chpter 13 : dandelions

The only news that could compete with the news of Lady Amelia & Sir Edmund's engagement was the news of said engagement being called off.
The whole village had speculate about the recent event - not to mention the mysterious disappearance of the famous rogue (which caused sorrow among all the young females throughout).

Old men thought that Edmund's gambling habits had finally done him good.
The elderly women thought that Amy chased him out of the village - for having a furious & broken-hearted woman was probably as safe as approaching a poisonous cobra.

But the smarter (or more cynical) kinds knew just who may be the cause of the broken engagement.








"Amy, you can't hole yourself up in here because of him," Anna said exasperatedly, knocking on the door again.
"Watch me." came the muffled reply.

It was getting rather old, in Anna's opinion.
Amy had been locking herself up one too many times.
Sooner or later, Amy just had to come out.

At least... That's what Anna hoped.

"Please, Amy. Do you really wish to spend the end of the year like this?"
"This being that I would like to isolate myself from the world... Be alone? Yes, please."

Just as Anna opened her mouth for another retort, Abby waltzed by with a woven basket by her side, clean silks spilling out of it.
"Oh, Amy!" she sang. "I have your favourite silk robe that you so love to wear!"

Abby dangled the flower-patterned robe in front of the door, as if Amy could sniff it out.
"Oh, but of course. Luring Amy with clothes. Pah." Anna smirked.

The door creaked open & Amy's hand quickly snatched the robe out of Abby's fingers.
With that, she slammed the door shut - right back into place.

"It worked the last time," Abby muttered, still not getting over the shock.











"This really is serious. It's been a week now since she last stepped out of her room." Abby cried as she played with her drink.
"You're right. The last time she holed herself up like that, it was only for three days at the very least." Adam said.

Anna nudged him hard in the ribs.
"OW! What? I thought that would help." he muttered, rubbing his sore spot.

"Imagine if we'd told her about that little scene you saw between you-know-who & he-no-hair." James said.
"He-no-hair?" Abby smiled.
"It's being creative! My mind is very imaginative." James leaned forward.
Abby followed his lead. "Ooh, do tell."

Adam & Anna exchanged glances. They wondered how it would seem to turn into a mixture of sick shade of green & a dark crimson.

Adam cleared his throat.
"We're still here, you know." he said. Anna looked at him - he looked (& sounded) as if he was being strangled.
Or that he'd wish to strangle someone.

As if he didn't hear, James whispered something in Abby's ear, causing her eyes to widen, her face to flush & she giggled.
"I," Anna inhaled. "Do not wish to know." she exhaled.










As the girls & boys went their separate ways, Adam caught up with James.
"James, what in hell were you doing with my sister back there?" Adam demanded as they walked to the Hills.
James raised an eyebrow, clearly asking the question Do you really want to know?

Adam shook his head. "Forget I asked." but found himself smiling as well, momentarily unaware that he was discussing about his sister.
"So.." James casually slurred as he put his arms at the back of his head. "When are you ever going to get Anna?"

Adam tripped. Over his own feet.

"Excuse me?" he asked, stunned.
"I said when are you ever going to get Anna? Clearly you like her-"
"Well, I, uh..." Adam was at a loss of words.
"& clearly she likes you-"

Adam snorted.

"She does." James insisted. "I can tell. At the beginning of the year, she could never stop talking about you. It was always Adam this or Adam that. She is so adorable."
"Pardon." Adam said, his voice steely.

James laughed. "That's not what I meant, you ignoramus!"
"Big word." Adam muttered.
"What I meant was," James continued, pretending not to hear. "as her older brother - you are my age, aren't you?"
"Eighteen turning nineteen next year." Adam nodded.
"She is adorable. Completely besotted with you."

Adam flushed.

"Come to think of it, you look adorable, too." James smirked, pinching Adam's cheeks.
Adam responded by first slapping James' hand away, then chasing him (James, not Adam) around the pathway to the Hills.

As the chase came to an end, the two friends fell down & laughed on the grassy slope.
Finally, James sobered up & said in a serious tone, "But Adam, sooner or later, you have to do something for (or to, whichever suits you both best) her before some other fellow comes & snatch her away."

Adam kept silent.

"It is the end of the year." James reminded him. "Things happen."
With that, he whistled his way back to his work, leaving Adam rooted to the spot.









