It's all coming together

Chris woke the follow morning smiling, having replayed last night’s events over and over in his sleep. After a long stretch he rolled over and lay blissfully in his bed. The previous night had gone almost perfectly and he wondered if it would have gone any better if he had stayed longer or maybe he had done the right thing and left at just the right time.

But his thoughts quickly turned to what this day would bring. With the flat still impeccably clean, he had plenty of time to laze around and it wasn’t until gone ten o’clock that he climbed out of bed and headed off to the bathroom.

After an hour, the water had gone cold so he emerged from the bath and cooked himself a large fried breakfast. He carried his meal into his room and sat in front of the TV and flipped aimlessly through the channels as he ate. He returned to the kitchen with an empty plate and just as he finished the washing up, the phone rang.

“Hello?” asked Chris.

“Has she called yet?” Callum enquired on the other end of the line.

“Nah not yet, probably won’t call for a while as she said she was busy till about one!”

“Any idea’s as to what you’re going to do today then?”

“Haven’t a clue yet, will probably figure it all out when we speak later!”

“Ok, well the main reason I called was I have some good news. I may have got you that job at the newsagents, you know the paper round!” Said Callum.

“Excellent, what’s the pay like?”

“It’s only ten pounds a week, paid every Sunday. They need you to start Monday so I’ll come and pick you up at six!”

“In the morning? Jesus. Oh well at least its cash I guess” replied Chris.

“Anyway I have things that need doing but let me know how it goes today, ok?”

“Will do mate, will probably come round later, see ya” and Chris hung up the phone.

Chris strolled lazily back to his room and collapsed on his bed and started to flip through the channels again. Everything is coming together he thought as he munched on a cookie. He had a really good friend in Callum, a potential girlfriend who just so happened to be the most beautiful woman on earth, a small group of friends who always made him laugh and school had been a breeze so far.

As he reached into the biscuit barrel and pulled out a chocolate digestive, he let out a sigh of satisfaction.

This is the life he thought to himself.

Time flew quickly by and one o’clock came with Chris still not dressed and tucking into more biscuits. So he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before gelling his hair and putting on his trainers. He stuffed the biscuit barrel back in the cupboard and brushed his teeth to remove any leftover chocolate, before heading into the front room to sit by the phone.

As they say a watched pot never boils and as he stared at the phone, the longer time seemed to drag. After what seemed like hours of waiting, he gave up his vigil and headed for his bedroom but as he was about to step through the front room door, the phone rang.

After a brief conversation, they made plans to meet up in town in half an hour, he said goodbye and hung up the phone.

He ran to the mirror to double check his teeth and hair and then headed to the kitchen to make sure he had put everything away before heading back to his room. He paced back and forth until there was only five minutes left, so he grabbed his keys from off the side and headed for the door. Locking it behind him he dashed off up the road, hoping he wouldn’t be late.

Luckily the meeting place was right at the end of his road and as he got there, he noticed Amanda hadn’t yet arrived.

He didn’t have long to wait as a large estate car pulled up to the curb in front of him.

Amanda climbed out and looked just as lovely in jeans and a purple top as she had the night before.

“Hey” said Chris as she stepped onto the pavement.

“Hi” she replied, flashing that winning smile his way.

They stood in nervous silence for a few moments until the car pulled away.

“Shall we go then?” Chris asked.

Smiling happily, she took his hand and he led her back up the road he came down, stopping outside his flat so he could show her where he lived.

“Where are we going?” she asked curiously.

“Not too far” he said reassuringly “just a little further up the road, I want to show you one of my favourite places!”

“OK then” She replied, seemingly happy to follow his lead.

They set off again, talking as they walked hand in hand along the road admiring the thatched roofed houses. It’s wasn’t long before they reached the set of stairs that led to the river and gripping their hands tighter, they made their way down the steps, happily gazing at each other.

It was a beautiful summer’s day; the sun was high in the afternoon sky casting a warm heat over them. A few fluffy white clouds hung in the sky.

All manner of boats gently ploughed their way through the water as ducks and swans swam by the banks, stopping to feed on bread thrown to them.

