A Pocket Full of Posies (Book 1)

Chapter Four

I would be lying if I said I had high expectations of what my degree course would be like, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I've just finished my first week of lectures and seminars, and I'm bored half to death. I was hoping the stereotype of civil engineering students learning about nothing but bridges would be diminished when I arrived at uni, but apparently not.

We've been reassured by countless lecturers in tweed suits that we will explore other things, but I can't say I'm holding out much hope. I'm not even sure why I chose this degree. I thought it'd be useful, but I'm wondering if choosing something more creative would've been better for my sanity. A degree in drumming or something, that would be cool. I hope that's a thing.

I'm pondering over my poor life decisions as I stroll in the general direction of my flat when a car horn almost makes me wet myself. A bright red Mini Cooper pulls up beside me, and I stop in my tracks. The passenger seat window is cranked down, and peering over it with a pair of round sunglasses on is Carmen. In the driver's seat sits Ava, who gives me a soft smile.

"Get in loser, we're going shopping," Carmen says with a wicked grin on her face. Ava laughs, and I've got no idea what's going on. Carmen lifts her sunglasses to the top of her head. "No seriously, we could really do with a bit of help. Ava's picking some stuff up from home, and we need a bit of muscle."

I shrug. Why not? I'm just flattered to have been referred to as muscle, really. Carmen hops out of the car and jumps back in, this time sitting in the back to allow me to squeeze myself into the passenger seat. I knew Ava lived quite locally, but I didn't realise she had her own car, let alone one this nice. Both the outside and inside of it is spotless, and as it's the classic model, it sure can't have been cheap. As we make our way out of the city and towards the suburbs, the girls start talking about Jamie's dip in the lake last week.

"Ava reckons he pissed off some dead guys, so they pushed him," Carmen says from the backseat. "What do you think. Ghost or no ghost?"

I shrug. I do a lot of shrugging, don't I?

"Do you believe?" Ava interjects. We stop at a red light, and her eyes bore into me.

I have to stop myself from shrugging for the umpteenth time. "In ghosts?" I ask, to which she nods. "I dunno."

Carmen announces that she does, but Ava says nothing. Her dark eyes continue to gaze into mine, and I get the feeling she knows I'm hiding something. Ever since she failed to read my aura, she's been spending a lot of time watching me. Then again, she stares at everyone. The traffic light turns green, she mutters a groovy, and accelerates forward.

It takes just over half an hour to reach Ava's house, and I initially think she's having us on. After driving through a narrow country lane for a few minutes, an old English country house begins to slowly emerge through the trees. Its beige bricks have yet to be exposed to the strangling grasp of the modern world, and being three storeys tall with too many windows to count, it's enormous. Foliage crawls up the house's walls, and from afar the vines resemble serpents clinging to the bricks for dear life. Ava pulls up outside the porch as if we've arrived at her house, and it takes me a moment to realise that we have.

"You live here?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"It's like, whoa, yeah, big, I know. People always say so."

I can't stop gawking. Carmen's mouth is agape, and as we glance at each other, I know she's wondering why Ava willingly lives in our small flat when she has Buckingham Palace barely half an hour away. That's sure as hell what I'm thinking right now, anyway.

Ava hums to herself as she leads us inside the building, and once I catch a glimpse of the main hallway, I actually think I might develop heart palpitations. In the centre of it is a grand staircase leading the way to the upper floors in a dizzying spiral, its wooden steps perfectly polished. Portraits of people wearing old-fashioned clothing and long beards frame the walls, and exotic plants and flowers cover any remaining floor space. For the second time, Carmen and I turn to each other in amazement.