"Anna," she heard a voice say.
Anna turned around & found herself looking up at Adam. She smiled. "Hello, Adam. Looking for your sister?"
"No, I'm... Come to think of it, where is she?" Adam asked, for the sake of asking.
"Well, she's..."
"With James." the pair said in unison.

Adam cleared his throat & rocked on his heels - back & forth, back & forth.
Once. Twice.

"I, um, brought you something." Adam said, in an unusually (adorably, Anna thought) shy manner.
"Well, if it's the laundry, it's not funny, Adam. There is a pile of it with me & if you even sneeze, the whole thing will coll- Oh!" Anna exclaimed as she found a dandelion in front of her nose (literally!)

"They say if you blow all the seedlings off it, you could make a wish & it will come true." Adam explained. "I got one for myself, too."
He held out another dandelion behind his back, smiling sheepishly.

Adam looked much sweeter, with his dark hair a tad more ruffled than usual, his grey eyes looking hopeful, his smile crooked.
He looked like a healthy eighteen year old but really, if one could see souls, his would be the age of 7 at that moment.

"& you're supposedly 2 years my elder?" Anna asked sceptically.
Adam raised an eyebrow.
She shrugged.

"Come, lets go." Adam said, tugging Anna's arm.
"Where are you bringing me?"
"Somewhere nice for the dandelions." he said with a grin.











"I cannot believe you," Anna puffed. "-dragged me (puff) just to climb (wheeze) the peak of the Hills near evening. Really, Adam, the things that goes through your mi- Oh, that's beautiful!"

Adam smiled as he watched Anna staring at the magnificent sunset, the sky a rich crimson & orange with the sun evolving into a big ball of yellow light.
The scenery was gorgeous.

He turned & looked at her.
Adam never realised how beautiful she looked when she was happy.

It was like a second taking of the same scene.

"It is," he said, his voice low.
Anna looked up at him & took a step backwards. He was practically staring her down.

"Adam, are you alright?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair nervously.
Adam blinked, looking as if he quite forgotten where he was.

"Oh. Um," he cleared his throat. "Yes. I'm fine."
"Good."

Silence stretched between them.

"Make a wish." Adam said.
Anna put the dandelion in front of her, took in a deep breath, closed her eyes & blew with all her might.
All the seedlings flew off the flower, dancing in the air.

"What did you wish for?" Adam asked.
"It won't come true if I told you." Anna smiled. "What did you wish for?"
"It won't come true if I told you." he said.

They kept quiet. It was not an awkward silence Anna knew of so well, but a good silence.
Temporary.

"Shall we go then? It's getting dark." Anna said, trying not to sound too anxious.
She did not know why but she felt like running away. Something was going to happen today. She could feel it in her bones.

"The sun has just set." Adam smirked.
Anna rolled her eyes.
He nodded. "Lets go then."

They walked down the Hills, Anna taking the lead, Adam walking behind her.
He whistled down the way & the Anna began to argue with him, telling him how annoying it was to hear one's whistle.
Adam then told her that a whistler is a generally happy person.
Anna replied back that a whistler has nothing better to do than to pucker its lips and blow.

She noticed that Adam did not give a reply back. Little did she know, Adam was biting the back of his hand from saying a word & or laugh out loud at the thought that had entered his mind.

As they finally reached the Hills, the sun was still setting, settling between two mountains as if waiting for something to happen.
The two did not know which was lovelier - the scenery from the peak of the Hills or at the foot of it.

The scenery was reflected across the lake, giving the illusion that it was filled with orange coloured water instead of a green shade of blue.

"Why don't we sit here & savour this moment?" Adam suggested.
Not even waiting for her reply, he sat down by the side of the Lake on the grass, staring at the sun.

She sat down beside him, an arm's length away.

Anna did not know why but suddenly, she thought of Amy. How hard it must be for her to cope with her 'love' to disappear, after finding her first love appeared & that, in three days' time, he was about to be engaged.

She pondered the feelings & tried to imagine herself in the situation. What if Adam got engaged?
Only not to her.

Of course not to her. Who was she fooling? A healthy man of eighteen years, so successful with a pure soul with a sixteen year old girl like herself?
Unlikely.

She felt like crying, all of a sudden.
She felt like mourning over the fact that the chance of him choosing her was as big of a chance as James & Abby stop lurking in dark corners.

Adam, on the other hand, was trying to plan a strategy.
He did not know what to do - because, hard as it was to believe, he had not tried to get a girl to fall in love with him.

