A/N: This is it, guys! I've refreshed the cover art - saw this and thought it fitted the novel better :) Anyway, onto the chapter! :P
As we stroll along the beach, hand in hand, a wash of contentment and peace floods me for the first time in the chaos and upheaval of the past few weeks. The children have run ahead, eager to bask in the final few days of summer, before school starts in the following week, leaving Sarah and I time to process the madness that this particular summer had become. It has certainly been one to remember.
After fleeing England in the wake of Caroline Parris' threat, the French part of Sarah's degree finally came in useful; we chose to settle in the South of France, where she had spent several holidays as a child, in an idyllic, spacious cottage about 5 minutes from the beach. With an excellent reference from the school, Sarah has been able to secure a position as Head of Languages in the local Secondary school, and will teach both French and English. All her children (having been taught some French by Sarah back in England) have now become fluent in the language, and have made lots of friends ready to start school next week.
It turned out that, having thrown caution to the wind - Sarah introduced me to her children as her girlfriend - I've gelled into the Proctor family as if I were always there. The age gap doesn't bother us; her children treat me like a super cool, elder sister (who also happens to sleep with their Mother when they're asleep, but they don't need to know that!).
However, I, on the other hand, have not been so settled. This morning, my GCSE results were released, and I'll have to wait 3 days whilst they're being airmailed to me (Mrs Parris promised to forward them on). Then I'll have to make my final decision - should I stay, or should I go?
My girlfriend has been very vocal in this department - I don't know enough French to go to College here (Sarah has been teaching me, and I've grasped the basic phrases, but I'd never survive a classroom!), but I don't want to go home for 6th Form. I can't lose her: it'd break my heart. After several heated arguments, we finally conceded that I should stay, if possible, and have been contacting International Schools to see if I can study there. The closest one is an hour’s commute each way, but the sacrifice is worth it - to be with the woman, and children, I've come to love. This is my family.
I'm still in touch with my friends back home - Skype is a wonderful invention - and I do miss them dearly. We are gonna go back and visit (maybe in October, certainly for Christmas), but I don't think we'll ever go back for good. Seeing things in the sunlight has shown us a new perspective on our lives - here, we can walk, hand in hand, down the high street without a care in the world. Everything has this...transparency...that we never got back home; there are no restraints, we aren't a teacher and a student behaving inappropriately. Here, we can just be a couple in love, and I love it. I wouldn't swap it for the universe.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Sarah asks, interrupting my thoughts and hurling me back to the present. She leans down and kisses my temple, holding me in her arms. I'll never get over how wonderful it feels to be able to show affection to, and be shown affection by, the woman I love in public.
"Oh, you know, just thinking about stuff..." I trail off, unsure of what to say. There is still a little tension between us from the argument about school last night, and it hangs in the air above us like a raincloud.
"You know what, kiddo, it'll all work out in the end, you'll see." Sarah says, smiling weakly. "Look, I've been thinking...I'm not going to force you to go back - it wasn't fair of me to drag you all the way out here, and then try and shove you back the second you begin to adjust. I just don't want your education to suffer - I refuse to let it slide; you're a very bright young woman, far too intelligent to start working at 16." she concludes with a sigh.
"I've also been thinking," I start as soon as she finishes.
"A rare event in 'Abbyland'" my girlfriend retorts drily, sarcasm dripping in her voice.
"Shut up!" I say, mock scowling. "I know we're still unsure about what's gonna happen in September, and I have no idea about the logistics of it, but I've decided that I want to teach." I say, smiling hopefully at my girlfriend. My smile is met with a grin of surprise and delight.
"It's just...I've had such amazing teachers, especially you, and it's inspired me to give something back. I want to be a teacher - and over here, I can do a diploma after a degree, so I could pretty much start working at 21." I finish, my own smile widening.
"Wow Abby - I'd never have guessed that. Not that I don't think you'd make a great teacher, I always saw you pursuing Psychology, as that’s where your talent really lies - even if English should be your one true love – but if that’s what you want to do, then I’m behind you 100% of the way!" My girlfriend says, laughing and pulling me into an embrace. Just then, her phone beeps.
"Oh," She says, looking at her phone. "It's an email from Caroline Parris" She tilts her phone to show me the message:
Dear Sarah and Abby,
I trust all is well in stunning France - it's been p*ssing down non-stop over here! Anyway, since it's just cruel to make you wait another few days for them, I've taken the liberty of scanning Abby’s results before posting them to you.
Enjoy - you both should be immensely proud!
Goodbye, Caroline xxx
We open the attachment and, true to her word, all my results are there. Laughing, we both bounce up and down with excitement, breaking to kiss passionately, before studying them in greater detail. A slap over the head here, a loving kiss there – in news as shocking as the ‘Fall of the Berlin Wall’, I’ve not done too badly. Overall, the perfect end to a life-changing summer.
Yes, it's still very complicated between us. Yes, there's still so much to resolve. Yes, I may still have to go to England, and we'll be separated for another 2 years. But at this moment, we both know that our love for each other will conquer all the problems we encounter; we've been through so much together, there isn't anything that can get in our way.
Because, after all, doesn't everyone deserve a little piece of happiness?
***The End***
A/N 2: Awww, the fluff-o-meter has officially broken due to the amount of fluff this ended on! Well, there you have it – this really IS the end this time! Congratulations for getting this far through all 25 chapters of my drivel (on my Word Document, it has totalled 23456 words, minus my long-winded A/Ns – what are the chances!); I feel your pain, not in the least for these not-so-little bold bits that appeared on pretty much every chapter – A/N should be renamed A/R = Author’s Rants! ;) Nah, I have really enjoyed writing this (dunno if anyone has enjoyed reading it, but let’s not get hung up on that!), and I can’t believe what started off as an immature joke turned into a full-length story! My first novel, published on the tinterweb! Oooh, need something else now to keep me good for the summer – any bright ideas? All welcome through the usual forms! So yeah, “this is the end” (#skyfallquote) – thanks for sharing my journey, and I leave you with one final, teeny favour (for which you will be rewarded with my eternal gratitude, and anything virtual you like/need – cookies, hugs, functioning brain...!) – please could we get this to 1000 reads? That would make my year! Although if @smudgewatch, @crazyturtlefrog et al were to do so much as DARE mention this to the ELC at KA, then I can thoroughly assure you, I would “come in the black of some terrible night” (what up #thecrucible reference – I’m on FIRE today!), and you, my friends, would actually be toast. Mwhahahaha! So, without further ado, I bid you farewell for now, and will see you with a new piece of insanity in the near future! Until then, all my love forever, Amiee xxx
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Echoes Down The Corridor
Teen Fiction***I've created a Pintrest board for this story - @xace28x and the EDTC board, so check out if you're interested*** What happens when Abby Williams, just an average teenager, falls in love with her beautiful English teacher, Sarah Proctor? And what...
