Winter Illusions

Chapter 3 (Nova)

I rise from the bed and step into the hallway. Let my mission begin of finding and eligible man to be Mara's boyfriend. I scan the corridor.

Him? Nope. Oh god no not him, what kind of a sister would I be if I set her up with him??! He looks horrible, no. 

 As I begin to give up and realise why Mara doesn't date, all these men look like they would not treat her as a wonderful girl like Mara should be treated. Suddenly, I see a handsome young boy helping up a child who fell over with a soft smile on his face. He lifts the child up and brings him back over to his family. It seems that there are still some good kind men in this world. He would take such great care of Mara I can already picture it, and I know, he could be terrible inside. But I know what a real, genuine smile looks like, and helping up a child? That is so sweet and he could have chosen not to do so yet he did. Now, to talk to him. This might be a little forward of me but how else will I get him and Mara together? And I've grown to learn if you don't ask or be confident in yourself you'll never get anywhere in life.

I slowly begin to walk over, whispering phrases of confidence to myself as I am about to talk to a random boy in Mara's school. I have grown confident in myself since I left Josh, yet this situation is something I never thought I'd do or even be able to do. 

I reach him and begin to speak as I had planned while walking over here, "Hello! I am Nova, do you mind if I talk to you quickly?" 

"Oh um, sure?" He says, seeming puzzled.

"Oh I am Mara's sister, I forgot to mention that. I just wondered if I could ask you a few questions please," I feel my face turning red, this will be very embarrassing if he says no. 

"Ohhh I know who you are know! Mara has talked about you before. I am Charlie," He says, giving me his hand and I take it and shake it. 

"We can walk down to the banquet if you'd like while we talk?" I ask, feeling awkward just standing there.

"Sure! Let me just go tell my family," He replies, walking over to his parents and I see an adorable little girl who runs up to him and hugs his legs. I feel my face soften at that sweet display, as he hugs her back.

He walks back over and we begin walking through the school towards the banquet room.

I struggle with what to say, when I settle on asking, "How do you know Mara?"

"Well, she's in my year and I often have lots of classes with her. She always seems to sit at the back though, I don't speak to her often but I always see her," He says.

This is interesting information. He notices where Mara sits, and always sees her? From what I've noticed from Mara she seems invisible to others in class.

"Hmm okay, what do you look for in relationships?" I cringe as I say it, knowing it's an odd question.

His face scrunches, but he responds nonetheless. "Well, I look for a gorgeous, sweet, thoughtful girl who can stand up for herself and has some attitude but at heart is the sweetest. Maybe, she reads and is a brunette, who is often quite grumpy." 

Now that sounds like a man for Mara, that is quite similar to Mara surprisingly.

"Thank you, what are some random facts about you?" After this I'll tell him why I'm really asking him these questions, however I have a feeling he might already know why. I am not the best at being discreet.

"Well, I love reading and books, I play football and I want to be an author or maybe scientist when I'm older," he pauses. "Wait, why exactly am I even telling you this? I never tell anyone that. Is this an interrogation or something?"

He asked this as we enter the banquet room, and I guide him towards a seat by one of the long tables.

"Well. I know this is weird, but Mara is very opposed to having a boyfriend, and well I was hoping to maybe find someone suitable at her in her year that might be a match?" I look away saying this, ready to run. Honestly this is so embarrassing and I am prepared for Mara to kill me for this.

"Oh I see! Well I'm not completely opposed to the idea, Mara seems sweet!" He says, completely taking me by surprise. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

He continues to explain a little bit more about himself, how he has one younger sister and is British and Swiss, he grew up in England however was sent here to Switzerland to go to school. He hates noodles, loves steak, his favourite flavour of ice cream is pistachio. It's honestly quite interesting to learn about him, and the more I learn the more I like him. He seems like he will be just what Mara needs, and you never know what their relationship will turn into and how it will help Mara. That girl needs to get out of the comfort whole she is living and experience the world a little bit. Hopefully this is the nudge she needs to start doing that. I just need her to be open to the idea of this and at least give it a chance. 

Speaking of Mara, I see her and Cleo walk in and wave her over. Her face turns from laughter to confusion at seeing me sitting next to Charlie. I give her a knowing wink and see her turn a light shade of red and roll her eyes, trying to not shout across the room at me. I know this will be good for her, one day she'll thank me for doing this I hope, and fingers crossed it all works out well. I slightly dread her coming here, scared of what she might say to me. 

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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and you finally get to meet Charlie! I know these chapters are a little slow and short, but don't worry it picks up next chapter. I really hope you enjoy and I'm sorry it has taken me a while to update I have been really busy with school, so that will be why! But here enjoy loves x

Word Count: 4063

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