It should be easy, shouldn't it? Bring a girl flowers & give a big romantic gesture.
What in the world could he do for a romantic gesture?
Was the dandelion not enough?

Suddenly, he heard Anna sob.
"Anna, what's wrong?" he asked, worried & confused.

Was he that unappealing? He just had a bath!
He resisted to check the level of his odour.

"Anna, do you really want to go back that badly? Come, let us go right n-"
"No!" Anna exclaimed. She did not want this special day to end, all because of a sniffle. "No, it's not that. It's just..."

She took in a deep breath. She knew how men never liked talking, let alone hearing one talk.
But this was Adam.

Well, he is a man, too but he's different.
In a good way.

"It's just that James & Abby already have their happy ending."
Adam muttered something & Anna was fairly certain that it was along the lines of, "Dirty something is more like."

She decided not to press the issue.

"But Amy... Amy's road of life had had potholes & Lord awful bumps along the way. Why couldn't Jeffer just admit? Clearly, his feelings for her were there. I saw it at the dinner."

She had. When he thought no one was looking, Jeffer stole a glance or two (or three or four...) at Amy & quickly looked back at his plate.
When Golden Locks's arm curled around Amy's shoulders, Anna could see Jeffer's knuckles growing a dangerous white as he held on to the fork (& knife, which was very dangerous, indeed).

There was this longing, furious possession from him for Amy that Anna could just feel it.
It was that strong.

& she wondered why the people that mattered could not feel it.

"Maybe he's afraid." Adam softly said.
"Afraid of what? They've known each other since they both came to this world, for Lord's sake!" Anna exclaimed.
"Fear of rejection."
"Now why would Amy reject Jeffer? She's in love with him, too, just in case you didn't notice."
"Yes, but Jeffer wouldn't - doesn't - know."
"Then he's a fool."
"It's not his fault he fell in love." Adam said, even softer than before.
"But it is his fault for being so blind to what's in front of him. For practically the whole of his life! Wouldn't you-"

As Anna was going on & on of Amy's affairs, she did not realised that Adam was leaning in so dangerously close. Before she could finish her question, his lips crashed against hers.

She was so surprised. If Adam's eyes were still open, he would have broke off the kiss & laughed at how wide her eyes were.
But it wasn't.
His eyes were closed & Anna could not help but to admire the length of his eyelashes.
& how gentle & soft his lips were...

So she had no choice but to kiss him back.
Without realising it, his hand crept & covered hers.
Just holding it, as if protecting her hand from the outside world.

Anna moved forward & swung her free hand behind his neck, playing with his soft hair.
She missed this.
He missed this.

But the present was the present & they both realised that they loved moments like these spent together.
They loved each other.

Finally, the kiss ended & took in deep breaths.

Adam sent a prayer up to heaven.
Anna touched her lips, still tingling.

Their hands were still touching.
Suddenly, Adam took his hand off of hers.
"I forgot." he said with no explanation.

Before she could say anything, she found something shoved into her right hand.
"W-what is this?" she asked.
"A gift." he said non-chalantly. "Go on, see for yourself."

But she did not open her hand. She tried to guess the mystery present - was it a ring? Good heavens, she really was a dreamer. No, maybe another dandelion...

But dandelions were not heavy, she thought to herself. & not so small.
It was no bigger than her palm.

She looked up. Adam put his hand atop of hers & gently pried her fingers away from the centre of the palm.
As soon as the index finger was off, she squealed.

"It's the horse!"

He replied with a smile.

"The horse that Chinese boy gave to you."
His grin grew wider.

She ran her fingers over the face of it. She still remembered the details from that wonderful day - the sharp ears, the long nose, the line that seperated the teeth, the awkward shape of its jaw.

"Anna, are you... Crying?" she heard Adam ask incredulously.
Instinctively, she put up a hand to her eyes. She felt something wet & looked down at her fingertips.

She was crying.
But she was not sad...

"I'm happy." she simply said.

The two kept quiet as they began to walk their way to the Hut.
"You remembered?" she suddenly asked.
She flinched. Anna did not want to ask - again, she knew that men did not like to talk about their feelings.

Adam stopped walking & looked at her. It was already dark but she could feel the intensity from those grey eyes of his, looking at her brown ones.
She felt hot.

"I never forgot." he said.
& before she knew it, they were kissing again.

Adam broke off.
"Adam, wha-?"

Before Anna knew what happened, he threw the dandelion on to the floor, wrapped an arm around Anna's shoulders & walked away.