Avalon (17 page)

“No.”

“Really?” I squinted in the sun.

“Really, I’ll tell them you’re my fiancé.” He shrugged it off.

I still felt uncomfortable hearing the words. I guess I never thought I would make such an official commitment to anyone ever, let alone now.

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t mean we need to get married now.”

“I’m not sure we would be able to at our age.”

“One day,” he said kissing the top of my head.

“Yes, one day.”

He smiled at my need to reiterate. “One day it will be you and me. They can’t make me commit to someone else. I have never wanted to be with anyone before you, Holly, so I have never argued about my arranged marriage.”

“I can’t believe they would do something like that, not in this day and age.”

“It’s not quite what you think. It’s different where I come from.”

“I can’t see how it’s different. You come from the Isle of Wight, I didn’t think they had arranged marriages there. Is it a religious thing?”

“No, it’s their way.”

“Whose way?” He was talking in riddles again.

“If you could get inside my head you would understand. Anyway what matters is you’re now my girl and together we are unstoppable.” He grabbed me in his arms. “You make me feel alive, don’t ever doubt that.”

I might not be a princess but he certainly did everything to make me feel like one. I thought about how much I hated arranged marriages, especially given my views on Avalon, and I would do anything to make sure Leo did not have to go through that too. If I had to marry him to stop this so called arranged partnership, I would. After all, I did want to be with him forever, it’s just that marriage was so… so… I searched my vocabulary to find the right word…. HUGE.

Ryan pulled up in the car park and Leo took my hand and kissed it. “Until I return,” he winked.

“Good luck,” I said as he slowly pulled away.

I watched them leave regretting that Sara and Stuart hadn’t arrived earlier, so they could have met my future husband.

I hu
ng out in my room listening
to
the music and took the opportunity to re-organised my wardrobe and then moved my furniture around to give my space a new look. I sat at my dressing table and went through my jewellery box and felt the chain around my neck with the ring Leo had given me. I undid the chain and placed the ring on my finger and held my hand out in front of me and admired the ring again. I took a piece of paper from my desk drawer and started doodling the words
Holly Regent
without thinking about it. I tried and tested out my new ‘one day, when I get married’ signature. A list of thirty of more possibilities lined the paper and I pondered on which one I liked the most.

“Holly can I come in?” Sara knocked.

“Yes.”

“Wow, you’ve been busy. Look at this place it looks so different. I like what you’ve done. It’s fantastic, so well thought-out and structured,” she smiled looking in my wardrobe and scanning the room. Her eyes stopped on my desk, where the piece of paper with signatures was there for all to see. “What’s this?” She grinned.

I grabbed it off her hastily and placed it behind my back. “Nothing.”

“Umm... that’s not like you,” she said referring to the way I took the piece of paper off her.

“I was just mucking around.”

“That’s OK. I’m not here to judge you,” she said now entering my room completely and sitting on my bed, as if ready for a big chat.

I put the paper back on my desk and Sara seized my hand, “Holly Stephens, what is this?” she grinned, her eyes wide with amazement.

I looked at my hand, the ring large and sparkling, impossible to miss. “Leo gave it to me.”

“It’s a beautiful ring,” she said holding up my hand to get a good look. “Expensive too.”

“And heavy.”

“This isn’t just any old ring, Holly. Does it mean something?”

“Kind of.”

“Are you engaged?”

“Umm… well not exactly.” But I think I was, I just couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud and if I had, that would be a whole other discussion that I didn’t want to get into. “It just means we are together.”

“Like a friendship ring.”

“Well, I think we are more than friends.”

“Have you…?” she said lifting her eyebrows. In a roundabout way she was asking if I had had sex with Leo.

“No,” I said embarrassed.

“I think we better meet this Leo character.”

“You will, remember, when he returns from his holiday.”

“Yes, the sooner the better.”

“He’s a great guy, Sara, the best. I love him.”

“You have only known him a term.”

“A long term, Sara,” I defended placing my hands on my hips.

“Still after one term, he gives you that ring.”

“You know better than anyone, that when you want to share yourself with someone, you know it. It happened to you with Stuart, from the moment you saw him. I know that didn’t happen to me, and I know I am different from other people on Avalon, but something like that happened to me when I met Leo. We feel alive when we are together. I can’t resist him, he is the most amazing person I have ever met. He means the world to me and I know he feels the same way.”

Sara’s eyes narrowed and she huffed. I could tell she was thinking the two of us were infatuated with each other.

“It’s more than infatuation,” I said anticipating what she was about to say.

“If you say so.”

“I know so, Sara. Isn’t it possible that I can find love with someone on Earth?”

“Yes it is, but I don’t know if it’s the same kind of love, love as I know it.”

“What matters is that I feel incredible when I am with him.”

“I’m happy for you, Holly, just slightly concerned that you are getting way too serious, too early.”

“When did you get serious with Stuart?”

“Well it’s different for us. We always knew we would be together, from the moment we were small children. We had this connection, it was like, I don’t know, like a fish needs water to survive, we just knew we needed each other.”

“So how old were you?”

“We were young,” she admitted looking down. “Your age, but we knew what we were doing. We knew we would be together forever.”

“Even if you weren’t together forever, I wouldn’t judge you. Like you said yourself, people have relationships on Earth, they break up, they make new relationships, but not everyone is like that. I don’t know if that will be Leo and me but everything tells me, he is it, I don’t want to look elsewhere.”

