What the heart wants

Chapter 10

"Haha omgg..that really happened?!! " I manage to choke out between laughs.

"Yep! He tried to tell on you but when Mr Spellboy went to check the rooms, he thought you were in there; thanks to my amazing carving skills. He proper thought a bunch of pillows under a duvet was you!" Zara explains.

She begins to laugh so Rebecca takes over telling the story. You see, when stage 3 of operation midnight was going, Humza and I were in the dining room talking the whole time. Unfortunately, I missed all the fun, but I got to spend time with Humza, so it's a win.

"Oh and he has to pay for the broken sink" Rebecca continues "clean the girls and boys bathroom,  help serve breakfast and wash all the dishes."

We walk, arms linked to the hall to get something to eat.  We all have cereal and some toast (served by Gibby himself). Afterwards,  we are ushered on to the coach to go to the River Piddle in Puddletown (real place people. It's in Dorset..look it up). Anyway, we got split into groups and I was with Zara. We go to the edge of a field in Piddlevalley school where it's the closest site to the source of the river. The sky is clear, blue and bright. Not a single cloud in sight which means the scorching sun rays shine directly on to our already boiling heads and sweaty faces. We have only been out here for a couple of minutes and some people are sweating buckets already! It's so hot.

"You are going  to investigate how pebble size changes throughout the course of the river so the first task is to pick a rock,  measure it and record the measurements."  Miss Thomson explained.

I see a few girls cringe at the fact that they have to get their hands dirty. Especially the ones who thought it would be a good idea to get a fresh manicure and acrylic nails before coming to do dirty work in a river. Stupid. Once we finished measuring the area, width, depth and pebble sizes, it was time to go. We all rushed back to the coach, our feet squelching inside our wellington boots. The first thing I do once I get on the coach is kick off my pink wellies and squeeze my socks dry. I look around and most people are doing the same. As a result, the coach reeks of river water, sweaty socks and damp feet. We drive back to the house and are lead to a classroom among the trees in the forest.  The second group are already there waiting for us.  When I step inside, I immediately lock eyes with Owen. He smiles at me and mouths hi. I don't get to reply as Mrs Thomson is telling me to take a seat. We exchange notes, and the second group heads off to the middle course of the river. Soon after, we are free to go. The boys rush straight into the hall to play table football, no surprise there. I pass by Owen who is leaving the hall with his friends and I say hi. He looks at me with a blank expression on his face.

"Aren't you gonna say hi back!" I yell jokingly.

He smiles so faintly that if I wasn't staring at his lips I would have missed it. He turns around when his friends call for him. They almost look irritated at him for stopping to talk to me. Although, he didn't even talk. I watch his retreating body intensely as I try to figure the boy out. I feel an arm around my shoulder and look to the side to see Rebecca looking sadly at me. And that's when I notice my left cheek is wet. She hugs me and walks to a shaded picnic table. Once we get there, she looks at me but I shake my head.  She nods and keeps quiet.  It's great to have a friend like Rebecca,  she understands when I don't want to talk, she doesn't force me and I'm grateful. We sit in silence appreciating the amazing art of mother nature.  But no matter how much I want to clear my mind,  right now its impossible. Oh look at the Owl sitting peacefully on the tree. Owl starts with 'Ow' just like Owen. Ahh shush brain! I turn my attention to the girl being chased by a boy. They look so happy.  Reminds me of Owen and I and how we play around and chase each other.  Grr stop! I look up at the blue and white striped umbrella shielding us from the sun. Owen's favourite colour is blue.