I'm Glad I'm Not You Chapter 1
It was a dreary, rainy night in Suffolk, as usual, but today held a bit more of a promise. It was the night before Christmas Eve, and even the weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the town. The small town of Framlingham was decorated with Christmas lights strung on every shop and café, young Christmas carolers were even scattered around the town, and everyone was in the Christmas spirit. Everyone except for me, that is.
I wasn’t in the mood to be celebrating Christmas. It was my first month in the UK, and I was still getting used to everything. I had moved from a small suburban part of New York to England to go to college. I attended the University Campus Suffolk, which was a fairly local college that specialized in art and design and things like that. I was trying, hopefully, to get a major in theatre. I was still pretty young, though, and I had moved out of my house almost as soon as I had graduated high school. I wasn’t going to stay in that house a second longer, that’s for sure.
But, especially as Christmas time rolled around, I was feeling even more homesick and I missed my small town and my best friend and even my family. I never was all that close to my family, but right now, I missed them terribly. I missed everything about my old home, even though this was what I wanted. But there was nothing worse than being alone on Christmas. It just didn’t feel like Christmas without my family fighting in the kitchen over the cooking or my best friend going shopping with me for gifts.
I had made a few friends at my Uni classes, and they were all very nice and outgoing (as most of them were going for their theatre major as well, very lovely people) but they weren’t someone I would want to spend a holiday with. None of us were that close, not yet anyway. So here I was, wandering the streets of Framlingham alone on Christmas Eve night, near tears.
I walked past the streets that were all decorated for the holidays and tried to cheer myself up. I reminded myself that this was what I had wanted. I had wanted to go off to college by myself and make my own living and my own reputation for myself. It was my dream. So then why was I here, all alone on one of the most important holidays of the year? I tried to convince myself that it was still the first month of my studies here, and that living on my own would definitely improve, but I had my doubts.
I rounded the block, and tucked my shivering hands into the blue hoodie I was wearing with my jeans and boots. I saw a small pub in the middle of the street, and it was the liveliest I had seen our town all month. I couldn’t see the name of the pub. There were small tables and chairs outside, just a few, and as I approached it, I peered through the window. It was dimly lit, but I could make out a bar with stools and a few scattered tables inside. Many people were in there, drinking and chatting with friends. It looked cozy. I wiped my eyes, and lowered myself onto the steps, right outside the front door. I didn’t feel like going in, but the nice vibes from inside were making me feel a little bit better.
As I sat on the steps, I thought about what my town was doing right now. My mom and dad were probably in the house drinking and arguing about who was going to drive my sister to her class the next afternoon, or no, maybe arguing about who got the last beer and who had to go out and buy more. My best friend Charlie and her boyfriend were probably having a nice dinner out together and exchanging Christmas gifts. Thinking about Charlie with her boyfriend made me feel even worse, though.
“Hey man, are you okay?” A loud voice slurred. I raised my head from my arms and looked to the direction where the voice came from. “Are you dead? Should I call the cops?” The guy was obviously drunk, way drunk. I could still detect a clear British accent even through the slurring.
“I’m fine, thanks.” I said, bluntly, wanting the guy to go away. He didn’t.
“Hey Ed, come heeeeerrrreee,” He yelled over. I flinched, and stood up abruptly to leave before things got out of hand. I knew what happened at bars with drunken guys, and I definitely did not want that to happen on Christmas Eve. I heard rapid footsteps approaching and I took a step away from the men.
“What’s up, man?” The new guy said, Ed, supposedly. He looked vaguely familiar, with his reddish tousled hair, but I was pretty sure it was because I’d seen him around Framlingham before. It was a pretty small town. But the other guy, with a dark hood over his head, I hadn’t seen before, I know that.
“Look at this, can we keep her? Pretty please, Ed?” The guy winked at me, at least I think he did, but it was too hard to tell in the dark. I could tell that both of them had a lot to drink, especially the guy with the hood. Ed was swaying in the wind and his eyes were closed, and I honestly thought he fell asleep for a second, before he opened his eyes and I nearly jumped.
