Hazel turned over once more, giving her pillow yet another harsh beating in what seemed to be an impossible attempt to make it more comfortable. It was no use to her though, it had been this way for months. Sleep just seemed to be trying its best to avoid her.
Sighing, she threw off her old faded green duvet. The night was fairly warm so she gently got out of bed and padded across the wooden floorboards taking caution not to make to much noise as she made her way to the front door.
Sitting down on the porch step she took a deep breath, Goosebumps rose on her uncovered arms that were unprotected from her vest and old pyjama bottoms. The wind gently blew through her dark curls, blowing then in her face. Looking out there wasn’t much to see other than a small dirt path that had been etched in the muddy ground of the dense woods that surrounded Hazel’s house like a impenetrable wall.
She sat and just looked, not expecting anything in particular but she knew that was when she would see something she didn’t expect. Darkness engulfed the trees but when close enough attention was paid it was possible to see the silhouettes of each branch and delicate leaf. Small animals made their presence know, if you just remained quiet long enough. Birds fluttering gently from one branch to another, rodents creating a scuttling sound from the floor of the forest.
“Hey” a quiet voice from her left startled Hazel, she had been so intent on watching the wildlife she hadn’t seen this boy. She was about to open her mouth to ask who he was but she abruptly shut it when she took a good look at him. He wore casual clothes, jeans ( it was hard to decipher if they were blue of black in the darkness) , some sort of shiny graphic top and a black jacket, but it wasn’t his clothes that made Hazel stop short. He was beautiful. A dark crop of short hair and definite features, the whites of his eyes stood out in the night and his lips were just slightly open showing a set of straight pearly whites.
“Sorry if I shocked you” he smiled showing of his teeth further. “I was just taking a stroll, I live a few doors down…. Well a few clumps of forest down , and I just saw you, you looked a bit absorbed in your own world there.”
Hazel mentally shook herself “Err.. You were just… taking a stroll… at this time of night” her voice was quiet.
“What can I say? Jetlag, I just moved her from over sea” he took a few steps closer to the porch “you mind if I sat with you?”
She was slightly cautious yet it was hard not to feel relaxed with him there, he had a real calming quality, he just seemed like the kind of guy that you could trust “umm…okay”
The mystery boy sat down right next to her and looked at her, his dark eyes wide and sincere. “So what’s your name? or if you don’t want to tell me I’ll just have to call you Hazel,” he grinned “for the colour of your beautiful eyes”
A bubble of laughter rose in Hazels throat. The boys grin slipped “to cheesy - calling your eyes beautiful?” he sounded hurt.
“No! no that was sweet, you just got my name dead on - I’m Hazel” she rushed to say, not wanting to hurt his feelings. This time he laughed with her.
“Must be a talent” he chortled “how ab-” a cold gust of wind chose that moment to blow viciously their way. Hazel shivered violently. “Your freezing! Here,” he slid off his black jacket and draped it over her, ignoring her protests. The jacket was warm from his body so Hazel didn’t protest much, he hadn’t removed his arm from around her opting to hold her close instead. She didn’t mind, he was warm and comfortable, he even smelt like something good, not that she knew what he smelt like… it was sort off.. Woodsy… natural… and oh so lovely.
“Thanks” she muttered from her spot snuggled next to him.
“shhh…. He whispered, just rest…” despite her best efforts not to Hazel felt her eyes closing against her will. He just smelt so good…
When Hazel opened her eyes she was in her own bed, and sunlight was peeking through the gap in her curtains. The red block letters on her alarm clock told her it was ten in the morning. Sitting up abruptly Hazel remembered the night before, who was that boy? Did it even happen? It must have been from eating all that chocolate she convinced herself, that it couldn’t have been real.
But she was wearing the evidence, the sleek black jacket he had gave her last night was still on her, retaining that woodsy smell. The problem was that he couldn’t have moved in near by, there were no houses in walking distance - so who was he? Hazel decided not to trouble herself with it and lay back in bed to get a few more peaceful hours of sleep.