentmindedly, and Eleanore followed her best friend's attentive gaze to a table not far off from where her unnamed mystery boy had been standing, where two other boys sat. Each seemed about the same age, and the same age as the ketchup boy as well; their eyes were glued to the scene of Jim yelling at the top of his lungs, one with a head of fluffy curls and the other with straight, silky strands that hung down in his eyes, though they remained nestled under a plaid hat. Her lips curled upward mischievously when she noticed the way he was stuck, unable to tear his eyes from her best friend as she relaxed back into her seat...and the way Effy couldn't seem to look away from him, either.
"-want your mobile number!"
"But I don't have one."
"Your fucking e-mail address then! Look at the state of my fucking car! You must have seen something, you demented-"
Eleanore couldn't help the quiet round of giggles, her fingers lifting the borrowed cigarette to her lips for a drag. They had just wrapped around the end of it, ready to inhale, when a stealthy hand reached out and snatched the offending tobacco product away. Her green eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses and she whipped around, a hiss of curses already on her lips, when she found the culprit to be the sturdy form of Roderick Kentworth.
And he was glowering.
"Just what the bloody hell is going on here?" He snapped, his eyes flicking to the shouting form of Jim Stonem near an elder woman, and back again.
Eleanore pouted when his beefy hand returned the lit cigarette to a grinning Effy.
"Bike left in road, car hit bike, boom! crash...and here we are!" She pointed out teasingly, knowing full well that the ex-military officer knew exactly what had happened before he even asked.
He snorted inelegantly, gesturing toward the cigarette Effy now had pinched between her lips, the cherry glowing brightly as she inhaled. "Not what I meant, Elle."
"-was trying to make you see me! You just kept coming, man."
Eleanore found her attention diverted from her guardian, the draw of the boy's deep tones capturing her attention, stealing it away from Roderick's disapproving frown and lecture about smoking. She had heard it at least fifteen times before, and it wasn't as if it was a regular thing, anyway. Instead, she listened as the boy's accent curled around her, a shiver rippling its way down her spine, unbidden. His acting skills were in top form as he pressed a big palm to his head, just above where the ketchup had smeared across his forehead, temple, and cheek. His eyes, a cloudy blue color from what she could now see, squinted against the light and his speech was just slightly slurred.
"-and now he's bleedin'." The woman snipped.
"Profusely!" He exclaimed, nodding his head before wincing and pressing against it once more.
If Eleanore hadn't been in the car, knowing without a doubt there hadn't been a single soul near the overturned bike in the road, she would have believed him. As it was, she grinned wickedly, her green eyes glinting in the sunlight after lifting the sunglasses upon her head so that she might see better.
"-anore. Elle, are you listening to me?" Roderick groaned, his dark eyes turning from where he had been staring down at the girl, to the direction she found herself gazing.
"Oh, for Christ's sake!"
The man huffed audibly, but it didn't distract her, considering it was at that moment that a pair of sky blue eyes connected with hers. She breathed in sharply, barely noticing as Effy popped her own door open, lifting herself to stand next to her best friend. The two gazed back at the boy with ketchup on his face, identical looks of intrigue and mischievousness shaping their features. He didn't even react as Jim practically threw money at him, instead his eyes trailed down the length of their bodies, first Effy's and then Eleanore's, his eyes finally resting on hers...and he smirked. Her teeth sunk down into her bottom lip, and a grin reshaped her pink lips, much to her guardian's displeasure.
"-forgive and forget, okay? Okay!"
"C'mon," Effy murmured near her ear, giving her elbow a tug. "We should go."
Roderick nodded shortly, more than happy to get both girls away from the scene Jim Stonem was making, lest those with cameras begin to pull them out. "I'll drive you."
"No need," The darker brunette hummed innocently, flashing him a sweet smile. "Roundview is just across the green, see?"
She started forward, pulling Eleanore along by her side, both girls calling a gentle goodbye to the hulking man as they went. Eleanore sent him a grin and a wink of reassurance, soothing his worry as best as she could. She knew he didn't like the idea of her attending the state school any more than her father did, though their reasons why differed vastly.
They didn't make it far, though.
Effy came to a stop right in front of Eleanore's ketchup boy, pausing as she peered up at him, the cigarette long gone from her fingers as she lifted one and drug it through the mess on his face. Eleanore found herself fanning an unfamiliar heat in her stomach, one made up of both desire and something else she couldn't explain. Instead, she leaned into Effy's side, watching as the boy's blue eyes darted from her to her best friend as she sucked the red condiment from her finger, murmuring a soft 'sweet' as she did. Her teeth once again found home in her bottom lip, rolling the tender flesh between them, before flicking her tongue out to soothe the sting. Effy's blue eyes sparked playfully at her green ones as she moved to walk away, reaching out a hand as Eleanore hung back.
"You have something," She hummed softly, flashing an inviting smile toward the boy. "Just...here."
Her thumb curved along the corner of his bottom lip, smoothing over the soft skin as she wiped the red substance that had slid down his face, away. His plump lips followed her as she pulled back, the movement seemingly involuntary as his blue eyes burned into hers, so intensely she thought he might have even seen her soul. Well, perhaps not her soul, but something was there.
"Elle!" Roderick snapped from a distance, and Effy's laughter tinkled on the air.
She flashed the boy a teasing smile as she too sucked ketchup clean from her thumb. "Cheers."
Arm linking with Effy's almost immediately, she wiggled her fingers at her guardian once more, the two of them setting out as a pair to walk across the park that would lead them directly to Roundview, already knowing that Roderick would more than likely shadow their journey. A bubble of excitement grew in the pit of Eleanore's stomach as she tossed her hair back over her shoulder, taking the chance to dart her eyes backward for one last look, only to find that all three boys had gathered together.
Watching as they walked away.