Chapter 2

William

I see Sam walking in the gate. She looks pretty upset. I walk towards her slowly, watching her. As she sees me she pulls her sleeves down further over her arms and changes direction. I walk after her, trying to catch up, my footsteps are loud and hurried.

"Will, Baby! I've been looking for you", I glance towards the direction of the voice and slow my walk down to a dawdle. It's Stella, she looks stunning today. Her long brown curls piled on top of her head with a few ringlets falling down gently around her face. Her bright blue eyes look at me expectantly. I stop as she nears me, giving her only half of my attention; the other half is puzzled by Sam's actions. I stand there looking at Stella, waiting for her to tell me what she wants.

"Will", she says pouting, "Don't I get a hug?" I look at her and then step towards; my arms gently close around her for a brief moment. I pull back and look at her; she really is quite pretty.

"Stella, I have to go to class, I'll see you later, ok?" without waiting for her answer I turn on my heel and hurriedly walk to maths class; looking forward to seeing Sam.

Entering the classroom I immediately notice that is not in her normal seat next to mine, but is two rows in front and there is a new girl in her seat. As I stand looking at her, I notice that again she hurriedly pulls her sleeves down over her tanned arms. Her face shows no emotions beyond the panic at the feel of my gaze on her. I walked slowly to my seat, watching her the whole time. As soon as I am seated the girl next to me turns to face me.

"Hi, I'm Callie", she has long, wavy, black hair that falls around her face as her head moves as she speaks. Her eyes are a deep brown in colour and she has a pale face, clear of blemishes. She's wearing a small amount of makeup to add some highlights to her face and accentuate her facial features. I look into her eyes and see uncertainty and concern.

"Hi Callie. I'm William." I see a small smile creep into her eyes and her mouth gently smiles at me, like I'm her new best friend. I let the hint of a smile touch my mouth as I look at her. I hear footsteps in the corridor and turn to see Ms Florence, our maths teacher, walk in and set out her books. I open my book and start to copy the notes from the board as Ms Florence writes them down. After 20 minutes of quiet chatter and note taking I look up to see Sam walking to the front of the class, books in the curve of her arm. She speaks quietly to the teacher, Ms Florence nods her head and Sam hurries out of the room. I'm distracted for the rest of the class; I had not picked Sam for one to leave class. At the end of class; it had been a double period; I look for Sam in the cafeteria, on the oval and every other place that I can think of, before I head quickly towards the office. The bell sounds as I open the door and step inside. As I approach the desk, the school secretary looks up and smiles as recognition flashes across her face.

"Hello Will, what can I do for you today?"

"I am just wondering if Samantha Flemming went home early today, and if you could please ask the principal if I can leave for work," I smile as if knowing where Sam is of no concern for me.

As I enter the back entrance of the shop I hear my mum talking to someone; a feminine voice. I walk slowly towards the voices, I have heard the girls voice before; SAM'S!

"Would you like a cup of tea?" my mum says as I walk in.

"Sam! I saw you leave class; I was worried!" as soon as the words were out of my mouth i wished I could take them back. The shock on her face made her look petrified.

"I...I...I had... I wasn't... feeling well," her hands move to her sleeves and start to pull them down. I walk the few meters between us and gently pull her hands away. As I do I notice the bruises up her forearms. In shock I gently pull her sleeves further up her arms, seeing the bruises continue, I pause.

"Sam, who did this to you?" the marks on her arms show where someone has grabbed her roughly. I stare at her arms for a few more moments before I lift my eyes and stare into hers. The fear that is showing there stops everything I am about to do. I let go of her arms as I take a step away; my mother enters the room with tea, noting the change in the room instantly, she ignores it and hands Sam and I a cup of tea. I take a sip of mine but Sam just sits down at the table. As I watch her I notice that the spark in her eyes is dying. I walk over to her and kneel in front of her. She looks up from the tea cup and stares into my eyes; as if trying to decipher the jumble of thoughts running through my mind.

She's a perfect fit in my arms; even with her in the chair and me kneeling on the floor, she fits perfectly. Her arms aren't around me, but, I think that she that this is because of the abruptness of my actions. I keep holding on to her; my hand gently and slowly moving comfortingly across the small of her back. I feel her slowly relax into my embrace and her arms close around my back, her head resting lowers and rests on my shoulder. We stay like that for a while until I can't just hold her anymore. I pull back and as I do I gently take hold of her hands and pull her to a standing position next to me. I have to grab her as she wobbles, wrapping my hands around her waist to stop her from falling.

"Thanks, I don't know what's come over me", she says. Her voice is all breathy, like she has just run a marathon.

"Sam, it's ok to be human sometimes, and if that means to not be strong then that's ok. We can't be strong all of the time, sometimes we just need to let go."

