Kites

"Alex?"

"Yeah Silvy?"

"Don't you find it funny that...no, never mind. It's a silly thought."

"No go on, what's funny?"

"It's nothing...you'll just laugh at me."

"I won't, I promise."

"Okay well...don't you find it funny? That the person we're going to marry one day is somewhere out there, and they don't even know of our existence?"

"They could be right under your nose too. They could be your best friend, or they could be your worst enemy. They could be the last person you'd ever expect to marry."

Alex looked up at her, his big brown eyes glistening in the moonlight. "I really like you Silvia. One day, when we're as old as our parents, we're going to get married."

He flashed a small smile when he saw the deep red blush on her cheeks."Okay." She said.

"Good, I don't want any other boys to hurt you."

She believed Alex when he said that they would grow old together. She believed that he would never hurt her. She believed that if you were a good person and treated others well - people would do the same for you. This false belief was not so much ignorance as it was naivety. She was so young and she simply didn't realise.

She always treated people with the utmost respect. She gave up her time for others; gave her old clothes to the Salvos; gave any spare change to the kind homeless man on the corner and always asked him how he was. She believed that since she had gone out of her way to do nice things for others, she should have been credited in some way. But it seems as though the universe or whatever higher power that may be up there, doesn't agree. Losing the only people you ever truly loved isn't fair compensation.

It's a dreary spring morning. The usually cheerful blue skies of Baltimore were covered in grey clouds, as though Silvia's mood was reflected on the weather. She made way, slowly and nimbly through the rows of tombstones. There were large ones, small ones. Some were decorated with flowers, others not. There were many new-looking ones, the words carved into them clearly visible; others were slowly becoming incomprehensible as time flew by them. As Silvia walked, she read the names on the plaques, or carved into the stones. One caught her eye.

'May Louise Raneri
June 10th 1984 - June 21st 1984
Beloved daughter of David and Marianne.'

May, the young girl who's name was carved into the tombstone, was supposed to be seven years older than Silvia; but she only lived for eleven days. She never got a chance at life. She never got a chance to find true love, to learn. She never experienced living, nor will she ever.

Life can be so unfair. It can throw you around like nothing, you can be put through and at the end of the day you will just die. You'll be gone from the face of the earth.

Silvia continued on, until she found the two plaques that belonged to people that were taken so suddenly away from her, when she was only at the tender age of seven.

Silvia's parents only had small plaques. Reading only their names, the date of their birth and death and a short message.
Silvia comes here every year, on the anniversary of her parents death to simply sit and talk to them, give them each flowers - white roses for her mum and red for her dad. They were killed in a car crash, on their wedding anniversary, which would be have been their 23rd today had they not passed away.

When they passed away Silvia was at Alex's house. His parents were the first called since they were the most recently called contacts in Silvia's parents phone. They simply walked in and told her, "You're going to be staying with us for a little while Silvia."

They were trying to mask the truth, but even at such a young age Silvia realised that the look on their face told a different story altogether. She found out the real story the next day when the social services lady came to see her, though leaving out the part that Silvia was to be sent to a orphanage until a foster home was available.

Nor did anyone tell her how her parents died, until years later when she was deemed old enough to understand the situation.

The week prior to her parents funeral was spent taking all of the belongings out of the house and either sold or kept. Things of Silvia's, plus photo albums and other things of emotional value that belonged to her parents, were either packed away with the things she was to take with her, or given to the Gaskarths to keep until Silvia was old enough, as they were closest to her than anyone.

Now 22 years old, Silvia hasn't seen the Gaskarths, or the things they kept for her in 15 years.

Silvia spent close to an hour sitting at the cemetery. It was a good time to reminisce. She had to leave because it had started to rain heavily, soaking her clothes so they clung to
her small frame; freezing her to the bone.

As she walked along the footpath, making her way down York Road, she found herself drawn to a large board full of posters of all sorts. She took the time to read every one of the flyers for gigs, help wanted notices and lost dog posters. But one caught her eye. Large black letters read, All Time Low - This Thursday @ The Pavilion

For whatever reason, the name was familiar to her. Perhaps someone had mentioned it. She knew though, that she was going to be going to the Pavilion on Thursday.

Seeing as though her friends were all back home, over an hour away, Silvia spent her time in Baltimore by herself. That included going to the show alone. She walked into the bar which was connected to the medium-sized room that held the small stage full of amps and instruments.

The bar had an oddly comforting feel to it. Very warm and welcoming. This was a strange occurrence, as most bars she had been to had a polar-opposite feel to them. She took a seat on one of the tall, wooden bar stools at the counter. It was fairly busy but it only took a few minuted for her to be served. "What can I get you today miss?" A girl, who must have been in her late twenties, addressed Silvia in a soft voice.

"Just a Bourbon and coke please."

"Coming right up."
Within a minute, the bartender was back and had handed Silvia her drink. "Here you go darl." She said, offering a wide smile, "Are you here for the show?"

"Yes, I am. I'm in town for a while and I saw the flyer. Thought I may as well have a look."

"You made a good choice, I can tell you that. These guys are amazing, real popular around here."

"I can tell, there's so many people!"

"I reckon half the town is here at least. They'll make it big, I just know it." Silvia could tell, by the look in the bartenders eyes and the wide, cheesy grin on her face, that the band was indeed well liked.

"I look forward to seeing them then!" The bartender nodded and left to go serve a man seated at the bar a few seats down. Within minutes, she was back and Silvia had finished her drink - resulting in her needing to use the bathroom. "Is there a ladies room around here?" She said.

"Just over there." The bartender pointed to a door at to Silvia's left, "That door leads into a little corridor and the ladies room is at the end of that corridor."

