by Lara Ann
“Hey, it wasn’t just your idea, I was there too.”
“You had no idea what to expect – no, the blame rests solely with me.”
“I’m not going to let you take all the blame here, if it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have even been able to get back.”
“I could have taken the locket,” Wyn replied looking down, away from my eyes.
“You wouldn’t...” I said shocked.
“No, you’re right. I would not do that.”
“Could anyone use the locket then?”
“No, it is not so easy. Normally you’d have to know what you were doing. That is why Finnan was so surprised when you appeared with no knowledge of Alora. You should not have been able to travel.”
“Well that’s a relief.”
Wyn was starting to look better, there was more colour in his cheeks and his eyes did not look so hollow.
“Will you be okay if I have a quick shower? Dad will be home soon, and I don’t want to have to answer any awkward questions.”
“Go, I’m feeling greatly recovered already.”
Up in my room, I looked into my full-length mirror horrified. Any skin that had not been covered was a bright angry red. The lower half of my arms, and my ankles were red and sore, but the worst was my face. The right side must have been covered by my hair, because half my cheek and neck were still white and the rest was red and lobstery. How Wyn had not been cracking up every time he looked at me, I have no idea. Then again, Wyn never made fun of me like that. He was probably too busy berating himself for endangering me. I was dreading the thought of going to school on Monday. I don’t think even my friends would be able to resist teasing me.
I took as short cool shower, the water stung my sensitive skin too much to stay in for long. I wrapped a towel around myself and went into the bedroom to look for something to wear. I chose a soft white rayon peasant top, which covered my arms and a pair of loose cotton beach pants. There was nothing I could do about my face. I didn’t want to put any makeup over my skin and I didn’t usually wear much makeup anyway. I had nice thick black lashes and naturally pink cheeks. My friends in Sydney had been jealous I didn’t need to wear mascara. Down here I noticed the girls didn’t seem to wear as much makeup. I think it was one of the reasons I felt so comfortable here.
I headed back downstairs as I heard Dad’s car pulling into the garage. I looked into the lounge room, but Wyn was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had felt well enough to go upstairs.
“Hi dad,” I said as cheerfully as I could, as he walked into the kitchen.
“Hi Ash, you ready for a huge fish feast?” Dad asked hopefully.
“Really? You actually caught fish?”
“Don’t look so surprised, I’m an excellent angler. What happened to your face? Fall asleep out on the deck?”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Um, well, because I may have done that myself. Although I hope you weren’t drinking...”
“No Dad, I was just reading a book and I got really tired.”
“Well good then, must have been a boring book,” Dad joked.
“Actually it was really good, it was one of yours. I don’t know why it took me so long to read one of your books, it’s fantastic. I hope I have half your talent.”
“Thanks Ash, that means a lot. Are you ready to cook up a fish feast?”
“Sure thing, as long as I don’t have to clean any gross fish bits.”
“No, all cleaned and filleted. Where’s Wyn? Will he want to help?”
“I think he’s resting upstairs, he was feeling a bit unwell earlier. I’ll just go check how he’s feeling.”
I dashed up the stairs to Wyn’s room. The door was open so I walked straight in. Wyn was asleep in the queen size bed. Even exhausted he looked beautiful. I reached out to brush his blonde hair back from his face. He still had black smudges under his eyes and his lips were chapped, but his skin was still pale and smooth. I studied his face, high cheekbones with a few days growth of stubble couldn’t detract from his ethereal beauty. Not for the first time, I wondered what he saw in me. I guess my long dark wavy hair was nice enough and I did like my blue eyes, but my nose was a bit large and wide and my lips could have been fuller. I was pretty straight up and down, not many curves to make my clothes look good. I sighed, what did it matter anyway if we could never be together? I couldn’t resist placing a feather light kiss on Wyn’s cheek before going back down-stairs to help Dad cook.
Dad and I ended up eating alone. The fish was really nice and fresh and Dad had added some nice spices while I had made a salad. It was hard to focus on dinner with Wyn still ill upstairs. Dad must have noticed my preoccupation.
“You’re worried about Wyn aren’t you?”
“Sorry Dad, I’m sure he’s fine. This is a really lovely dinner, thanks,” I said attempting to sound carefree.
“You really like him don’t you?”
“Well of course, he’s my cousin...”
“Your second cousin and you know that’s not what I mean. But I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”
I frowned and looked at my fish; my Dad could be remarkably perceptive sometimes.
“It’s not what you think Dad. Anyway were just friends, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Just know I’m here, if you ever want to talk about anything. I know I’m not your Mum, and it’s not the same...”
“You’re doing great Dad, thanks...for everything.”
We finished the rest of our dinner in silence. Dad excused himself early to go to bed, claiming fishing all day had exhausted him. I wandered around the house for a while, not sure what to do. I kept wishing there was more I could do to help Wyn. I considered going to Alora alone, to see if I could find out anything about Wyn’s mother. I eventually dismissed the idea, knowing how Wyn would panic when he found out. It would also leave him stranded here if anything happened to me. At around ten o’clock, I decided it was probably late enough to try sleeping. I went back into Wyn’s room to check on him. I had avoided doing this all night, knowing it would only make my feelings for him stronger. I justified it to myself as a quick visit to check on his condition. I took a glass of water with me under this pretext.