They stood for a moment with her arm around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder and smiling contently. He draped his arm lightly over her shoulders as they set off up the gravelled track beside the river, pointing and admiring nature’s creations and the many house boats. Passing a pub that faced onto the river, they spotted an ice cream van and with left over money from his weekly shop, Chris purchased an ice cream for each of them.

They slowly wandered back along the bank of the river, coming to a stop at an old wooden jetty where they sat, dangling their legs over the edge, enjoying their ice creams. They sat there and talked for hours, learning more and more about each other.

Their birthdays were in the same month although at opposite ends. Chris was glad that he had managed to secure a job as her birthday was only a few months away, so it gave him a little time to save for a decent present; not to mention the need for extra cash now he was dating.

The class gap that Chris had feared seemed not to be a gap at all.

After continuing to talk, Chris discovered that Amanda came from a hard working family, her parents were still together after many years of marriage and that she was the youngest of four girls. She revealed she lived on the opposite side of town, which would be a bit of a journey for Chris but he didn’t mind that.

Chris revealed that he had an older sister and a half-brother on the way, although he did not disclose why he had been sent to live with his father, he felt it far too early for that. She was kind enough not to push for more information, although he did reveal how his life worked and the responsibilities that fell upon him. She seemed to be impressed with the fact that at such a young age, he was capable of looking after himself.

The day was far more comfortable than their first date had been, as the more time they spent talking the less anxious they both became. Sat side by side on the dock, Amanda leaned in to him, wrapping her arm around his waist and resting her head gently on his shoulder. The two star crossed lovers sat cuddled up together breathing slowly and contently, only moving to share a soft, tender kiss. They barely spoke unless it was to point out something they had seen on the river.

They watched on as the sun began to set in the sky and the blue turned into a stunning red. Amanda glanced down at her watch....

“Oh no” she said with a start.

“What’s wrong?” asked Chris, pulling his gaze back from the sky to the stunning young woman cradled in his arms.

“I’ve got to go; my mum will be waiting outside Woolworths!”

“It had to end sometime I guess, we’d better get going” Chris said reluctantly.

They released each other to stand before joining hands and slowly wandering back along the river, towards town.

When they arrived, Amanda’s mother had not yet arrived, so the young couple stood nestled in each other’s arms. Their gaze only broken to share a few more kisses.

“Meet me tomorrow morning at the school gates?” Amanda asked lovingly.

“You can count on it!” said Chris with a huge smile.

They stood staring into each other’s eyes but it wasn’t long before they were abruptly brought back into the world by the sound of a loud car horn and they turned round to see a car pulling up at the side of the road.

They drew apart, with Chris holding her hand for just a moment longer before they said goodbye and taking one last look at each other Amanda climbed into the car and sped away.

Elated by the way the day had gone, he dreamily strolled home. Grabbing his school bag and all his homework from his bedroom, he dashed back out of the door.

He ducked under the stairs and pulled out the borrowed bicycle, slung his bag over his head and sped out of the door and off to Callum’s. The journey usually took forever but due to his exhilaration it seemed to fly by and everything he past seemed to be shiny and new.

Arriving at his destination, he said a quick hello to everyone before the two boys headed straight to the table, to start on the homework he had put off all weekend. They talked endlessly as they worked, with Callum eager to find out the details of what happened that day. Chris was happy to fill in the blanks; such was his pride at landing the hottest girl in school.

After finishing their homework, the two boys spent a few hours playing computer games before Chris was invited to dinner which he gladly accepted.

Callum’s family had warmed nicely to Chris. He got on well with Callum’s older brother and younger sister and Callum’s mum treated him like he was her own. She made a large roast dinner which everyone sat at the table to enjoy. Chris was extremely grateful as it had been some time since someone else had cooked for him and helped with the washing up as a sort of thank you.

As it began to get late, Chris said his goodbyes and headed for home, conscious that he had to be up extremely early the following morning.

At six am, there was a loud bang on the door. Luckily Chris’ parent’s had already left for work as he was sure that they wouldn’t have appreciated being woken so abruptly. Still half asleep but almost fully dressed, Chris swung open the door without looking and headed back into his bedroom, where Callum joined him.

