Chapter 1. Cornbrook's Walk Home

They were rarely eventful, but for the most part it was a pleasant half an hour's walk down the canal. In the summer sprigs of tiny yellow dandelions sprang up amongst the long tufts of overgrown grass by the side of the path where she walked. There was usually no one else around at that time, apart from this one girl who walked past her at the exact same spot every day.

Cornbrook recognised her from school; she stood out like bold text amongst wilting italics, cartwheeling through life and making bad decisions which would turn into good stories. Her grin seemed brighter than the dandelions, her laugh louder than a train. They had never actually spoken, but seeing her made Cornbrook's small heart slightly nervous, and incredibly confused.

It was the same thing every day at approximately half 3 in the afternoon.

Cornbrook would see her coming from a distance, and her heart rate would irrationally rise to ricochet around her chest as she smoothed down her hair self-consciously. As the girl approached, she'd look away to avoid eye contact, hoping she wasn't blushing. She'd shift slightly to the side to let the girl pass at a familiarly insignificant place on the path, a place so insignificantly significant to Cornbrook that she could probably paint it from memory. After the last waft of the girl's perfume had passed, Cornbrook would be left feeling fluttery and unfulfilled.

And although this happened every day, they had never exchanged a single word.