Nodding in appreciation, Silvia stood up, brushing down her slightly strewn shirt. She only walked a few steps before she felt a body roughly knock into her, sending her tumbling over.

Silvia looked up hazily from her place on the ground, feeling a presence in front of her. Her gaze lifted and her baby blue eyes met with a pair of deep brown ones, filled with worry.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" A smooth, melodic voice spoke.

"Oh, yes I'm okay, thank you." Silvia looked down, her cheeks a deep shade of red. The nameless man in front of let out a small chuckle from the back of his throat. The sound gave her goosebumps, despite the warm weather.

"Can I ask your name dear?" He said, holding out a hand to help her up.

"Silvia."

"Alex." They shook and once again met eyes. His were staring into hers, questioning. She was so familiar. He knew her, he just didn't know where from.

They stood for an awkward moment; each searching for an answer as to who the other was. Alex was the first to realise that they had to yet to let go of each others hands. He dropped hers, and rubbed his own against his jean clad legs to wipe away the layer of sweat that had formed. The movement caught Silvia's attention. Alex let out a nervous laugh. "So what brings you here love?"

Silvia blushed at the nickname, "The show, uh, I'm in town for a while and I thought it would be nice to come and watch."

"I'm glad you did." Alex said, winking down at Silvia. "I've got to go, but hopefully I'll see you later?"

"Yes maybe."

Who was she to deny him? An attractive man, who was familiar, but a stranger nevertheless, had flirted with her. Figuring she would most likely never see Alex again, Silvia wandered over to the bathrooms like she had planned to before the interruption.
Looking back, she saw Alex talking to another man who spotted her and tapped Alex's shoulder, motioning for him to look in her direction. When he saw who his friend had pointed out to him, he gave a small smirk and once again winked at Silvia. To this, she blushed and turned again - heading into the bathrooms.

A nice feeling had settled in her stomach. Maybe there was small part of her that hoped she would see Alex again.

When Silvia had finished up, she had taken a seat at a small table not too far from the stage. The show was about to start just as she sat down. Having not looked at the band on stage, she was startled upon hearing a too-familiar voice being projected throughout the room. As soon as the voice filled her ears she looked up and sure enough, Alex was on stage, a guitar in hand.
Alex's band played for nearly an hour and in that time, the crowd from when Silvia first walked in had more than doubled. The room was jam packed full of people who, after the show had finished, all started to walk away after giving the band a loud applause.

After waiting a few minutes for the crowd to dissipate, Silvia too started to walk away. She heard a loud bang come from a bit to the right of her, she turned her head to see what the sound was but within seconds she collided with another body, causing them both to fall down from the impact.

Silvia untangled herself from the body lying next to her on the ground. "I'm so sorry!" She looked up at the familiar sound of the voice, to see Alex sitting opposite her on the ground.

"I've come to believe that you're following me Alex. That's what? The second time within the space of two hours that you've knocked me over."

"Darn you caught me!" Alex spoke with amusement in his voice, "I'm following you so I can kidnap you. I'm going to take you and lock you in my dungeon."

Silvia let out a small laugh, to which Alex gave a smile that would put a model to shame. "Here, follow me." He said. Alex took her wrist lightly, looking back at her for a reaction. He saw none, so he kept a hold of her wrist as he pulled her along.

Truth be told, in any other situation, Silvia would have pulled her arm away as soon as their skin made contact. Perhaps it was a subconscious way of not ruining the moment sort of thing, but when Alex took hold of her wrist, she let him keep it there. A warm, tingly feeling shot through her where his hand was touching. A feeling she never experienced. She liked the feeling though. A lot.

Silvia was surprised when Alex pulled her through a set of large double-doors, leading into a dark corridor. She was even more surprised when he pulled her through another door, into what she presumed was a dressing room. Although it was a nice surprise - of sorts. "Take a seat and wait here." Alex quickly walked out of the room, leaving Silvia in a state of confusion. A stranger had just pulled her into an unfamiliar room and left.

The best option she thought, was to sit like her told her to. So she did. There was a tattered, black leather couch placed along one wall of the room, opposite a small tv. She took a seat on it.

Minutes later, Alex was back. Carrying a large box behind him. "Silvia?" He asked, sitting down.

"Yes, Alex?"

"Is your last name Matthews?"

Confusion swept across Silvia as he said this. She only ever gave him her first name, she thought. "Yes, it is. How did you know?"

Completely disregarding her question, Alex pulled out a photo from the box in his hands and handed it down to her. "Is this you?"

She took a look at the photo, her heart skipping a beat in her chest as realisation hit her. "Alex. Alexander Gaskarth. Is it really you?"

He could only nod, not being able to find a voice of his own. Silvia. His Silvia, was here. Finally, after so many years.
She ran to him, nearly knocking him over in the process. He regained his composure and wrapped his arms around her small figure, nearly crushing her. Not that she minded, she was nearly in tears. This was her best friend, who she hadn't seen in many years.

The pair stood for what seemed like an eternity, just holding each other. Both were so overwhelmed at the fact that they had been reunited after the tragedies that separated them in the first place.

He slowly pulled away from her, looking down into her eyes.
She started back up at him, her hands still clinging to him.
Alex took a leap of faith and before Silvia knew it, they were connected in the most intimate way. Sharing sweet perfection in a simple gesture. A gesture so simple as to say thank you, or goodbye. Was used to create a bond between the pair. A simple, unspoken promise that they would never leave each other again. A cliche, seemingly fairytale ending; the beginning of a new life for them both.

In which Alex was a now a very popular musician in a band, Silvia was just a girl, much like a kite; going wherever the wind took her. This kite though; it was lost. Yet to be found. It was tattered and teared. Struggling to fly in the harsh winds. Until a certain young boy came back to pick up the broken pieces and fix it.