major tom

chapter 6: spring

[tamino's pov]

before i knew it, spring was settling in. the rain had stopped and the ice had melted away, my heart was warmer than ever. 

lazuli would meet me at the river bank before classes, after classes and before bed. she would always have a story for me, most of which dramatised, lined with the fantasy she'd create to spice them up -- like the story about the old man who collapsed and was wakened by a boar licking his face. 

sometimes we never spoke. she would lay curled on the grass reading her raunchy literature while i sat finishing up on work. we would often drift off our own ways knowing we'd meet again sometime that day. 

there was one particular week where i had a lot of studying to do and she had a lot of work to catch up on. it led to us breaking contact for days and by friday i had assumed she'd be mad at me for disappearing. however, all she did was knock on my head with her knuckles and ask me to help her with a box of stacked paper.

charlie had been busy with his own business -- his classes, club work and his friend peter ... or tom?

he was almost never in the room which made it easier for me to meet davit and ammon. the first few encounters were uncomfortable, eerie almost but we eventually eased down. davit would almost purposefully bicker with ammon to get some life into him but it was to no avail. the man would always be lost in thought. 

incredibly deep thought that would he would instantly come out of every time i would mention charlie. 

yet, i couldn't find it in me to pity ammon. 

the first day of spring break i spent packing to get home. charlie had decided to spend his two weeks with peter or tom down by a village close to the sea, davit and ammon were off to their aunt's and i had promised my mother a visit. 

lazuli didn't make an attempt to stop me which brought a grey cloud over my head but i pushed it aside given how stupid that was. 

"you should write to me," we stood by the train platform, my suitcase clasped by her hands in front of her as my hands sat in my pockets.

"you'll be gone two weeks and it's two towns over," she snickered. 

"two towns? do you have any idea where i'm from?" 

"gosh save it for when they stop you at security." 

the train honked signalling the last call till departure thus i grabbed my luggage.

"give me a kiss," i whispered to which her eyes widened. 

"people are watching, they gossip like anything in this village --"

"that's all well, they'll know we're an item." 

"is this you're eccentric way of telling people i'm fooling around with a private school boy." her frown made my chest rumble with laughter. 

her mouth left a soft sensation on my cheek and just as she stepped back i caught her lips with my own. i could sense the panic off of her which ultimately died down. 

she did write to me the following week, a short letter filled with intense detail about her day -- including what her morning tea tasted like. i pressed the letter between the pages of my favourite book and shoved it on the bookshelf in my room. a place it would never leave. 

home seemed the same, nothing much had changed. the dogs were fine, the walls were still there, flowers blooming. i enjoyed the flowers, so much so i couldn't help but press a few between a book to take back for lazuli. 

i was acting ridiculous and my brother could see it. 

"you're pressing flowers between your math book." 

"so?"

"a little silly isn't it?

"how so?" 

rami raised an eyebrow before muttering, "you're pressing flowers between your math book daft basta--" 

"they're for a friend," i insisted. 

"ammon?"

"no of course not--"

"charlie then?"

"a lady friend!" 

rami didn't say much after that but his smirk sat screeching at me, obviously laughing at my pitiful display of ... whatever this was. 

what was this? 

i hadn't thought much about it, neither had lazuli said anything. not that she was supposed to give us a title, i assumed i had to be gentlemanly and ask her before anything. 

the magnitude of the situation hit me hardest when my mother spoke to me one evening after dinner. our local imam and his family had us over for dinner when she trudged towards me during tea, her mouth curved in a pleasant and excited smile, "how do you like her?" 

"who?" i took a sip of my tea. 

"the imam's youngest, she's around your age only a few years younger," my throat clamped shut, choking me and my tea. 

"like her--" cough, "for what?"

my mother chuckled, eyes warm with delight, "for marriage of course." 

that night, the morning after and the train ride back to school was spent drowning in my own thoughts. i had never felt so trapped, it came to a point where i almost told my mother about lazuli -- regardless of the shock and sheer disappointment that would ruin her. 

marry? i had university to worry about!

aleena, the imam's youngest was a fine lady. a very proper and slightly stuck-up lady but she meant well. i had known her for years, watched her grow from an angry child to a frustrated teenager. she wouldn't enjoy being married to a private school stoicist. 

but lazuli, bright and self-assured lazuli, would she enjoy being married to a private school stoicist? 

"your forehead looks like a bulldog's neck, all wrinkled," lazuli's sharp eyes followed mine as i grabbed her hands, in a manner similar to the one i said goodbye in. i did my best to hide my thoughts but she caught on, "what's the matter?" 

"i brought you flowers." 

"stole from mother nature for me?" her eyes shined, lower lip jutting out, "thank you hunter-gatherer." 

"they're from my mother's garden,"

"oh you sweet boy." 

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