Wyn was still sleeping, although he was not as still as before.
“Ash,” Wyn whispered softly.
“I’m here,” I said softly, but he didn’t answer. He was still asleep I realised, was he dreaming about me?
“Ash, don’t go...no come back!”
Wyn’s head was jerking from side to side. I sure hoped this dream was not a premonition. I couldn’t imagine any scenario where I would leave Wyn if he didn’t want me to. Just as I was de-bating whether or not I should wake him up, he settled. I watched him sleep for a while longer, but he remained still. I went back to my room and got ready for bed, I took my locket off and placed it on my bedside table. It was nice to be able to put on a singlet top and short set, knowing I wouldn’t be leaving my bed tonight. Sleeping in clothes and shoes was not really very comfortable. I thought it would take me ages to fall asleep, but sleep came quickly...
Chapter 13
Monday morning arrived all too soon. We’d spent Sunday just relaxing at home. Wyn had been feeling much better and I’d used the opportunity to catch up on my neglected schoolwork.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror as I donned my school clothes. My sunburn had faded slightly, but had already begun to peel. So now I had a red stripe with small bits of skin flaking off. It looked quite horrible but there wasn’t much I could do to disguise it. I just hoped no one at school would be too mean.
When I came downstairs, Dad and Wyn were already eating breakfast. Wyn had a mountain of food in front of him, presumably making up for the last few days.
“It’s definitely looking less red,” Dad said optimistically, eyeing my face.
“Thanks for trying Dad, but it still looks hideous.”
Wyn paused, gesturing w
ith a piece of toast. “You could never look hideous.”
“Thanks guys, but I have looked in the mirror you know.”
“It’ll be gone in a few days,” Dad added helpfully.
“Okay, can we talk about something else now?” I pleaded, thinking the teasing at school might not be much worse than everyone trying to make me feel better.
I was wrong. School was horrible, my worst day so far. I felt everyone staring at me as I walked down the hall. Whispering and laughing as I passed by. A few of the meaner kids called out things like lobster, fire hydrant and tomato. At least when I blushed, my face went more or less the same colour all over. It was better in class as Miss Kennedy, our English teacher, kept us way too busy to worry about anything else. We had a surprise test in History, which was again a blessing in disguise as it kept everyone focused on work.
Recess wasn’t too bad. Harry made a rather crude sunburn joke, but was quickly shushed by Becky and Olivia and then things with my friends returned to normal. They’d all had a fun trip to Launceston and they told us funny stories about the trip.
“You should’ve seen Will try and order a steak at the Chinese restaurant we went to...it was so hilarious, the poor waiter didn’t speak much English and he had no idea what Will was talking about,” Xavier said laughing.
“Yeah and his hand gestures weren’t helping!” Tali added and they all cracked up.
“And then there was that thing at the park,” Harry added and everyone laughed again.
I couldn’t help wishing Wyn and I had gone with them, instead of on a disastrous trip that al-most got us killed. Now there would be more jokes I couldn’t understand. It was easier having Wyn here now though, he had even less chance of understanding the conversation than I did.
It was a relief when the final bell rang. Being stared at like a freak had really put my nerves on edge. Wyn had whispered encouraging words to me throughout the day, which had really helped, even if I didn’t really believe most of them.
The next few weeks passed quickly, my skin had finally returned to normal, which was a huge relief. The school production was coming along well and Mr Davies had added some after school rehearsals, which left less time for the ever-increasing amount of homework we seemed to be getting. At least being so busy, meant less time to think about Wyn. Well, during the daytime anyway. At night he was all I thought about, I obsessed over every small touch, every smile, trying to figure out if his feelings were still the same. We didn’t talk about it anymore, if anything my feelings had grown even stronger. Wyn had seemed so comfortable around me; I was starting to doubt that he saw me as more than a friend.
At lunch on Tuesday, all anyone could talk about was some sort of Ball that was being held be-cause of a local flower festival.
“I can’t wait!” squealed Becky. “I just got the cutest red dress, now I just need to convince Harry to wear a matching red suit. It’s gonna be so amazing.”
Harry was looking far from convinced. “I think all the guys should wear traditional black and white – don’t you Will?”
“Ah, actually Olivia and I already chose our outfits...”
“Oh I forgot, you two haven’t been going out long enough for you to say no to her,” Harry said.
Tali fluttered her eyelids dramatically at Wyn. “So Wyn, you want to go with me to the ball? I know Xav would be more than happy to take Ash.”
Wyn shot me a guilty look. “Sure Tali sounds fun.”
My heart felt like it dropped right down to the ground. This was it then. I could no longer pre-tend that Wyn still wanted to be with me. Time to face reality. I tried to paste a smile on my face, hoping it wasn’t totally fake looking. “Is that okay with you Xavier?”
“It would be my honour,” said Xavier, bowing dramatically as he pretended to sweep an imaginary top hat off his head.
