it’s time to be straight with me, Dane. What’s going on, and why do you need my help?”
He was hunched over, all his previous poise gone. For a moment I even wondered if he was about to cry, but he washed his hands across his face and sat back up, exhaling loudly.
“The truth is, Aria came here as a favour to me, to help me do something, but it’s all gone wrong. She shouldn’t be out here as it makes it really hard for her to go back. I need to talk with her. Can you bring her to me? I think she trusts you.”
“But why would she be nervous about seeing you? It doesn’t make sense.”
“She may think that I’m going to be angry about the mistake she made, but I’m not. I just want for both of us to be safe.”
“I thought it was just Aria who was in trouble?”
“It is, but I won’t be happy until I know that she’s OK. I need to see her, to find out what she wants to do. We have to talk about the future.” His dark eyes seemed full of pain. “Our future – hers and mine.”
He didn’t seem to be lying any more. He wanted to help her too.
“What do you need me to do?”
My head was whirling as I made my way back towards home. My simple, dull life had evaporated so fast that I could barely remember it. Smiling, I walked down the old iron staircase to the basement flats and turned the handle on the door of Marjorie’s flat. I was relieved to find that it was locked, as I had suggested, so I knocked gently.
Nothing happened, so I knocked slightly more loudly. There was still no response. I leaned round to look through the window to the front room, but found the view blocked by the net curtains. Cupping my hand over my eyes I tried again, and could just see the basic outline of the furniture. There was no sign of Aria.
“Where on earth have you gone?” I said out loud to myself as I leaned on the door.
Where could I start looking? She had no mobile so Icouldn’t call her; she couldn’t read a note if I left one for her; and she couldn’t use a phone to call me. Maybe she had gone to see Nan. It was the only other thing I could think of, and I was just about to go up to the flat when I heard footsteps on the metal stairs behind me. It was Aria, looking relaxed and happy.
“Hi, how are you? I was wondering where you’d got to.”
“I had to get out. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all. So where did you end up?”
“I just walked around the streets a bit,” she said, unlocking the door as if she had been using keys her entire life.
The inside of the flat was cool and welcoming, and I instinctively moved towards the kitchen and the fridge. I dropped my heavy school bag down and picked out a can of Coke.
“Do you want one?” I asked, but Aria just shook her head.
“I saw lots of shops with white dresses in the window. What are they for?”
“Umm, white dresses, that will be … oh – wedding dresses, of course! There’s a whole street of little shops that seem to sell nothing but wedding stuff. Did you end up there?”
Aria nodded. “Ah yes, weddings – you were showing me the wedding stories in one of the magazines. I should have guessed.”
“The dresses are beautiful, aren’t they? Expensive though.”
“Very beautiful, but not very practical!” She smiled at me.
“You’re not wrong,” I laughed.
I took a glass from the cupboard and flicked open the can before sitting down at the table.
“Do you guys have any sort of partnership ceremony like getting married? You said something about being matched up by the Elders,” I asked.
“We are, so we never pair up out of choice. They put us into breeding pairs and there’s no ceremony for that.”
I couldn’t help shaking my head, relieved that my world was different to hers. I took a quick swig of the Coke then poured the rest into a glass.
“What if you actually do love someone? That must happen sometimes.”
“It’s not encouraged, because the breeding pairs get regularly
He was hunched over, all his previous poise gone. For a moment I even wondered if he was about to cry, but he washed his hands across his face and sat back up, exhaling loudly.
“The truth is, Aria came here as a favour to me, to help me do something, but it’s all gone wrong. She shouldn’t be out here as it makes it really hard for her to go back. I need to talk with her. Can you bring her to me? I think she trusts you.”
“But why would she be nervous about seeing you? It doesn’t make sense.”
“She may think that I’m going to be angry about the mistake she made, but I’m not. I just want for both of us to be safe.”
“I thought it was just Aria who was in trouble?”
“It is, but I won’t be happy until I know that she’s OK. I need to see her, to find out what she wants to do. We have to talk about the future.” His dark eyes seemed full of pain. “Our future – hers and mine.”
He didn’t seem to be lying any more. He wanted to help her too.
“What do you need me to do?”
My head was whirling as I made my way back towards home. My simple, dull life had evaporated so fast that I could barely remember it. Smiling, I walked down the old iron staircase to the basement flats and turned the handle on the door of Marjorie’s flat. I was relieved to find that it was locked, as I had suggested, so I knocked gently.
Nothing happened, so I knocked slightly more loudly. There was still no response. I leaned round to look through the window to the front room, but found the view blocked by the net curtains. Cupping my hand over my eyes I tried again, and could just see the basic outline of the furniture. There was no sign of Aria.
“Where on earth have you gone?” I said out loud to myself as I leaned on the door.
Where could I start looking? She had no mobile so Icouldn’t call her; she couldn’t read a note if I left one for her; and she couldn’t use a phone to call me. Maybe she had gone to see Nan. It was the only other thing I could think of, and I was just about to go up to the flat when I heard footsteps on the metal stairs behind me. It was Aria, looking relaxed and happy.
“Hi, how are you? I was wondering where you’d got to.”
“I had to get out. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all. So where did you end up?”
“I just walked around the streets a bit,” she said, unlocking the door as if she had been using keys her entire life.
The inside of the flat was cool and welcoming, and I instinctively moved towards the kitchen and the fridge. I dropped my heavy school bag down and picked out a can of Coke.
“Do you want one?” I asked, but Aria just shook her head.
“I saw lots of shops with white dresses in the window. What are they for?”
“Umm, white dresses, that will be … oh – wedding dresses, of course! There’s a whole street of little shops that seem to sell nothing but wedding stuff. Did you end up there?”
Aria nodded. “Ah yes, weddings – you were showing me the wedding stories in one of the magazines. I should have guessed.”
“The dresses are beautiful, aren’t they? Expensive though.”
“Very beautiful, but not very practical!” She smiled at me.
“You’re not wrong,” I laughed.
I took a glass from the cupboard and flicked open the can before sitting down at the table.
“Do you guys have any sort of partnership ceremony like getting married? You said something about being matched up by the Elders,” I asked.
“We are, so we never pair up out of choice. They put us into breeding pairs and there’s no ceremony for that.”
I couldn’t help shaking my head, relieved that my world was different to hers. I took a quick swig of the Coke then poured the rest into a glass.
“What if you actually do love someone? That must happen sometimes.”
“It’s not encouraged, because the breeding pairs get regularly
Similar Books