He came over to me, and I took a step back, but he pulled me in and gave me a big bear hug. I made a disgusted face. He leaned on me, and it took all of my strength to keep his standing upright. He smelled of beer and smoke, and something else that I couldn’t put my finger on. It wasn’t necessarily a bad smell, just an odd combination, I guess. I took a step back again, and Ed fell to the floor on my feet. He grunted and bit my ankle.
I yelped and jumped away from the two drunken men. I just wanted to get away from them. I headed down the street, pulling up my hook quickly, without looking back.
“Ed, she’s getting away!”
Ed was fast. He grabbed my arm and spun me around like a ballerina. I had to admit that even though I was upset, I couldn’t help but laugh when he did that.
“Hey, I’m Ed,” he said, after he stopped spinning me. He seemed a little bit more sober, which was a good thing for me.
“I’m Holden.” I mentally cringed at the masculine name that my parents had given me. I hated it so much.
“How old are you? You look young.”
The other guy piped into our conversation. “Are you legal?” He winked at me again, and I snorted. I could feel my face turning red though. Thankfully, it was very dark outside.
“I’m eighteen.” I said easily. “And a half,” I added, after seeing the amused looks on their faces.
“Aw, you’re a baby.” Ed said, and he leaned over to give me another hug. I let him hug me, although I still had no idea what was honestly going on. Two drunken men were talking to me at night? How often did that happen?
“Why were you crying, Holden?” The other guy asked, pulling his hood down to reveal dark, brown hair and a matching beard.
“No reason. Well, it was really great talking to you boys, but I should probably get going. Merry Christmas,”
“You were crying? You can’t cry, it’s almost Christmas Eve,” Ed said loudly. He twisted my braided hair around his fingers, as if he was fascinated by the simple plait. “Woah,” he whispered as he unbraided half of my hair. He attempted to braid the long hair back together, but couldn’t and he frowned. I laughed.
“I like your hair.” The other guy piped up, before bursting out into a fit of boyish laughter, which was pretty cute if you know, you liked the ‘drunken guy with beard type’. “I’m Mike and I’m Ed’s boyfriend,” He put an arm on Ed’s shoulder and hung off of him.
I could feel my face growing hot again and I squirmed under both of their gazes. “Nice to meet you…” I offered. They grinned loudly. There was an awkward silence in which I cleared my throat. “Well, Merry Christmas,” I repeated dumbly.
They both tittered. “Come have a drink with us,” Mike said, almost as a demand.
I denied, even though I had nothing better to do and they seemed nice enough. But still, I declined. “I can’t, I have to go back to my flat.”
“What if you get lost on the way? I’ll come with you.” Mike said. I was beginning to realize that Mike talked a lot and didn’t take no for an answer.
“If you come with her, I am too!” Ed insisted, like a little boy who was insulted. I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit, and my mood was noticeably better. It was weird, considering that I didn’t even know these two men (okay, boys) but they were drunk and hilarious and nice and they were just what I needed to cheer me up tonight.
“I’m fine. Thank you, you’re very sweet. But I’ll be fine.” I said to Mike, thankful he couldn’t see my face.
“He’s too old for you!” Ed piped in, sounding annoyed. Mike chuckled but pretended to be insulted.
“Excuse me, I’m not that old, thank you very much.” To me, he added, “Where are you from? You have a different accent,” I was surprised, it was one of the only serious things that he’d asked me so far. He seemed like a really nice, genuine guy however, and I’m sure we would actually get a long great when he was sober.
“I’m from New York,” I said, trying my best to cover up the ‘New York Accent’ that I apparently had.
“I love New York, best fucking chips ever,” Ed said wistfully.
“He means French fries,” Mike put in, scratching his beard.
“I know that,” I said, laughing a bit. “Fine, one drink, but after that I’m leaving.”
Let me know what you guys thought here! this is my first ed fanfiction but please let me know what you thought xxx