Page 45 of Fervency Love

Chapter 22

Abby

The school year has ended. I planned everything well enough for my certificate to show an average grade above “good”, or B. I’m happy with myself.

“Will you miss me?” I ask Ve.

I always liked trips to Daisy Valley—the bonfires, sleeping in a tent, frolicking in the haystacks and the meadows. Now, for the first time, I feel I’d rather stay. I know neither my parents nor Victoria are going to let this go, though, as we’ve planned the trip as far back as the winter. On the other hand, maybe we could use a couple of days apart. Since we started seeing each other, there hasn’t been a single day we haven’t seen each other, even if only for a moment. We would sneak out to stroll the park together, and every day Ve would come over to accompany me on my walks with Lola.

“Big time,” he assures me now. “But go and have fun.”

“How about you? What will you be doing?”

“I’ll catch up on sitting around in the Den, maybe I’ll stay at home for a while…”

“Take care of yourself. And remember, I trust you,” I say.

Ve pulls me in for a hug and kisses me deeply. His tongue will never stop stoking that blaze in my body.

Vicky is already waiting. We pass the journey fooling around and reminiscing. Mom laughs with us. When we finally reach our destination, it’s already dark. We go upstairs to my room and go to sleep.

Time passes leisurely. We take long walks to the countryside and various places we’re not supposed to go. Today we decided to take a sneak peek at that old house nearby. People say it’s haunted. Nobody who’s ever bought the property managed to last long. I wouldn’t have gone there alone, but with someone to accompany me, it’s different.

“I heard that there used to be a hospital here during the war. They buried the bodies in the basement,” I say.

“Even mentioning that makes me have goosebumps,” Vicky replies, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, the energy of this place is strange, to say the least.”

I have no idea what the distances we walk every day are, but we just can’t seem to stay in one place. The weather is gorgeous, and it would be a shame to spend days like that indoors. So we go to the river, where I collect some stones—I’m always the one to find the prettiest ones. I love stones. I’m not sure why, but I do. We also stumble upon a spot in the forest with some ruins. A castle. Also haunted, supposedly. That may come as a surprise, but I do believe there’s some truth in the stories. I remember passing the place in the evenings with my cousins and brother, and my paternal grandmother telling us terrifying ghost stories. I loved them. I always liked stories about everything paranormal, out of this world, and uncanny.

The trip passes in a flash. It’s great, but as soon as we are back, I go to Ve’s. He’s not home, so I ask Carla—his younger sister—to tell him I dropped by. I’m not in the mood to go home yet, so I go check if Ivy’s at her place.

She opens the door and invites me in. Her hair is tied in a disorderly bun. She looks mind-blowing, as per usual.

“How was your trip?” she asks.

“Pretty cool,” I reply honestly. “A girls’ time out in the countryside. The weather was great. And look at what I got!” I say, triumphant, waving a cell phone. “A present from my parents. Finally, we’ll be able to text each other. What about you? Lucas?”

“He keeps pissing me off, but I can’t live without him.” She enters my phone number into her phone.

“Your characters clash. It can’t be easy.”

“What about you and Ve?”

“Thanks, everything’s fine. We’re taking it slow.”

“Oh, so mysterious!”

“There’s really not much to talk about. You know me. I’m crazy.” I laugh.

“How about we go to the park, Abbs? I don’t want to stay home.”

“Sure, you can just say you’d like a smoke.”

“Well, duh.” She chuckles.

The park is pretty large. It has an amphitheater which hosts events such as concerts. There are lots of little bars that offer beer to take away and beer gardens with benches and tables. I remember coming here with my grandparents or parents whenever anything was happening at the amphitheater. I would always get cotton candy or a balloon.

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