I stare into her panicked eyes and see; for the first time, a glimpse of the pain she is hiding. I can't do anything but stand here, not knowing how or what to do. Mum walks over and takes Sam by the arms and leads her upstairs to our living room.

I'm watching Sam for the hundredth time in the last half hour, she seems so calm now that we are watching 'Pride and Prejudice', the BBC version of course. We're about an hour into the 4 hour film, I'm still watching her as she turns around and notices me watching me watching her; she's lying on the carpeted floor on her side, I'm on the couch, much to my mother's disgust and Sam's insistence. She's still gazing at me as she rolls over to her other side, making it easier to see me; she is facing me now, not the TV. As she watches me, I notice the very unusual colour of her gorgeous eyes.

"Your...eyes...they're...indigo. I've never noticed before."

"I...yes, they are, I...umm... I hate them. People think that I am some sort of witch and because of the colour of my eyes... well, they get scared." She says the words with pure hatred in her voice. It makes me feel uncomfortable that she hates her eyes so much, I mean, I like them; they make her unique, special. I think that Sam has had a hard time in the past. Hopefully that will all change when people at school see that she is different.

"Sam, I think that your eyes are amazing. People who think that you are a witch just because of them are overly superstitious. Your eyes are a great asset to who you are. They're part of you and they are part of what makes you different from other girls..." I break off mid rave and lower my eyes; I hope I haven't offended her and made her want to leave.

"Thank you Will, I've never seen that my eyes could be a good thing; I never would have... if not for you." she stands up and walks the few meters between the place where she had been lying comfortably on the floor and the couch. As she stands next to the couch, my mum walks in.

"Would either of you two like a drink?"

"No thank you, I really must be going; I can't thank you enough for having me", replies Sam, the gratitude was clear in her voice. She turns and walks down the stairs. I look towards my mother and the look I receive tells me that I had better go after her and walk her home safely. I quickly get up and follow Sam down stairs.

"Hey Sam, wait up a minute." Sam stops by the front door and turns to face me. "Let me walk you home. Don't object; I want to."

I can see Sam's house down the street, I wish we could just keep walking. As we approach her house she stops.

"Thank you Will, this is far enough." We're about 3 houses down from hers. I turn and look at her, I stare into her eyes and realise that she is nervous and scared about being seen with me by her mother.

"Alright Sam, well... I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow... right?" she looks down at her feet and then back at me.

"Sure", she says and turns walking to her house and entering it. I wait for the door to close before I walk towards her house. As I draw near the house I hear yelling.

"SAM! Where have you been? I thought I grounded you! Your principal called and told me that you left school early. Is this what I pay for?" I hear a door slam from upstairs and as I look up I see a light come on. There standing in the window is Sam. Tears are streaming down her face and her hands are viciously wiping them away. As I watch her, she moves to one side of the room and turns away from the window. Suddenly I hear music blaring from her room. I was the song 'Boston' by 'Augustana'! I love that song and as I watch the window I mouth the lyrics and watch Sam sing to it as tears pour down her beautiful face. I turn away and start to head home. It's about a 30 minute walk.

My music is turned up really loud, the windows are shaking. I can't think straight, the sight of Sam crying, it's haunting me. I want to do something, but I don't know what. It's obvious that her mum is hurting her and that their relationship is terrible. I barely hear the knocking on my door until my older brother walks in. He turns my music down and stares at me.

"ok little brother. There is only one thing that does this to a Dolmay boy. And that is a...very pretty girl." Jake stands watching me and waiting for an answer. I don't look at him and as he comes and sits on my bed beside me, he tells me to spit it out. I tell him everything that I am feeling and about Sam and her mother. As I finish I look up at Jake. He is staring at me like I have another head.

"Looks like you have some major problems little bro. This girl really must be something, if you still like her after that." He says getting up. I look at him and he looks at me.

"You're on your own for this one Will," he says as he exist my room. I stare at the closed door, get up and turn the volume of my music back up.

I'm waiting at the front gates of school for Sam. She told me that she would coming to school today, why isn't she here yet the bell I going to ring in 5 minutes. At that moment I spot a lone figure walk through the gates on the opposite side to where I am standing. I run after the person and call out to them.

"Sam! Hey Sam! Wait up for a minute!"

As I near the person, I notice that they have a large shoulder bag, too big for school, too big for a night at a friend's house. It's the size of a travelling bag. As I run up and put my hand on the person shoulder, they turn and face me. It is Sam. Why didn't she answer me? And why is she wearing that hat? I reach out to take the hat off but Sam's hand comes out of nowhere and roughly grips my hand, in a strength that I didn't know that she had, and throws back to my side.