Free Avalon by Lana Davison

love comes and goes and while it’s good, we should just go for it. The statement was true enough, at least it was for people on Earth. Most people have numerous relationships before they find someone they want to be with for life, and even then they might divorce or have an affair. What he said made sense.
    “Just be careful, Leo. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
    “If I have to see you secretly, I will. I want to see you, Holly, so however you want it to be, it will be.”
    He wasn’t giving me an out and wasn’t going to let other people come between us, between what we both wanted. It was incredibly sexy, the way he made the decision for both of us.
    “You’re wild,” I giggled, “And I like it.”
    “Yeah, I am wild. Wild, mad and crazy for you.” He pulled me close again and gave me another sensuous slow kiss.
    “I’ve got to go,” he said finally. “I want you to think about that and about how you want me. You tell me tomorrow because, Holly Stephens, I am yours.”
    And with that he left me standing in the woods, amongst the trees, watching after him. I touched my lips with my finger tips and smiled to myself . My he was game , a guy who didn’t let anyone get in his way, a genius in the classroom, an athlete, what else was there to discover? All I knew was that I wanted to know more.
     

C hapter Nine
     
    Leo was responsible for the spring in my step the following day. Who would have thought I would ever feel this amazing?
    “Oh, Holly you look so much better today. I’m sorry I didn’t come straight back to dorm after dinner last night. I saw how upset you were and I knew you wanted to be on your own,” Emily said as she perched on the side of my bed.
    “I slept well and I think today will be a much better day, Henry will start to forgive me soon.”
    “He won’t be able to stay mad at you for too long,” she assured me.
    We dressed and went to the dining hall to eat our breakfast. Rachael, Jess, David and Hugh were already there. Jess and I collected a bowl of cereal and sat on the end of the table with our friends.
    “Henry’s been and gone,” Rachel announced.
    I nodded and wondered if that meant Leo had eaten his breakfast too. My friends seemed to want to talk about Henry and me, each one of them suggesting a reason as to why I broke up with him.
    “There really is nothing to say,” I explained. “I just didn’t want to go out with him anymore, but I still want to be friends.”
    .“Well, we will sit with you,” my friends said.
    “Listen I don’t want it to be like that. I want Henry to feel like he can sit with us. It might take some time for him to get over it but he’ll get there.”
    “Unlikely,” David huffed.
    “Oh, come on, he’ll get over it,” Jess said.
    “Well he seems pretty shaken up. He had no idea you were going to break up with him, Holly.”
    “Neither did I,” said Emily looking directly at me.
    I said nothing to that and decided to leave. If they wanted to discuss my love life they could, but I didn’t want to hear any more of it.
    I got to class before everyone, including Leo. I waited for him eagerly, not sure what I would say to him. Mr Davis came into the classroom and took the register, and there was no Leo to be seen, I was both annoyed and confused by this, I had been looking forward to seeing him from the moment I woke up this morning. Where was he?
    My next class was maths with Mrs Pullman, and still there was no Leo. To keep my mind occupied I worked through my text book questions systematically and as fast as I could. When I finished Mrs Pullman told me to give the others a few minutes and she would mark the questions as a group. I didn’t like to wait, it meant my mind was free to think about why Leo wasn’t in class with me. I wanted to see his face, he made me smile, just his presence seemed to bring my spirit alive, I felt fantastic around him. Was there such a thing as love at first sight? Wasn’t that how Avaloneans