An Aspect of Hope

By Owen Pichelski

Love, at first sight, is something that can catch anyone off guard. Falling for a random stranger is as easy as waking up.
But no one expects anything to come from it.
Nothing will change as you eventually forget about the person that selfishly caught your eye.
Matthew is one such person who understands this. His life has been a constant cycle of bullying and solitude that created crippling social anxiety in him.
He could never imagine himself in such foolish love.
There was no point in him having hope he believed he didn’t deserve.
But on a random day, as he was walking home from school, his eyes met Evelyn.
And childish hope started to form in his mind.
He just needs to call out to her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Owen Pichelski
• Release date: Nov 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005201067

Owen Pichelski

Owen Pichelski is a self-taught writer born and raised in London. He started writing back in early 2019 during his second year of university as a hobby.Owen originally created stories to help deal with his mental health, and quickly found a love for telling stories.He started by posting short stories and web novels under the name FabledByte and turned to self-publishing along with posting and sharing his adventures on a blog in late 2019.His first web novel Continuous School ended with 200+ chapters and over a quarter of a million views total.In March 2020, he published his first-ever Novella 'Is it Snowing yet?' and quickly started his next adventure into writing.He continues his weekly web novel posts and attempts to regularly update his blog where he speaks his mind, with opinions on his own work, his life, and thought-provoking questions.Additionally, he adventured into streaming on Twitch TV alongside YouTube videos under the name SlippyfopTVFor any inquires:[e-mail]

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An Aspect of Hope

Copyright 2021 Owen Pichelski

Published by Owen Pichelski at Smashwords

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Cover Photo taken by Karl JK Hedin on Unsplash.com

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Afterword

About Owen Pichelski

Other books by Owen Pichelski

Connect with Owen Pichelski

Chapter One: Encounter

I was walking home from school at the time, wrapping myself up in my thin blazer during the chilly winter when she brushed past.

She was with her two friends, laughing with a wide smile as her straight blonde hair bounced, only to be held on by her comfy blue woolly hat.

My eyes noticed her as she was walking the other way, and by the time she had reached, in line with me our eyes met.

Out of the corner of our eyes, our gazes met.

Excuse me! We both called out, spinning around to face each other, staring into one another’s eyes.

If you asked us which one of us called out first, you’d be told we both said it at the same time.

There was no rhyme or reason as to why we both called out, we both just acted in that single moment.

The moment that time stopped for us.

But for us both, it stopped for a different reason.

I couldn’t say for her, but for me, time stopped because I spoke.

It was too out of character for me. I was always stuck in the background that I didn’t believe such an event was written in my script. I hadn’t prepared for the role, and suddenly I was pushed into the spotlight, by my own legs.

At the time, I felt like she could see I was panicking.

Anyone would be nervous when facing a goddess.

The words couldn’t come out,

But then she said…

I like you.

It almost forced me back to reality.

I had experienced this painful prank before.

A girl asks out the shy kid, hoping they’ll say yes only for it to be turned against them, and then they become the laughing stock of the school for ever thinking they held a chance.

I didn’t know what to say, her friends had turned around in surprise as their eyes were filled with intrigue.

‘Just who was this guy?’ They were probably thinking.

‘Is this her newest victim? Poor guy.’ The other one most likely thought.

But before I could say anything, after swallowing down everything in my mouth, including my tongue, she said…

Sorry!

And there it was.

The upcoming reveal of the joke.

I was a fool to get my hopes up.

I’m not the best with words… I know we just met… But I think about love, at first sight, a lot… and maybe this is it?

My eyes had shifted over to her friends, but they were just as confused as me.

I… Um…

Come on, me… use your words.

I’m… not really… I don’t know much about love… or anything…

I felt like this was the safest bet. It was open enough that if she did claim it to be a joke, then I could easily laugh it off as trying to give her advice.

Me neither! She said with a straight face at her own shortcomings, almost proud of them. I’m Evelyn, my close friends call me Eve…

I’m Matthew.

I didn’t know if I should attempt to shake her hand, or if just stating my name was enough. But by the smile on her face, it seemed as if it was just fine.

Do you go to North High Secondary? She asked as she could tell by my dark school uniform, lined with hints of the school’s blood orange colour.

Y—yes… I stuttered.

I wanted to ask her the same, but her dark green skirt was only worn by Stonehill Secondary, so I had no need to ask.

I go to Stonehill, She said as if I couldn’t tell, The all-girls school that’s just around the corner...

She sounded almost disappointed in her choice of school, but whilst she did all the talking, I just stood there, unable to form any words in my sweaty mouth.

Anyway! She said, I should be going…

It felt as if she was slowly getting disinterested. I don’t blame her, she was the one leading the conversation.

It was destined to end like this, with her just ignoring this event and returning to her normal life without worry.

To her, this would be an embarrassing memory that may last a few years before she forgets, or at least until a more exciting one comes along.

But before I could step away, and watch her