Part One - (5)

Stratford - beautiful town. A meeting between 2 people

Stratford-upon-Avon. Just up the road from the bridge, at the edge of a large marina. This was the edge of the town centre, when the shops have run out, and a number of pretty gardens border the river Avon. The road was wide here, with lots of markings showing cars where they can and cannot go.

It was late, but, although the crowds of tourists had largely dissipated, it was still quite busy. Hoards of teenagers hung out on the many benches along the river, and a few tourists still stuck around, some eating, some just enjoying the twilight. One lone boy, with short, almost white hair, spiked up at the front, stood in the gardens, a backpack on his back. His eyes were a watery, pale blue, and there was a look in them that suggested he had been crying, but now there were no tears left. He was still small, but he had the signs of early adolescence, he was, perhaps, 13 or 14.

He wondered through the gardens, almost in a daze, coming to the road. His eyes focused, looking at the building across the street. It was a squat, fairly new building, with a sign outside, with a big, red I indicating that this was the tourist information centre. The boy waited for a gap in the traffic and crossed to the information office.

The middle aged man behind the counter looked up from tidying away his things as he entered. He looked surprised at this young, tired looking boy, apparently on his own. But he didn't question, as the boy feared he would.

“Er...excuse me?” said the boy, shakily, as he reached the counter.

“How can I help you, young man?” said the man.

“I was wondering if they're was somewhere cheap I could stay? Like a youth hostel or something?” asked the boy.

“Oh,” the man thought for a  second. “Well, there's the youth hostel out of town. I'm sure they'd take you, erm...” he searched under the counter, pulling out a map and a pen. He marked a cross on a crescent a few miles down the road. “You can probably take the bus there. It stops just down the road.” he gestured to the bus stop symbol that was a centimetre away from the cross. “The next bus is at 8:33..er...here, have a timetable.” He pulled one out of the holder on the counter top.

“Thanks,” said the boy, taking the offered information with a smile. As he made his way to the door, a girl, his own age, walked in. She had a long black hair, tied in a ponytail, and big green eyes. She, too, wore a rucksack. She crossed to the counter.

“Hi,” she sounded slightly more confident than the boy, but she had a tone of fear. “I was wondering where the nearest youth hostel is?”

“Ah, that's funny,” said the man. “I've just told that young man there.” He quickly gave her the same map and timetable, and explained the location of the youth hostel.

“Thank you.” she took them and followed the boy out of the building.

It was 8:15, so they had a 18 minute wait until the bus arrived at the stop just outside opposite them, so they sat together on a bench to wait.

The girl made the first move. “Hi,” she said. “I'm Diana Bowlyeve.”

Will grudgingly replied. “Hi. Will Koi.”

“Nice to meet you.” said Diana. Will smiled, vaguely. “So, what brings you to a youth hostel here?” she asked.

“Well...” Will was hesitant in replying. “You know. I just had to get away from home for a bit.”

Diana nodded. “Oh yeah. Me too. My step-dad is driving me crazy.”

Will looked away. There were a few minutes of silence, then Diana spoke again.

“Where do you live?” she asked

“A little village, south of here.”

Diana shrugged. “Is it far?”

“It's quite far.”

“Oh. Yeah, I just live down the road. I just needed to spend a night away. I told my parents I was sleeping over at a friends. What did you tell your parents?”

Will was slow in answering. “I didn't.” he said, eventually.

Diana frowned. “So what, they don't know you left?”

Will shook his head.

“Wow, you are in so much trouble!”

Will shrugged.

After another minute or so of silence, Diana asked. “So what happened?”

“Huh?”

“What happened? Why'd you leave?”

Will said nothing for a while, staring into the distance. Finally, he said “My mum died.”

“Oh..er...I'm sorry.” said Diana, awkwardly.

Will didn't reply. They remained silent until the bus came and they were taken to youth hostel. Just before they went their separate ways, though, each off to their own rooms, Diana asked how long he intended to stay.

“Dunno.” Will said, shrugging. “Couple of nights.”

“Cos, if you want, we have a big house. Plenty of room to put you up for a bit.”

Will shook his head. “I'd rather not, thanks.” Then he stepped into his room and shut the door.

Diana stared at the door for a few moments, then went into her own room.