Operation Marriage

Chapter Five - Meeting the Parents

Chapter Five - Meeting the Parents

"Do you really walk this distance every day?" Devon complained as he trudged along behind me down the path surrounded by hedge with occasional gates to houses here and there on one side, and a small, quiet road with trees going along it on the other. "I mean, why are there fields? There shouldn't be fields here!" I loved the walk from school to my house, from my house to school. On the way to school I would find the trees and immediate connection to nature taking away the exhaustion of having to get up early, and on the way home it would rid me of any troubles or worries I had to face throughout the day. It was almost like my Safe Haven, my special place that I belonged in.

"Be quiet, it's only two and a bit miles from the school to my house. Besides, we live quite close to a small company that owns horses and gives horse riding lessons. Ironically, I can't ride a horse. I used to, when I was like, eight. The thought of riding a horse now seems to scare me. I like stroking the horses when I walk past their fence, or looking out of my window and seeing horses running around in the fields first thing in the morning, or even watching little kids learning how to ride on the ponies. Definitely not riding. I think I would die if I tried. You know, I'd fall off and break my neck or something." I said, running my hand through the hedge that acted as a fence for the front gardens of houses along this little country lane.

"I-I don't get it, we were in town a minute ago and now I'm in some country lane with fields in the distance? What is this sorcery? Are you a witch that's planning on killing me from confusion, perhaps the most painful and scary way to go?" Devon asked. He stopped when the little town ended and we were now just walking on an open road with fields with no fencing either side of us, filled with trees and occasionally a house here and there. "So, basically, I've been forced to marry a country girl?"

"Hardly," I snorted. "The main town is literally a five minute drive in that direction. But I suppose you could call me an outsider, I come from the slightly greener side of town." I then continued walking. Devon seemed to just stand and stare for a moment. I stopped and looked round at him, standing there in his jeans and t-shirt, his converse covered in little bits of dry mud and grass.

"I feel so out of place, like I've just exited LA and ended up in the Plains or something." He said, his mouth hanging open slightly as he took in the sights. Eventually he got his feet working again, so he caught up with me quickly.

"I suppose you could say that. And you look out of place. Especially with all that gawking. I bet some of the residents are looking out of their windows why I've brought such an outsider home." I said, only to get pushed by Devon. I staggered over to the right, but managed to get my balance. "Okay, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! But I guess you'd be saying the same if and probably when you drag me to your neck of the woods to meet your folks."

"Yeah, probably. Anyway, how much further? I think I'm going to die from all this fresh, country air. I'm used to the toxic fumes of cars and teens smoking cigarettes down in the high street." Devon said. "I mean, I like our flat and all, but sometimes I hate having to walk past teenagers taking illegal substances as I'm going to school. It stinks and is awful. Drugs suck." Devon said, holding the straps of his rucksack as he walked.

"Not long now. Anyway, I thought you would live in the rich part of town, you know, what with your father being a well known lawyer and your mother working in an important office literally ages away." I queried. Devon snorted.

"I do live in the so called 'rich' part of town! They all take drugs in my place! You'd think we could escape the boisterous teenagers by living in a lovely little block of flats that are nicely tucked away in the 'nice' part of town, but no. That's where they live!" Devon exclaimed, waving his hands about in the air for emphasis. It was quite an amusing sight. "And we're not rich, we just earn a bit more money than average. But seriously, I don't boast about it, though. I don't want to seem like the kind of kid that can talk about money as if it were toilet paper or something, because I know it's a sensitive subject for some people. I don't stoop that low because that's so low I would need to have harnessed myself so someone could pull me back up again after I said it."