“Well thank you kind sir,” I smiled slightly more genuinely. Going to the dance would be fun with Xavier. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as amazing as going with Wyn, but hopefully I could still enjoy myself. Tali was looking extremely pleased, I tried to remember that she had no idea about Wyn and me. I also knew it wouldn’t go down well if I leaped across the table and tackled her to the ground. Not that I’d really ever do that, but my mind was certainly imagining it.
“Well, looks like we’re all sorted then,” said Olivia cheerfully. “I’ve always wanted to go to the Ball and now I have my Prince Charming to go with.”
Harry and Xavier leaned over, pretending to vomit at her overly sweet statement. I laughed at them but was really pleased Olivia was so happy, she was so kind and had been a good friend to me.
Tali sashayed over to Wyn and sat down, practically in his lap. “What do you want to wear?”
“Uh, I’m happy to go along with your decision.”
“Well,” began Tali brimming with excitement. “I was thinking we could go as Lancelot and Guinevere? I have this really awesome medieval dress that I’ve been wanting to wear.”
“I should be able to put something together. I’m quite familiar with that style.”
“What about you Ash?” Xavier asked. “Do you have any preference?”
“Umm, I’m not sure. Can I get back to you?”
“Sure, I’m pretty easy-going and I have the added advantage of not embarrassing easily, so the more daring the more fun!”
I was still picturing Wyn at the ball in his ‘normal’ Elf clothes. I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes off him. I hoped I wasn’t going to be a terrible date for Xavier.
We arrived home late that afternoon. Annie rehearsals had dragged on forever. I was starving so grabbed some chips and biscuits out of the pantry. The granite bench-top protested as I thumped a chopping board and some fruit down and began vigorously hacking it up into little pieces. Wyn placed his hand over mine, to stop me killing any more fruit.
“Ash, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, what could possibly be wrong?” I said, blinking furiously, to stop any traitorous tears from falling.
“Well, I thought you might be upset because I agreed to go to the Ball with Tali.”
“Why would that upset me? It’s not like Xav and Tali could go together, you know they used to go out.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Wyn said, taking my hands and gently turning me to face him.
“Look, if it’s okay with you, then I’m fine with it,” I said angrily.
“Of course I’d rather go with you,” Wyn said, his voice rising. “I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
“Well good, we’re both in agreement,” I huffed, yanking my hands free and turning my back on him.
“Please look at me,” Wyn softly entreated.
I couldn’t resist him. I turned around, knowing that my face was now streaked with tears.
“Oh Ash,” Wyn sighed, gently using his thumb to wipe my tears. “I’m so sorry it has to be this way.” He tilted my face up towards him. I couldn’t breathe – my face was only inches from Wyn’s. If I just moved forward slightly, our lips would touch. We stayed that way for what seemed a long time, neither wanting to break away, but also knowing we couldn’t do more. Finally, Wyn put his arms around me and drew me close to his body. I rested my face against his chest. I felt more relaxed in Wyn’s arms than I had felt in days. I somehow felt better, knowing that Wyn’s feelings for me hadn’t changed. At least we were both in this together.
Chapter 14
I spent the next afternoon going through my wardrobe, looking for something suitable for a Ball. I didn’t really know what to look for, never having been to anything like this before. Everyone said it was the kind of event where anything goes. You could dress in formal attire or a crazy costume. Wyn was lucky; he already had his regular Aloran clothes to wear and being a guy, he wasn’t particularly helpful anyway. Becky had sent a picture of her red dress to my phone; it was short with sparkly bits all over. Definitely not the sort of outfit I could ever pull off. Olivia had also sen
t me a picture of the gorgeous long purple gown she’d be wearing. It was definitely more like some-thing I could picture myself in. Liv said she’d bought it off eBay, so I decided to spend the evening trawling through eBay for an appropriate dress.
I’d just sat down on the lounge with my laptop open, when Wyn came and sat down next to me.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to find something to wear to the Ball. I can rule out anything from overseas, but that still gives me 6,497 possible choices,” I said, sighing theatrically.
“Maybe you could narrow it down to a particular colour?”
“When did you become such an internet expert?”
“Well I’ve been here for a while now, I’ve had to familiarise myself with all this fancy technology in order to fit in better. After all, what seventeen year old has no computer experience?”
“Good point, it just seems weird, having you know this stuff.” We’d bought Wyn his own computer, after I figured out how to exchange some of the gold he’d brought with him. It hadn’t actually been that difficult. I’d just rung a few places until I’d found one that was used to buying un-processed gold.
“You would look amazing in that colour,” Wyn said pointing at a floor length dark blue gown.
“Really? It is pretty...”
“You’d look great in anything... Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Don’t worry – it’s good for my ego. Friends can complement each other anyway.” I narrowed the search down to blue dresses, of which there were only 361. I scrolled down through the dresses, there were so many, how was I ever going to choose one. I clicked on the next page and began to scroll down.
“That one! That’s the one you need,” Wyn said suddenly.
I clicked on the dress, it was floor length chiffon, with an empire waist and one shoulder strap. The dress came in black, red, blue or purple.
“It’s beautiful, should I get the blue one?”
“They would all look amazing on you Ashlee.”