Emeli

I am still thinking about the cinema trip. Wayne felt so close to me and that is something that I have never experienced before. A boy, right by my side.

I am still in such a dreamy mood that I almost drop the bottle of milk all over the kitchen floor! My parents don’t understand why I am in such a mood. Clearly, they have never seen me in this mood before.

Wayne’s face is pictured in my mind. His smile showing off all of his white teeth. His eyes with that hint of sparkle on! I love him!

As I get dressed for school, I pause by my mirror several times. I stare long and hard into the glass. I look and feel different to who I was before.

The walk to school is interrupted by Wayne. He is sitting on the bus waving at me. I look in my purse to see if I had any money left from my allowance. To my joy, I realise that I have enough.

I get on the bus and pay. Wayne smiles. Clearly, he is pleased to see me.

I walk towards him and I sit on the vacant seat next to him.

‘Hi.’ Wayne said as I turned to face him.

‘Hi.’ I reply with a smile on my face.

‘You look very pretty today.’ said Wayne as he stared deep into my eyes.

I feel my heart skip a beat. ‘Thank you. You look very handsome today.’ I reply.

Wayne blushes a deep shade of crimson. And says nothing.

‘I enjoyed Man of Steel yesterday.’ I said to Wayne.

Wayne relaxes a little by this. ‘Yes, it was really good.’

He adds. ‘Did your parents find out?’

‘No. They had no clue at all!’ I reply with a grin.

Wayne laughed. ‘Mum knew that I was in town but she didn’t know that I was going to see Man of Steel.’

‘Did she freak out the minute you walked in through the door?’ I asked.

‘She hugged me and was telling me how much she loves me. She was acting like a little girl!’ Wayne replied.

‘Wow! She loves you. You must feel happy about it.’ I reply.

‘Yeah I do.’ Wayne replies with a sad tone. I can tell that he doesn’t want to talk about his family anymore. So I stay silent.

When we arrive at school, I look for Jess but again there is still no sign of her. I sigh. She must be really unwell.

All of a sudden, Wayne takes my hand. I look at him with a smile.

‘Do you want to come around to my house after school?’ he asks.

My heart leaps but once again, I feel guilty.

‘What would my parents say?’ I ask.

‘Study group remember!’ Wayne replies.

I smile. Of course! The old classic excuse of lying!

‘I would love to! Thanks Wayne!’ I said.

Wayne kisses me on the top of my head. I blush.

‘See you later!’ Wayne said.

‘Yeah, see you!’ I yell to him.

Wow. Things are getting romantic. 

Wayne

I sit up in bed. I am deep in thought about Emeli. Maybe there is a romance developing here. Who knows? I can tell that Emeli will be thinking the same thing.

I get up and have burnt toast for breakfast. Mum comes out of the main bedroom pale faced but with a smile.

‘Morning Mum.’ I say to her.

‘Morning Wayne.’ she replies.

I get up and hug her. She places her head on my shoulder.

‘Are you tired Mum?’ I ask.

‘No my Wayne. No.’ she replies.

She lefts her head so that she faces me. I give her a kiss. She smiles.

‘I love you Mum.’ I said to her.

‘I love you too.’ she replies.

I pick up my rucksack which is full of my schoolbooks.

‘See you later!’ I yell to my Mum.

Mum waves as I shut the front door.

I am walking along to the bus stop. I feel like I have a spring in my step. Something that I have never felt in my entire life.

I board the bus and as I sit in my usual seat. I place my earring in with a smile on my face.

On the way to school, I spot Emeli walking. She looks very pretty. I wave.

At that moment, she looks across and notices me. She blushes a little. I beckon her onto the bus.

I watch as she gets on. She has gone really red.

She walks towards me and sits down. I say hello and we start talking.

I tell her how pretty she looks. I can tell that she doesn’t get a lot of compliments because her face has turned a very deep shade of red.

Then, she pays me a compliment and tells me that I look handsome. Me! Handsome! A girl finds me attractive at last! I feel so romantic!

We change the topic and we start to talk about what happened yesterday evening. Now, I am feeling cool as a cucumber.

The journey ends. And we pull up at school. I can see that Emeli is looking for Jess. But she is having no luck at all.

I take Emeli’s hand. She gives a little jump. I didn’t mean to startle her.

I ask her if she wants to come around to my house after school. She looks happy for a minute but then her face falls. I forgot that her parents would freak.

I remind her about the study group excuse and her face lights up. She can come!

I am full of joy. I haven’t had a friend round for ages.

I kiss her on the top of her head. We both blush. Oops! I think I overreacted slightly.

We both say goodbye and we walk away in opposite directions.

I am in love.

Emeli

The day passes by rather slowly. This annoys me slightly because I want to be with Wayne as soon as possible.

At long last, the final bell rings. I pack up my things and leave. I have texted Mum to let her know that I will be late home. She replied saying it was fine.

I still feel really guilty. I hate lying.

I spot Wayne hanging by the entrance to school. He looks rather nervous but I guess a teenage girl hasn’t been around his house before. He spots me and waves. I smile.

‘Hey! Are you OK?’ he asks. His face looks quite pale.

‘I’m fine thanks.’ I reply.

