THE DEATH OF ME

I was walking back from work at the coffee house, ear buds in, music turned high, blocking the street sounds out when it happened.

Out of nowhere I am knocked off my feet and fall to the ground face down, with barely any time to put my hands out to break the fall, making sure my face does not hit the pavement,
The entire contents of my bag spills out around me.
Then, I feel someone take hold of both my arms, pulling me up to my feet like I was nothing, dead weight.

"Didn't see you there," A raspy voice sounds.
I look up at two big green eyes.

He is all in black. Black tight jeans, black shirt and black leather jacket even though it is still kind of summer.

"Over there!" I hear someone shout.
We both look towards the voice.

"Bye now," The green eyes wink at me with a cheeky smile. He then resumes his run from the two police men sprinting down the road.

I am left staring after him with my mouth wide open.

One of the policemen stops next to me, while the other one runs after the boy.
"Are you all right Miss?" He asks.

Only then I feel the sharp pain in my knees. I look down to find my jeans ripped and my knees bleeding.
"Shit," I mutter under my breath. I wipe my hands on my jeans, and notice the blood stains left where my palms came in contact with the fabric.
Great, my hands are bleeding too.

"Miss?" The officer asks me again.
"Umm.. yeah, I'm alright," I say looking up at his concerned face.
He bends down to help collect my possessions that were scattered all around us.

"If you want you can press charges," He winks, handing my bag back to me, with everything back inside it.
"What? Oh.. no, it was an accident," I reply.
All I wanted was to get home, take a shower and go to bed, so I can start the new week of school tomorrow peacefully.
"All right then," The Officer shrugs with a smile.
I thank him for his help and concern, starting my way again back home.

"Cassie is that you?" I hear my Nana call out when I enter the house.
It is only both of us living here, so who else would be walking in?
"Yes, Nan, it's me," I answer, starting to climb up the stairs before she notices me, and the way I look.

"I have made dinner, wash your hands and come to the kitchen love," She says, and I smile to myself. My Nana is truly the best.
"In a moment Nan," I respond, running up the remaining stairs so I could change clothes before joining her at the dinner table.

I look terrible. I have blood streaks on my face from my hands brushing at my cheeks, and the fabric at my knees is soaked in blood.
I peel them off carefully, trying my best not to hurt myself more then what I am already hurting.

Once they are off, I stride to the bathroom to clean them up.
The cuts aren't that deep, which amazes me because of the amount of blood. I secure a band aid over them, leaving the scrapes on my palms to heel on their own.
I put on long sweats and join my Nana at the table.

"Was your day pleasant?" She questions me as we eat.
"Sure," I smile. We both know it's a lie. Well not much of a lie, more like there is nothing to make it pleasant. My life is made up of School work and home. School to me is a side effect of living with grownups, it's just one of those things I must do to please them, according to Nana. Work is just so I can fill my day with something even though I hate it, it's not like I need the money, never going anywhere to spend it.
"It's only one more year dear," She smiles at me.

Did I mention I live with my Nana? My parents died in a car crash when I was a baby so there, now you know.
It's fine really, no point of feeling sorry for me.
No one else does. It's the way of life. People go and people come, and I do my best to get by. The End.


When morning comes I am rushing, knowing how late I get.
My food is on the counter waiting for me, Nana leaving it there before going out for her exercise class.
I grab it swiftly on my way out, rushing to the street corner to meet Liam.
I haven't told you yet about Liam.
He is my best and only friend in town. He lives down the road so we walk to school and come back together.
We sit together in class, and sit together at launch, though that is basically it.
I don't remember how we got to be friends.
I don't know why we are friends. But we are, so that is that.

"What happened to you?" Liam asks when I reach him, noticing the scrapes on my palms.
That is another thing about Liam, he notices everything.
"I got knocked over yesterday walking home from work," I tell him.
"You need to start watching where you're going," He shakes his head grinning.
"I was! Well, kind of.. Though the bloke who knocked me over- it was his fault, he was running from the police when he bumped into me," I tell him.
"Running from the police?" Liam glances over, an amused look on his face.

I tell him what happened, and about the officer helping me collect my belonging.
"If you think my hands are bad, wait until you see my knees," I finish.
"How is it all these things always happen to you?" He laughs bending over to see the band aid peeking under my skirt.
"It's this charm that I have," I joke.

That is another thing I hate, school uniform. We have these button down white shirts and blue skinny ties, and the girls have skirts with high knee socks, while the boys wear khaki trousers.
We also always get checked to make sure our shirts aren't too tight and our skirts aren't too short.
I don't have that problem since my shirts are always baggie and I am so short and still look 15 that I never get noticed.

School goes uneventful, and once I am done I rush to catch my shift at work, waving to Liam as our ways separate.

