Chapter 11

“I was thinking that, perhaps, the wait might be over.”

Spring was a complete washout. April brought not so much showers as constant downpours. May started just as badly, but as it gave way to June it seemed that summer deigned to grace Westmouthshire with its presence and was set fair to be spectacular. There was no rain for the first three weeks of the month and for the last two of those the sun blazed in near cloudless skies.

Officially, Will and his classmates were on ‘study leave’. But far from spending hours on end at a desk cramming for their final exams, they had been making the most of the sunshine. Will’s rationale, which his friends had picked up on a little too readily for his liking, was that after two years of preparation, what he hadn’t already learnt, he wasn’t going to learn in last-minute revision sessions. He did set aside a few hours a day to read through his class notes, but preferred to enter the exam room relaxed, refreshed and confident that he knew all he needed to, rather than over-tired from an all-night session and worried that he still hadn’t done enough.

On the day before his last exam, he lay on his back in just a pair of shorts in Walminster’s Memorial Park. Amy lay on her front next to him, her head turned towards him. She was wearing a rather fetching pale blue bikini. By their feet, laid out on a blanket, were the remnants of the picnic they had enjoyed with their friends.

“Did you see where Bobby and Julie were headed?” Amy said, lazily.

“Rubber Road, “ Will replied.

“Bet they’ll be doing more than walking.”

“Well, I hear there’s some rare and interesting flora to be seen just off the main track.”

“Yeah, that’ll be it.” Amy giggled. After a short pause, she said, “I’m going to miss this when you go to Oxford. You know, just sitting and talking about nothing.”

“Don’t jump ahead. I’m not there yet. I still need to get the grades.”

“Oh, come off it, William. I’ve seen you in the exams. Three hours and you’re writing solidly. None of those pauses that the rest of us have while we think about what to write. You just get on with it—page after page. You even ask for extra paper.”

“Quantity isn’t always a sign of quality. What if all I’ve written is a bunch of jumbled words?”

“I’ve seen your face when you come out of the exam room too. Grin a mile wide and looking so very pleased with yourself. If that’s not a sign that it went well, I don’t know what is.”

He turned his head to face her. “Okay, I admit. I think I might have done enough. But I won’t know until the results come out. So let’s not worry about it until then.” He reached for her hand, squeezed it tightly and smiled at her. Then he looked back up at the sky, his eyes protected behind sunglasses. He held on to her hand and felt her squeeze back.

“William?”

“Yes.”

“You know what I’ve always said about ... you know.”

“You’re going to have to give me a clue, Amy.”

“About us ... you know. Waiting. Until the time was right before we... you know.”

“I remember.”

“Well, I was thinking that, perhaps, the wait might be over.”

He turned his head towards her again. She was grinning. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her shades, but he knew they’d be that shade of violet he loved so much. It had only been these few months they’d been together that he’d realised they turned that colour when she was turned on. And the more turned on she was, the more violet they became. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Tomorrow is our last exam, right? Well, I was thinking, given that the end-of-exams party isn’t until Saturday night, that we could, you know, have our own private celebration.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Don’t you?”

“You know I do, but what I want isn’t important.”

She let go of his hand and touched his cheek. “What did I do to deserve you, eh? Eternally and evermore.”

“Eternally and evermore.”