“Well of course you don’t. You are in the new stage in your relationship, the exciting stage and you only have eyes for each other.”

“Sara, please don’t dismiss it as just any old relationship. I know what I feel, we both feel it, a connection as you put it.”

Sara realised she was starting to upset me, as she tried to reduce the meaning of my relationship with Leo. “OK, Holly. I believe you feel special when you are with him.”

“Even when I’m not. Just knowing we are together.”

She nodded. “I understand you love him.”

“Yes, Sara, I really do.”

“Well I can’t wait to meet him after the school holidays.” She smiled and got up to give me a cuddle. “My girl is growing up. You’re turning into an extraordinary young lady and Leo is very lucky to have you.”

“You will love him, Sara. You’ll see for yourself.”

Sara squeezed my shoulders. “How about we go out? Want to go and see a movie? Shall we go and get our nails done? Coffee and cake in a café?”

“All of the above.”

“Come on then,” she gestured with her head.

*****

“I need to learn how to drive,” I stated as I climbed into the car next to Sara.

“Oh yeah, of course. We ought to get you some lessons.”

“I’ve only got a three week window.”

“I know. Stuart or I will give you a lesson this evening and I’ll organise for a professional driving instructor to come over to teach you every day next week. You have to sit a practical exam too.”

“Can I do that tomorrow?”

“Well don’t you want to study for the exam?”

“Emily did the exam, I helped her study. I think I could pass it.”

“All right, I’ll take you for your exam in the holidays. Now we’ve gone from hanging out with lots of free time, to being busy. “ Sara said.

“I want to get my licence before I go back to school.”

“Well we can only do our best.”

“I know.”

“Ready to go back to school,” Sara asked sitting in the passenger side of the car.

“Yes.” I lifted my eyebrows, thinking about Leo. I put the key into the ignition and started the car up, then moved the gears into reverse and looked over my shoulder, keeping my hands at the two o’clock and ten o’clock position.

“Ok but be careful,” Sara said as I backed out of our drive.

“I will. I’ve got my licence now, don’t worry.”

“Yes, but insurance policies for under 25s are very high, because new drivers are prone to accidents.”

“Hush,” I said playfully.

“You must be pleased to be getting rid of me again,” I said as we sat at a T-junction waiting for traffic to clear.

“Never,” Sara teased.

“I’ve been chewing your ear off with Leo stories. Sorry if I’ve gone on a bit too much.”

“No it’s fine. I’ll be pleased to eventually meet him this weekend.”

“Which reminds me, I will see him today. Whoop, whoop,” I said raising my hand above my head as if to cheer.

“Oh you are funny sometimes.”

“Just be nice when you meet him.” I stated knowing on one hand she was truly happy for me, but on another she thought my relationship with Leo was a little on the ambitious side – she put it down to my youth.

“I wouldn’t be anything else.”

I played with the ring on my necklace, content knowing it was there. I had missed Leo so much the past three weeks I couldn’t wait to see him. I hoped he might arrive at school at the same time as me and see me driving.

I proudly took the next left turn into the school grounds and drove slowly down the exceptionally long drive until I reached the school car park.

“Why don’t you find a space and I can get into the front?”

“OK,” I said, still slightly nervous about parking. I did not want to have to drive into a parking space then back up to straighten the vehicle and enter again a thousand times. I certainly didn’t need an audience when it came to parking.

Sensing my anxiety Sara said, “Just take your time. Learning to park is often the hardest part of driving.”

I found two empty parking spaces next to each other and decided if I wanted to get it right the first time, than this would surely be the easiest option. I accelerated slowly forward and parked perfectly.

“Well done, you,” Sara said.

“Thanks.” I was pretty pleased with myself. I pulled the hand brake and got out of the car and opened up the boot, collecting my bag. Sara gave me a hug and I sauntered off to my dorm and left my bag there to unpack later.

I hurried to my first class and sat anxiously at my desk, excited beyond words to see Leo. What had his parents said about me? I pulled my necklace again and occupied myself fiddling with my ring. The clocked ticked and most of the seats in the classroom were now full, but Leo was nowhere to be found. I panicked for a moment, but realised there was no need, surely there would be an explanation, like the time Leo had been sent to the school doctor to have a medical. Perhaps this time, he had to fill out some forms, or had been excused from first period to do something of great importance.

*****

Days passed and still there was no Leo. I was mystified by his absence, lost and not at all myself, always looking at the classroom door, or watching who entered the dining room at school. Slowly but surely my disappointment grew. I called Leo on the phone every day, several times a day, and no one picked up. I left messages, but none of them were returned. I spoke to Matron and my form teacher, Mr Davis and asked them to find out when Leo was due back. Emily watched my anxiety spread, I began to bite my fingernails and as each day passed I ate less and less, just wanting to know where Leo was.

“Holly Stephens can you come to my desk?” Mr Davis asked. I walked up quickly, hopeful for some answers. “Since you asked me to find out when Leo is due back, I feel it only fitting to tell you he isn’t.”

“You mean, you’re saying he isn’t coming back at all?” I made a weird face as if the sheer audacity of Leo not returning was too unreal to comprehend.

“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Someone has collected his property and that was that.”