"Cassie- you're late," Daniel my supervisor calls out when I pass him in a run.
"No I'm not!" I grit my teeth in annoyance, he is always at my throat as if he owns this place, which technically he sort of does, being the coffee shop belongs to his dad.
"So why are you rushing?" He smirks.
"So I won't be late, now leave me alone and let me work," I answer back. He is such a sod at times, I just can't stand him.
I take my place behind the counter, pulling my hair back with elastic, before Daniel will have something more to say.

I am hoping he will leave early today, not working the shift with me.
"So I am going to meet Ashley, make sure not to burn the place down," He snarls at me.
I flash my finger at his back as he turns to leave, happy he will not be breathing over my shoulder the rest of the day.

"He's an ass,"
I turn to a smiling Perrie. She is a waitress at the shop. We aren't friends, but friendly, which is fine by me.
"Nitwit, good thing Ashley is around to keep him off our backs," I roll my eyes and smile back at her.
"Yeah, before you got here, he was all up in my face about asking people if they want anything else- I mean. Leave the costumers alone, if they'll want something they will ask for it, no point hovering" She leans her chin on her hand, resting her body against the counter.
"I know.. When is his dad back? I like it here more when he's around," I cash up a bill for an old lady who asked for a coffee to go.

The front door slams and we both look up to see who it might be.
A tall male strides in. He has a mop of curls on his head, and he is wearing tight black jeans with a white shirt on and a cut off plaid button down on top.

When he reaches the counter, his green eyes meet mine for the second time in less than 24 hours.
"You!" I say narrowing my eyes at him.
"Me," He grins pointing at his chest.
"What do you want?" I ask. I am being rude, and if Daniel was here he would scold me for being disrespectful to a costumer, but my knees and hands still burn from yesterdays fall.
"I see the officers let you go," I fold my arms.
"Or.. They never caught up to me, you see.. I'm quite fast," He winks.

I note Perrie next to him, her mouth open in disbelief. I guess she has never heard me talk so much and in such a rude manner before.
"If you say so.. So what are you doing here?" I ask again.
He smiles a cheeky smile before jumping over the counter, standing himself right next to me.

"What do you think you are doing?! You're not allowed back here- Get out! Now!" I raise my voice in panic, cranking my neck back so I could see his smirking face.
"So you're all right! Good," He says simply, giving me a once over.

"What? Why shouldn't I be?" I am confused by the change of tone to his voice.
"You took quite a spill yesterday, and I wanted to make sure I haven't hurt you too badly," He shrugs, looking me up and down again.

I was baffled by his answer. Why would a bad boy like him even care about my well being? I was a complete stranger to him, our paths crossing for just an unfortunate moment.
"W- Well I'm fine! Get out!" I repeat, shoving him slightly.

"I'm Harry, what is your name?" He leans over me to Perrie as if I haven't spoken.
"I'm Perrie, how do you two know each other?" She asks a smile on her face, her eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Well you see, Cassie here wasn't looking where she was going and-"
"Mee?? It was all you! You knocked me off my feet like I was a bug or something," I cut in sharply. I know I always fall over and bump into things, but this time it was not my fault.
"You're right, I apologize.. It was me.. You see, Cassie is so short I just didn't see here there,"
His remark makes Perrie giggle and leaves me fuming.

Who does he think he is?!

He can't just come in here and make fun of me without even knowing who I am.
"Good things come in small packages!" I point out angrily, repeating what Nan always says when I complain about my height.
"Yeah? We'll see about how good this package is," He says jumping over the counter, back to where costumers should be standing.

"How did you even know to find me here?" I inquire, remembering he also knew my name without me ever giving it to him.

"You shouldn't walk the street with a name tag that lets the world know where you work," He is back to his cheeky smile, and it downs on me how much he noticed about me in our little collision.

I feel my cheeks flush at that thought, and he notices, his smile widening.
"Well then, my work here is done, Nice meeting you Perrie, and you shorty, I'll be seeing soon," He turns and walks out of the shop, giving his curls a little shake swiping them out of his eyes.

"You only met him yesterday?" Perrie turns to me in astonishment.
"Pick your jaw up from the floor, he is the cockiest person I have ever come across and that is saying something," I wipe the counter from the hand prints he left behind.

"He might be.. But he is also one of the best looking guys I have ever laid my eyes on," She winks and starts to walk away.
"Don't you have a boyfriend?" I raise a brow at her.
"And he would appreciate my good taste," She smiles walking over to one of the tables to take an order.

I was shaken by this encounter. I am not used to boys talking to me, boys other then Liam. They ignore me, and I ignore them, this is how it worked for as since I remember myself.
So having Harry knock me over is one thing, but having him tracking me down to see how I am is a totally different and new thing for me, especially when he is that good looking. Those eyes are something out of this world, and those curls- it should be a crime to be a man with better hair then women.

I try and push him to the back of my mind, knowing I have no reason to keep thinking about it since I will probably never see him again.
How wrong was that thought of mine.