It wasn't always like this. Finn could remember the days when the summer blazed high in the sky, the grass glowed green and little beads of lustrous sweat would trickle down his forehead. Summertime wasn't what it was. Summertime wasn't how he remembered it when he was an innocent, free spirit, a roaming, adventurous child. Summer this year was instead filled with drizzly rain, cloudy days and temperatures normally associated with winter. Finn was 18, and on the surface he was your typical older teenager. He attended the local Sixth Form College, had a respectable group of friends and enjoyed the usual – socialising, music, and of course girls. Finn was also a keen surfer, and when the weather permits spent as much of his free time available on his board, trying to catch the ultimate waves. More preternatural than socially compliant, He didn't always fit in, particularly as a younger teen where the right fashion and the right choice of friends was all that separated the “cool kids” from the atypical and socially rejected outcasts. As he grew up, so did others, and Finns reluctance to fit in with stereotypes suddenly became the in-thing, and soon everyone was wearing mismatched items of clothing and rock music became cool again. Finn made his friends and his confidence grew and the roles reversed, at the end of school life Finn was now almost idolised, and widely adored.
Finn pulled his gaze away from the window as his thoughts drifted away from the bland drab weather towards Marisa. Marisa was to Finn a fallen angel, a girl so dazzlingly beautiful and eloquent that he could no more imagine being with her then one could visualize winning the lottery, or lifting the World Cup. To be with Marisa was beyond his phantasm, a fantasy of the utmost divinity. Finn first met her in pre-school, but feelings of lust did not develop until both Marisa and Finns bodies and minds began to change, Marisa grew beautiful and sexually desirable, and Finn began to feel attraction. But for Marisa, Finns attraction ran deeper than the sexual, lustful feelings one might have towards a celebrity or famous star. Finn could not wipe her out of his mind the second he was overcome, Marisa was always there.
Finn's phone buzzed, he jolted awake, and thoughts of Marisa quickly dashed as he rushed to answer the call. It was Zak.
“Finn, are you free?”
Finn paused, and a glittering memory of Marisa sprang back to mind. Her eloquent face and desirable dimensions distracted him.
“I'm free, why you want to meet up and go to town?”
Zak instead offered to meet up down the bowling alley, a frequent hanging out spot for the local teenage population. The alley, situated only a short walk from Finns house, was owned by local businessman Ted Parker, notorious for having a no-shit attitude towards badly behaved children and yobs. As it was in the more central area of town, Finn decided to jog the distance. On the way, once again his mind filled with Marisa. He simply couldn't get her out of his system.
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Marisa tossed and turned, her clammy bedsheets sticking to her body. There was little in the way of glorious sunshine filling her room with light, instead the gloomy grey did little to brighten her mood. She slowly clambered out of bed. Her mind was far too clouded, much like the weather, and she headed down stairs for a late breakfast, prepared lovingly by her Mother. Marisa strolled into the brightly lit kitchen, where her Mother sat reading a paper.
“Hey, sweetie, you look awful!”
Marisa only replied with a grunt.
“What happened with that Tony boy you told me about? Are you two not talking?”
“No, Mum,” Marisa snapped. At 17, Marisa was hard to distinguish from girls much older than herself. A svelte size 10 and a capacious chest led many, including the local barman, to believe she was of a more mature age. Marisa was popular, for some she was simply far too well known and unapproachable. Not one to shy away from skimpy outfits and the revealing of her cleavage, she never failed to attract attention, however usually it was of the less desirable kind. Marisa knew her looks wouldn't last forever, and she knew that to really find the right man for her, she needed to find one who could see past her exterior. However for Marisa image and popularity was always important, and such was her desire to maintain her image that she hid many of her interests, a keen bookworm and flute player was never going to be someone held in high regard when it came to the cut throat nature of the social system of a common high school. Reveal too much and one became a target for the voluminous bullying and attacking that ashamedly occurred in the local comprehensive. Deep down, despite her image concerns and flaunting of sexuality, Marisa was a gifted and sensitive girl. It would take a man of equal sensitivity and homogeneous characteristics to make the true loving connection so deeply required.
Her phone beeped, a text from her best friend Sarah and Marisa was quickly back upstairs. Thirty-five minutes, one shower, a quick going over with her hair straighteners and a dash of perfume later, Marisa was out the door, ignorant of her Mothers calls. She breathed deeply and inhaled the Spring air, it was moist for it had rained in the night.
She arrived at number thirty-five Jonas Avenue fifteen minutes late. Sarah's mother answered the bell, still in her pink flowing dressing-gown, her hair in a net.
“Oh, Marisa dear! I'll just get Sarah!”
“Thanks Mrs Morgan,” Marisa replied, as she held her hands together palms face down.
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The pins were erect, and almost elegant, it was as if they were aware of the inevitability of their fall and destruction, and were determined to make their last stand defiant and brave. Audacious as he was, Finn had little of the elegance the pins possessed, nor for that matter beautiful Marisa. A sharp crack pierced the anticipation as the ball smacked the wood, gasps emitting from the mouths of the eager adolescents. It drifted, swaying side to side, leaving everything to the imagination as to where it might end up. Sadly for Finn, the ball drifted too far to the left, and “Gutterball!” flashed upon the display board.
Finn walked away, punched the air and high fived Zak. He didn't care he had not scored, he had fans watching him and that was enough to inflate the ego. He quickly eyed up the small crowd, and suddenly he was aware of a presence and his eyes ceased movement when he made contact with a girl. Incredibly beautiful, Marisa stood out. They made a fleeting eye contact but suddenly
“I WIN!”
Zak playfully shoved Finn who responded with a gentle smack across the face only a friend could get away with. The two grappled momentarily and as Finn glanced back up the small fan base had dispersed and along with it Marisa. He had not even managed a hello and his cheeks flushed scarlet.
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