“Give me two minutes mate, I just need to find my trainers!” said Chris wearily.

“No problem” replied Callum a little too cheerily for Chris’ liking “you ok, you look like hell?”

“I’ll be alright in a minute, just got to get myself together, not used to being up this early!”

Chris locked the door behind them as they headed down stairs before jumping on to the waiting bikes.

The morning that awaited him was bitterly cold and served to slap him awake as the two boys headed slowly off down the road. The newsagents he was due to start working at was only a few minutes from their school so it was a very long journey for that time of the morning.

Eventually they arrived at the shop and after a brief chat with the boss, it was decided that he would help Callum for the week. The plan was that he would gain knowledge of the route and then take over from his friend.

Chris felt slightly guilty when he was told this, like he was stealing his best friends job but Callum quickly reassured him that it was not an issue, if anything it worked out well for him as his new round was closer to home.

The boys spent the early morning cycling around, dropping off papers in silence as Chris barely had the energy to work let alone speak, but he followed Callum’s instructions to the letter and it didn’t take long for them to finish their work. They separated at halfway and headed home, where Chris ironed his school uniform while waiting for the bath to fill. After his bath, he dressed and packed all his books and homework in his school bag.

After making sure everything was ready to go, Chris sat down to an extra-large bowl of his favourite cereal. Once he finished eating, he quickly brushed his teeth before rushing out of the door for school. He made his way down the long road, meeting Callum at half way.

“You ok mate?” asked Callum “you’re still looking a little dead!”

“I’ll be fine mate, just going to take a while to get used to getting up early, besides I have a great pick me up waiting for me!” he replied.

“I bet” Callum chuckled as they continued their journey to school.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the school gates and sure enough Amanda stood there waiting, flanked by Dawn, Carla and Emily. Chris couldn’t help but notice everyone here seemed to stick to their word.

Moving quickly forward, Chris wrapped his arms around Amanda as their lips met in a soft yet impassioned embrace. Their friends who surrounded them seemed to look away, as if embarrassed but the young lovers did not care.

“It’s time for class so we better go but I’ll see you at break time?” asked Amanda happily.

“Listen.... um.... I don’t want to seem rude.... but would you mind if I just met you at lunch times?” Chris asked nervously “it’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you, it’s just that I don’t want it to look like I’m abandoning Callum, he has done so much for me since I started here and I don’t want to seem ungrateful!”

“Don’t be silly, of course it’s ok, I’ll meet you outside the hall at lunch time ok?”

“You really are great!” said Chris, relieved that she understood.

She kissed him gently on the lips before saying goodbye to Callum and headed off to class with her friends.

“Come on mate, we don’t want to be late” said Callum as he dragged a gazing Chris off down the corridor to class.

Chris was glad that Callum seemed not to have over heard his conversation with Amanda, the last thing he wanted to do was offend his best friend.

They casually chatted about work through their tutor session and headed off to class together plotting their routine for the following morning.

News of the new coupling spread through the school like wild fire, as it had come about so quickly, happening outside of school.

Chris had to endure dirty, envious looks from the majority of the boys and whispering behind his back from a lot of the girls but his happiness left him oblivious to any gossip.

Callum was his useful, helpful self fending off any questions but as the morning wore on Chris became aware of a small group of boys constantly sneering at him when he passed.

Chris and Amanda’s arrangement continued over the coming days and weeks.

Chris was very careful to balance his time between his best friend and his new found love. Every break time was spent chatting and laughing with Callum, while every lunch time was spent eating and cuddling up on the sports field with Amanda.

While he enjoyed the time they spent together at school, she was always followed by her little entourage and although he got on well with Carla he found Emily and Dawn a little too snobby for his liking.

After a few weeks of their constant presence, Chris invited Callum to join them at lunch, just so he had someone to talk to rather than sit there in silence.

Outside of school it was a slightly different story. Despite working together and walking to and from school every day, the boys spent less and less time together. Callum was very understanding about it, aware that when a new relationship starts, it inevitably took time away from others.