Chapter 16: The Encounter


    shback


    Iyan was restless that night. He had been waiting for Marie’s text, his poetry book lied open and


    unread on his bed. He had tried to read the lines but nothing had gotten registered in his brain.


    Maybe I should call her, he thought.


    Or maybe she is about to text…


    He waited a bit longer.


    As minutes ticked by, his anxiety got worse. It was 9:15 pm by now. He wanted to see her and he could


    go to her right away; he did know the address anyway- after seeing her for the first time, he had studied


    the list of all newly enrolled students in school and there had been just one girl who had been admitted


    to their batch: Marie Lewis, 21 Lees Street, PensonVille, London.


    It was maybe just his own attraction towards her that was pulling him but he knew he could not resist


    the urge to see her…but it would probably not even have deem appropriate- he thought- what if she


    took it the wrong way…


    In moments of uncertainty, he often tried to leave his mind nk for a minute and then choose the first


    option that came to his mind- it was his easiest way out, he was not really the type to waste time


    contemting the pros and cons of everything; thinking too much ruined it.


    So, he sat on his bed and looked outside the window, it was a beautiful half-moon with some dim stars


    spread across the sky. His room was too dark, no lights were on anyway- his mom would have


    assumed Iyan had long passed out and Scott and his father never bothered toe to him anyway-


    and the moonlight filled the corner of hisrge room with enough light. It was easier for him to sneak


    out anyway from the window, his room had been thergest one in the corner of the ground floor.


    He closed his eyes and tried to not think of anything and the first thing that came to his mind was big


    blue eyes, filled with curiosity and some strangely hidden sadness. He tried to look at them longer, but


    they disappeared as soon as they came. He had gotten his answer- he got up and picked up his phone


    from his bed and grabbed a jacket just in case; it was a chilly night outside.


    Marie did live pretty far from his home but he could walk, he was agreeable to walk under any night


    that offered this kind of view, it was refreshing out of his world of books.


    In about 30 minutes he reached PensonVille and he stood on Lees Street. All he had to look for then


    was then the house number 21. But he realized, it was not a house, it was a huge andvish bungalow


    with a metal gate he could not cross even with all his might. He noticed however that there had not


    been any security person on duty right now, which was strange.


    He hoped she would pick up his call as he dialed her number and she did, on about the third ring.


    “Iyan,” she said unexpectedly.


    “I’m outside your house,” he said. “Just wanted to talk for a while if you don’t mind.”


    “M-my house??” she did not conceal the shock in her voice, her father had been home since afternoon


    and she tried to think about how she could break any rules and get out of the house to meet him


    anyway.


    “I’m sorry, I was just a bit restless, I wanted to see you…” he spoke with boldness, like he had not been


    afraid to show her that she mattered to him.


    Her stomach turned again, she was not expecting him to care that much, or at all, like everyone else.


    “I’ll get out in a minute,” she said without even wanting to say it; she knew very well that her father


    Rupert would never let her go out at this time.


    “Cool,” Iyan smiled on the other side.


    Marie tip toed out of her room and stood outside her father’s room, the wooden door did not really


    give it away whether he was awake or not. She pressed her ears against his door and heard carefully


    for any sound but she was relieved to listen to his soft snores from the other end of the room. There


    was no other sound in the entire bungalow, it could easily pass for a haunted mansion had Marie not


    been there; but then again, even she remained a permanent prisoner trapped inside the four walls of


    this house.


    She got out the majestic wooden mansion door slowly without making any noise at all and walked the


    garden to open the metal gate. The mansion did remind her of how the older British mansions must


    have been made- a symbol of pride and richness.


    Iyan had been standing a bit far from the gate, his face lit up as soon as he saw hering.


    Though she had been nervous and scared about sneaking out without the permission of her father, she


    was grateful to see him as well. She closed the metal gate as soon as she had opened it in case her


    father could see outside. Iyan was the only good thing that had happened to her here, a good friend-


    she thought- she could count on.


    “I’m so sorry…” he came toward her exining, “I was just anxious, I got the feeling that you were


    probably not alright, you did not even text so…” and his doubt had not been wrong, Marie had been


    crying all afternoon that day. It had happened again today and she could do nothing to stop it.


    But she lied immediately, again, not meeting his eyes, “No, nothing like that even happened, I was just


    so preupied with chores that I forgot to text you,” she did not even need to exin because the way


    he was now observing her bodynguage, he knew she hiding her secrets.


    “Look up,” he said to her pointing towards the moon, distracting her from her lies, “we should definitely


    go for a walk in this kind of night,” he insisted.


    She looked up to see the moon, it was even bigger and so bright in the sky now. She looked at Iyan


    then- the moon acted like a torch letting her see how he was looking at her, it was in a sort of


    admiration and she was not wrong. Iyan wanted to hold her hand, she was looking so beautiful, her hair


    was made in a messy bun and strands of her hair stuck to her cheeks as the cold winter wind blew. Her


    eyes were still breathtakingly gorgeous and consuming at the same time.


    Without even thinking more, he moved closer to her, so close that she was now just about a step away


    from him. He didn’t mind the proximity- her blue eyes widened though realizing how close he had


    come- and slowly, he removed the strands of her hair from her cheeks and safely tucked them behind


    her ear. He stepped away after that and asked her again with a small smile.


    ? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.


    “You look worn out, a small walk up the hill,” he pointed to the upward way it made from Lees Street,


    “would not do you bad; it would be refreshing for that empty brain of yours,” he teased touching her


    head in a yful way.


    “Hey!” Marieughed, all seriousness washing away, but she nced back at the aloof bungalow


    and realized her father was still home and herugh vanished.


    “I wish, for the walk, but I cannot,” she smiled sadly at him. She was barely 5 ft 5 inches while Iyan


    stood taller, around 5’8, almost the height of model.


    He observed her for a bit and then took off his jacket, she was shivering. He covered her shoulders


    with the jacket like a gentleman. Through his small and intent observation, he could indeed make out


    that she did want to go to this walk, or maybe just get away from her home but her reluctance was not


    letting her do so.


    He came even more closer to her this time and this time, bent down a bit to whisper into her ear,


    “You might just like breaking the rules sometimes.”


    Iyan smiled to her after that and suddenly took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together. His


    grip on her hand was tight and he was aware that he was taking her by surprise- her eyes widened


    again at his actions- and pulled her up the hill.