The first time he met her was at a party.
It had been a gruelling couple of months for Matt, with his final college exams taking a toll on him. Add to that the recent divorce of his parents and the discovery of his girlfriend's disloyalty to him, and it made quite an eventful time in his life.
He had decided to try and start afresh, take it easy for a while until his exam results came and he could leave this crappy town forever. He had already decided that he wouldn't find himself missing this place.
Matt was a tall individual with broad shoulders and cropped, auburn hair. His deep brown eyes gave him a friendly, and sometimes lost look.
His friend Jake had convinced him to go to the leaver's party at Helen Jenkin's house. He hadn't wanted to go at first, but in the end he had decided it would be nice to just enjoy himself for a change. So now here he was, pulling up outside the large detached house on Mayton Avenue in Jake's battered old Ford, and wondering whether this truly had been a good idea after all. There were a number of people sitting or standing around the long front lawn of the house, people from his college and the tech college across town. Everyone seemed to have consumed a fair amount of alcohol already, and he could see some idiot stumbling around hugging people and receiving looks of distaste.
The throbbing bassline of the music from inside the house could be felt all the way out there, and Matt knew it wouldn't be long before the police turned up to put a damper on things.
"Looks like we got here at a prime time."
Chris, the other occupant of the car besides Matt and Jake, grinned at each of them in turn before opening the passenger door and climbing out. Jake laughed as the drunken wanderer outside tripped and fell flat on his face, to the amusement of everyone out on the lawn.
"Let's go Matt," he said with a smile, pulling his seat forward as he got out so Matt could exit the small two-door car. Jake had been the only serious friend Matt could rely on during the last couple of months, and was the only person who came close to understanding what he was going through. Jake's own parents had divorced just over a year ago, and he had had a pretty rough time himself.
As Matt clambered up and out of the car, he completely forgot about how low the roof was, and was savagely reminded as his head smashed into the top of the doorframe, causing him to slip and fall forward into a sprawled heap on the pavement.
Smooth, Matt he thought bitterly as he allowed himself to be helped up by Jake and Chris, the laughter around him adding to the humiliation.
Forcing a smile, Matt turned and bowed to his aspiring audience, before following Jake and Chris up the path towards the front door of the house.
"Man you're a character," Chris said with a laugh, patting Matt on the back.
"You know me," Matt muttered, "life of the party."
The three guys stepped through the door of the house, nodding and chatting to people on the way. Matt nodded to a few and exchanged a few greetings, but mainly kept quiet as he followed Jake through the door.
Helen Jenkin's house was a large, spacious building with a wide lobby which the three of them now stood in. Separate rooms led off from the lobby area, and the winding staircase set into the middle of the room led to the six bedrooms and other rooms upstairs.
Think I'll give those rooms a miss, Matt thought as sharp pangs of bitter memories with his ex-girlfriend threatened to overwhelm him.
"Hey!"
Matt turned suddenly as a tall, slender, red-headed girl ran up to them and embraced Chris, hugging him tightly. Chris grinned and gave a sly wink to Matt as he watched him pull Helen Jenkins close to him.
"I'm so glad you could make it!" she exclaimed to Chris, smiling widely as she briefly acknowledged Jake. When her eyes focussed on Matt, her smile faltered a little, but she soon recovered from this and returned to her bright, cheerful self.
"Matt Brown, it's really great to see you!" she said as she broke Chris's embrace and moved over to him.
"I haven't seen you in a while. Is everything going okay?"
Matt paused before answering, bitter memories surfacing again. He knew why she seemed a bit cautious around him. Everyone did it. They didn't think he was stable anymore. To them, he was the charity case, the guy who was down on his luck and needing everyone's support. Truth be told, he would have been much more happier if no-one cared, if they could just carry on as normal and forget that he had been through such a tough time. Maybe then he could learn to forget about it himself.
"I'm great Helen," Matt replied with a smile, reaching over and hugging her lightly, being careful not to smother her as Chris seemed intent on doing. He felt her hesitate for a moment, before she returned the gesture and gripped him tight, her lithe, athletic form pushing itself up against him.
He felt a stirring down below that had not occurred for a while, and quickly but politely moved away from Helen. He didn't want to embarrass himself anymore than he already had. The night had just begun.
"Well, I'm real glad you're finally getting over this, everyone's been real worried about you," she said.
"I'll be okay," he replied, giving her a small, reassuring nod.
"Have you been in touch with Klara?" she asked, her face betraying a little concern over whether she should ask such a question.
"No, I haven't seen her since...you know," he said, his eyes moving to the floor absently.
"Oh, I see," she said nervously, "well I should probably tell you that..."
"Helen!"
The voice was reminiscent of a time Matt had dubbed long forgotten, a time where happiness had been glad to find him. It had once been the only sound he had lived for.
Now, it was the last thing he wanted to hear on the entire planet.
Klara Rayn was almost painfully beautiful, an unblemished jewel of a girl. She was medium height and petite, with a stunning face and jade green eyes, accentuated by her long dark hair. Her smile was dazzling, and even the way she moved just tore Matt apart as he watched the only girl he had ever loved walk past him without a glance.
And what a girl she looked tonight.
Klara wore a tight blue cropped top that caused her large breasts to swell under the constraints, and some tight black pants that made the curve of her buttocks look even greater.
Matt realised he had his mouth almost gaping open from staring at her, and quickly righted himself before anyone could notice. Almost instantly after breaking his gaze on her, the pain returned, the horrible emptiness of loss he had been feeling for so long.
Klara had been his girlfriend for nigh on two years, a personal record for them both, and Matt had never ever felt happier. His life had seemed complete, and there was nothing that could stop him during those times.
And then it had happened.
Klara had cheated on him. She had supposed to have been meeting him on that day, and when she had not turned up he had started to become concerned. Upon visiting her house, he had found her with another guy, doing things that sickened him to even think about.
Clenching his fists, Matt turned and stormed off, walking down the hall and away from Klara and his friends. He didn't care where he went, as long as he was away from her haunting aura and painful appeal. He could feel the hot burning stares of Jake and Helen and the others on his back as he quickly departed, and he was relieved to turn the corner of the hallway he was striding down and hide himself from them.
He was still moving quickly when he rounded the corner, and Matt suddenly found himself colliding with a small figure and nearly falling over the top of it in his haste.
Without thinking, Matt caught the falling figure before it had the chance to hit the ground; the last thing he wanted was to hurt someone because of his own foolishness. It was then that he realised it was a girl he had collided with, almost a head shorter than he was and still dazed from the bulky Matt's impact.
