It was the summer of 1952 in Johannesburg, South Africa when Gloria first saw Colin. Gloria had just moved to a new suburb with her mother, aunt and grandma. She was a reserved seventeen year old and didn't have many close friends. She'd prefer to just stay at home with her mother rather then spending time with her peers. In order to help her mother support their family Gloria dropped out of school at the age of fifteen to start working. This was hard for her because she had a passionate love for learning but without a father and 4 mouths to feed she had to do what was best for her family. They were quite a religious family and regularly attended church. On the first Sunday they had in their new home they set out to find a church that would hopefully welcome them with open arms. Gloria sat between her mother and aunt while nervously fidgeting with the lace gloves she held in her hands. The pastor was going off about some bible verse that went right over Gloria's head because the only thing she could think of was how unbearably hot it was. She could feel the beads of sweat forming on her brow. She quickly wiped it away and tried to place her focus back on the sermon.
Afterwards her mother wanted to chat with the other women and introduce herself to the pastor but Gloria couldn't stand to be in that boiling building for another minute. She politely excused herself from the conversation that was being had and wandered out into the courtyard.
Although the temperature outside was not much different than inside the faint touch of a cool breeze did relieve her of the dampness beginning to collect on her forehead.
A group of teenagers that looked about her age were all huddled together chatting excitedly about something. One of the young girls with blond loose ringlets caught Gloria's eye and waved her over.
"You're family's new here, right? " She asked. Gloria nodded and smiled as the beautiful girl introduced herself as Doris and started to chat about how nice the church was and how her family has been going for years.
"You should come over to my house tomorrow night! We always have these little parties once a week, it'd be a great way for you to meet more people!"
Gloria smiled "Maybe, I'll have to see what my mother thinks."
"Colin!" The blond beauty shouted, quickly pushing past Gloria.
Gloria turned around to find a young man peddling towards them on a bicycle. The first thing Gloria noticed about this boy was his incredibly short pair of shorts. She smirked as he hopped of the bike.
"Doris! Where's the party at tomorrow?" He asked as Doris wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned in for a kiss.
"It's a my house! Mother's planing to bake up a storm tonight!" she gushed giving Colin one last peck before introducing him to me.
"Colin, this is Gloria. She just moved here and I've decided we're going to be the best of friends!"
Gloria gave Doris a warm smile "Nice to meet you, Colin." She said offering her hand.
He took it gently, "Likewise." He smiled back giving her hand a quick squeeze.
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