Sheffield Skyline

“Well, that was fun.”, I giggled when Oliver walked me home. The night was windy and chilly, making me hugging my hoddie tighter to my body. It was already dark and I had lost the count of time when I hung out with him and his band, which consisted with awesome boys. Even Matt K promised me that he would introduce me to his girlfriend if I come to their band practice again, and I promised him I would come again.

“I’m sorry for my mates, they’re a bunch of idiots.”, he chuckled and shook his head slightly.

My eyes widened and clapped his shoulder. “Really fun and awesome idiots, I may add!”

Oliver grinned at me and then pursed his lips a second later. It was nice to have company when I thought I wouldn’t have any. Missing Michigan was in the second slot of my mind; the first one was having fun with my new friends in England. I shoved my hand into my pocket and my fingertips brushed on my iPhone, reminding me about Devin. “Shoot!”, I hissed and stopped at my track.

“Is something wrong?”, Oliver asked as he stopped at his own track.

I pulled out my phone and slid the screen to unlock it. There were 10 missed calls and 5 texts, all from Devin. “I’m so stupid! I’m such a moron!”, I groaned and pulled my hair for a bit.

As I vent around, I could feel that Oliver’s eyes were one me, following my path. “My boyfriend promised to call me and I forgot! I put my phone on silent! I’m so stupid!”

“I’m sorry.”, Oliver piped up. I stopped at my track of going around and looked at him. “I’m sorry, Mel, I shouldn’t bring you to band practice, and you wouldn’t miss your boyfriend’s call.”

Guilt rushed into me. My lips fell into a frown and a lump rose in my throat. Oliver looked really sorry for taking me to his band practice, thus, making me missed Devin’s calls, but it wasn’t his fault. “Oli… this isn’t your fault.”

“But if you didn’t come with me, you could’ve talked to him.”, he said quietly, barely moving his lips.

“Really, this isn’t your fault.”, I stepped forward towards him. “Oliver, I assure you, this isn’t your fault. This is mine. I should’ve put my phone on general because I know Devin would call. This isn’t your fault, okay?”

We looked into each other for a moment until Oliver nodded slightly, but he still had that frown on his lips. “Come on, it’s already dark.”, he reminded before continuing his way.

I felt really bad to him because he was punishing himself for something that wasn’t his fault. The walk was still a bit far and my legs were already stiffening from the walk. Back in Michigan, I hardly walk. Probably from the school to the Devin’s or to the park. When we passed the empty children park, I stopped.

Oliver noticed that I wasn’t near him again, so he stopped a bit far from me. “Are you okay?”, he asked loudly because of the distance.

“Can we go to the park, first?”, I asked him with the same volume. He stood there for a moment before walking towards me. I walked into the park and it wasn’t that dark because of the lamp posts that lit the park.

There were the usual children playground with a slide, a monkey bar and a set of swings. I walked towards the monkey bar and started to climb up the stairs. “What are you doing?”, Oliver asked from below.

I kept climbing and reached the top. I crawled carefully and sat on the edge. “Come on.”

“I have to get you home.”

“Are you a chicken?”, I teased him. His eyes lit up and his cheeks turned into a shade of red. “You are a chicken!”

“Chicken my arse!”, he laughed and climbed up until he sat next to me. We sat there as we looked up to the starry sky. It was a very calm night with a crystal clear sky, no cloud or whatsoever.

It felt really warm to be next to Oliver, and it felt nice to have someone that wanted to be your friend even though you just met him a couple days ago. “What are you thinking?”, he asked quietly, like he didn’t want to break the peaceful night.

I shrugged my shoulder. “I don’t know. Imagining what’s going on the other side of the ocean.”

“You missed Michigan?”

“I do.”, I nodded. “But ever since I have friends here—“, I glanced at him and our eyes met, making me giggle. “It’s starting to fade.”

“What’s Michigan like?”

“It’s very beautiful, with the lakes and all.”, I mused, remembering my hometown that I born in and grew up. “You would’ve liked it.”

“Why’d you move here anyway?”, Oliver asked with turning his head on me. His brown eyes were like liquefied chocolate that was thick and warm.

“My dad got promoted in his job and he had to move here because the company needs someone to direct their branch in England.”

He nodded and pouted his lips a bit. “Must be hard.”

“I was angry at first. I ran away from home for 3 days.”

Oliver’s eyes widened on me. “Whoa.”

“Yeah.”, I nodded and chuckled. “It was really sad for me that I have to leave my friends and my boyfriend, but I love my dad and my mom couldn’t bear of leaving me in Michigan, so I decided to move here with them.”

“How’s your mum doing now?

“She’s doing good. She used to work in a very successful Greek restaurant back in Michigan, but after moving here, she decided to be a house mom.”

“I think my mum would like your mum.”, he laughed. “We should introduce them.”

I smiled at the thought of my mom having a friend. “That’d be nice.”