The boy turned around. My stomach dropped, it wasn't him. The boy smiled at me, his teeth were crooked and chipped, his face was covered in dirt and his hair was all messed up and parted on the wrong side.
"Oh, sorry I thought you were someone else"
"That's alright" The boy smiled and walked away. I glumly walked to the back of the line of the dairy stall. I didn't look up once not until someone had pushed me into the dirt.
"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" I asked. A tall and young lady had pushed me over. She was glaring down at me, fury burning in her eyes but for what reason?
"You weren't moving up in the line!" The lady replied.
"You could've just asked politely" I spat. Now the lady was fuming. She had her hands balled up into fists, she was squeezing so tight her knuckles were turning white. The lady walked towards me in anger and grabbed the cuff of my dress and pulled me close toward her. The lady raised a hand and slapped me across my face, sending me to the ground and knocking the breath out of me. The slap stung, it was as if I had multiple paper cuts on my cheek. I raised my hand to my cheek, the lady had made me bleed. I shakily stood up from the dirt and brushed myself off and held my cheek, stopping the blood from oozing out. I picked up the basket I had dropped and stepped back into my place in the line. Once I had gotten the butter I headed toward the fountain where I would meet Phillis. The fountain surface was smooth but cold under my touch, it was much better than holding a basket that was falling apart. I sat down on the smooth stone and waited for Phillis. Suddenly the sun was being blocked by something. I looked up and it was the same lady from before.
"I wasn't finished from before," The lady said. I gave her a puzzled look but she just smiled. To my surprise no one was around, everyone had left. How long had I been sitting by the fountain for?
"I beg your pardon, I don't understand" I replied. The lady rolled her eyes and raised her hand. Her hand came down quick and hard. She had opened up the wound on my face. The force of her hand had almost sent me flying across the ground again but something, well, someone had broken my fall. I open my eyes and see Sebastian looking down at me. One of his hands were holding my head up and the other wiping the blood off of my cheek.
"Darling, are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine" Sebastian looked up somewhere and then turned his attention back towards me for a quick second.
"Good" he sighed. Sebastian laid me down on the ground gently and stood up and faced the lady who had hit me. Sebastian grabbed the lady by the hair and pulled her over to where I lay. The lady was clawing at Sebastian but he just looked at me with a smile glued to his perfect face. His eyes lit up with joy, joy for what, seeing me or grabbing a girl by the hair? Sebastian sighed and then broke the silence.
"Anne, give her what you got," Sebastian said.
"What?" what did he think I was going to do, punch the living daylights out of her?
"Give her what you got" He repeated.
"You, want me, to punch her?" I pointed to Sebastian then to myself and then at the lady.
"Well, you can punch her if you want to" He was still holding the lady by the hair. By this time the lady had given up trying to escape if she could escape she would only make it out with half her hair left.
"I beg your pardon, I am not going to hit a lady just because she hit me for no apparent reason!" I yelled. I glared at Sebastian but he just kept on smiling. I kept hold of my stare until Sebastian gently let go of the lady's hair and slowly kneeled down next to me. I propped myself up on my elbows so now I was eye level with Sebastian's chin. Sebastian looked me in the eyes, he looked as if he were about to cry.
"I'm sorry" He sighed. Sebastian Leaned forward and placed his head in the crook of my neck and breathed in. He was like a small child frightened from a nightmare. He had started shaking uncontrollably. It took me a moment to realise he was crying. I stroked the crying boy's hair and put my head on his.
"Sebastian, why are you crying?" Sebastian lifted his head, blinking away the tears. His eyes were puffy and his nose was red. He looked so vulnerable looking up at me with those dark brown eyes. Sebastian said nothing and put his head back into the crook of my neck. I let him cry, I let him release his emotions. We sat like that for a while, Sebastian, with his head in my neck, his hands wrapped tightly around my waist. I had my arms around his shoulders stroking the back of his head gently with my head resting on the top of his. My dress was obviously dirty, the dust had covered the brim and was probably up my backside now. Finally, Sebastian spoke, his voice was croaky from all the crying, his breath jagged and his eyes puffy.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have cried like that" He looked up at me, he looked like a small child. I could see the outline of his cheekbones, his long lashes glistening in the sun and deep groves in his shoulders.
