The New Girl

Havermouth, Five Years Before

The new girl smelled like the roses around the river house, Cameron thought. Not the sharp almost artificial stink of modern roses, but the rich, soft, seductive tones of roses whose origins were hundreds of years old, and which had not been interfered with in the human search for the perfectly marketable product, but which retained their original beauty as nature had intended.

Her skin was like a rose petal, soft looking and flawless in texture. Combined with a head of glossy brunette ringlets and blue eyes, she had made his heart stutter the moment that she’d entered the room. She’d edged her way to the empty desk next to him, and slid into the seat, eyes lowered, and her books clutched almost defensively against her chest.

She wore an oversized, ugly school jumper, sleeves rolled back, and the fade on her uniform skirt clearly identified it as having gone through the second hand shop several times. She was rounded in the way of a perfectly ripe piece o