We both walk towards the bus. He still looks rather pale. I hope he isn’t unwell because he might cancel everything.

He doesn’t say anything. Clearly, this is a different Wayne to the one that I saw earlier. His nervousness is understandable.

On the bus, he takes my hand and kisses it. He is trying to reassure me. It is him who needs reassuring so I give him a small kiss on the cheek. He blushes. I smile. Good move Emeli!

We arrive at Wayne’s stop and we get off. I spot a tall apartment block in the distance. He is leading me towards it. He looks at me. I look at him. I grab his hand and squeeze it.

We arrive at the apartment block and we walked to Wayne’s flat. He opens the door and we both walk in. I can hear the faint sound of the radio in the kitchen.

‘Hi Mum!’ Wayne yells.

His Mum walks out of the kitchen. ‘Hello...’ Her voice trails off.

‘Who is this?’ she asks.

‘Mum. I would like you to meet Emeli. She is doing some revising with me.’ Wayne replies.

Wayne’s Mum stares at me like I am from another planet. I bet Wayne didn’t even tell her that I was coming.

‘Hello Emeli.’ she replies.

‘Hello.’ I said.

‘We will be in my room Mum.’ Wayne said as he led me out.

Wayne’s room reflects so much about him. One wall is completely covered with boxing and rugby pictures. On his small desk, there is a photo of him and his Mum and another photo of someone I don’t recognize.

‘Wayne?’ I ask. ‘Who is that in the picture?’

Wayne turns and then goes rather pale. Uh oh. I have made him feel uncomfortable. I feel really bad.

Wayne closes his eyes and opens them. ‘That’s my Dad.’ he said.

‘Is he at work?’ I ask.

Wayne again looks very uncomfortable. ‘No he isn’t.’

I stare at him. He isn’t sure what to do.

‘Oh. I’m sorry.’ I said.

I get up to put the picture back but Wayne pulls me onto his lap. He starts to cry.

‘Oh Wayne.’ I whispered. ‘Oh Wayne.’

I turn around and hug him. ‘Do you want me to go?’

‘No. No .No.’ he whispers.

‘You can tell me. I promise I won’t tell a soul.’ I reply.

Wayne stares at me. ‘My Dad...’

I look at him and hold his hand.

‘My Dad... is in prison!’ he whispers before he bursts into tears.

I can’t believe it. That explains why Wayne is so tough. His Dad is not here.

‘Please don’t hate me.’ he whispers.

‘I don’t hate you.’ I reply. ‘I love you Wayne.’

He is astounded. He cannot believe what I have said.

Slowly, I lean in and I kiss him on the lips. There, I have sealed my love for him.

I leave him crying on the bed. I have to go otherwise I will be late home.

‘Bye my Wayne.’ I say to him.

He looks up at me. His eyes are sparkling.

I leave the apartment and I take the bus home. I have told him that I love him.

I get home a few minutes early but today, my parents aren’t that chatty. I wonder what has happened.

Wayne

I am nervous. Really nervous. I wish that the time went by slowly but it has gone by really fast.

I stand by the school gates. I am in such a nervous mess. I spot Emeli walking towards me. I feel so unwell.

I ask her if she is OK. She looks so relaxed. I can’t help but feel rather jealous of her.

We walk towards the bus. I really can’t say anything at all. My nerves have totally got the better of me.

When we are on the bus, I take her smooth hand and I kiss it. I am trying to reassure her that I am OK. She kisses me on the cheek in reply. I blush. She can tell.

We get off and walk towards the famier apartment block. I look at her. She looks at me in reply. She takes my hand and squeezes it. I feel slightly better.

We arrive at my flat. Slowly, I open the door. Mum has the radio on in the kitchen.

‘Hi Mum!’ I yell.

I can hear footsteps as my Mum walks towards us.

‘Hello...’ her voice trails.

Oops. I forgot to tell her that we were having a visitor. She doesn’t look amused.

She asks me who the visitor is in the ‘way didn’t you tell me’ tone.

I reply that her name is Emeli who is from school and that she was doing some revising with me.

My Mum stares at Emeli. Emeli looks rather uncomfortable.

Mum finally said hi to her after a short while.

Emeli says hello. After this, I tell Mum that we will be in my room. I lead Emeli out.

I am pound of my room. I like to show off all of my sport pictures. I watch as Emeli glances at them. She seems curious and interested.

I sit on the side of my bed. Then, just when things start to get relaxing. Emeli spots the picture of my Dad. She asks who it is. I say that it is my Dad. Then she seems confused and asks me if my Dad is at work or not.

I feel really bad. She gets up to put the photo back but I grab her and pull her onto my lap. Suddenly all of my tears start to flow out. Emeli looks upset and pale faced. She asks me if she needs to go. I whisper no.

I rock her gently as I tell her the truth. I beg her not to tell anyone. I tell her not to hate me.

What happens next is astounding.

Emeli whispers that she loves me. Did I hear correctly? Then she leans forward and kisses me on the lips. I have just received my first kiss.

Emeli gets up to go. She can’t be too late back. She whispers bye. I look at her. From this moment on, she is my love.

I hear the front door close. I sit up in bed still shaken.

Let us hope that Emeli can keep secrets.