"It's alright, it's good to let your emotions out sometimes"
"But I just unleashed it onto you" The frustration in his voice was very clear, he was angry, angry at what?
"Well, what's the matter?"
"Just family problems, I came out here to get away but then I saw that lady hit you-"
"So you decided to push your emotions aside for me?" I tried to sound as calming as I could but I sounded more like I was trying to bribe him or tease him. Sebastian just nodded, keeping his eyes on the ground.
"You don't have to be ashamed of that" I put my hand onto his. His skin was warm and was soft to the touch. Sebastian looked up at me and smiled his eyes still glistening from the tears. Sebastian put his head back on my shoulder and we sat like that for a while. This felt right, having him in my arms as nothing else mattered.
We had sat there like that for a few hours, talking about our daily lives. Sebastian's parents fought a lot and pushed him to get married, but he didn't want to get married to someone he's not really into. Sebastian asked about my parents but I couldn't get the words out, they were too painful to say. He asked what I was doing here all alone at the fountain, and that's when it hit me. Phillis hadn't come to get me, it was nearly sunset and I was still here waiting for her. Sebastian just laughed and teased me about being forgotten.
"Don't laugh at me!" I shouted. Sebastian went quiet and the smile was gone.
"I'm sorry, I'm sure she will come and get you" I stood up from where we lay brushing the dirt and grime off of my dress. The dirt flew of my dress and into a small cloud and slowly drifted to the ground. I held out a hand for Sebastian to take but he just dismissed it. I let my hand drop to my side and watched Sebastian propelled himself off of the floor and landed gracefully on his feet.
"Come on," He said flicking his arm toward me indicating I should follow. "Let's get you home" I lifted the bottom of my dress up so I wouldn't trip on it and ran after Sebastian. Sebastian took my hand in his and pointed out the different constellations in the sky. The stars shone down on us like tiny little suns but Sebastian had other theories of what they were. "I think they're the angels up in heaven watching down on us," He said.
"And why do you think that? How do you know, they could be planets or other suns"
"It's just a theory my darling" He cupped my chin in his hands and stroked his thumb along my cheekbone. His touch sent a shiver down my spine, the hairs on my arms stood on end. Sebastian leaned in, foreheads touching. I could feel my heart accelerate and my cheeks flush. My breath became slower trying to match the speed of Sebastian. Sebastian whispered in my ear, his breath tickled my skin.
"We're here," He said, pulling away keeping his hand under my chin. I looked up and sure enough, I could see the front door of the house, the downstairs lights were on and I could hear someone playing the piano. I looked back down at Sebastian, he slowly let go of my chin and grinned.
"Is there any chance that I can sneak in through the window again?" I opened my mouth and then closed it again I looked down at my dirty shoes and dress and shook my head. A smile formed on my face. I looked up at Sebastian, his eyes beaming down on me with his beautiful deep brown eyes that were almost the colour of dirt.
"I'm afraid not, I will be to busy sleeping" I replied and spun on my heel and headed for the front door. Before I had reached the handle Sebastian had grabbed my hand, spun me around and suddenly I couldn't feel the ground beneath my feet. Sebastian was holding me in his arms. I could feel his body heat radiating off of him, he smelt of dirt and the cool breeze of an early summer morning. Sebastian held me but my waist, lifting me up so he was eye level with my neck. I was very short for someone my age, I was only 5'3 while the other girls were 5'6 or 5'7. I looked down at Sebastian, he looked dazzling in the moonlight. Sebastian brought his head up closed to mine and pressed his lips against mine. They were soft and warm and I kissed back. There we stood in the shadow of the moonlight kissing like nothing else mattered.