Fen and Mara - Open Novella Contest 2019 Short List

Chapter 10

Mara takes the books she no longer needs from her bag and stows them away in her locker, throwing her gym shoes in on top. A familiar pair of black army boots comes into her vision.
"Hey beautiful!"

She stands up from her crouch and fluently moves onto her tippy toes to give Fen a kiss.
"I just know I'm gonna be sore all over tomorrow because of that stupid bird's nest they made us do," she complains. "I spent half the class hanging upside down!"

"I know," Fen smirks and he winks at her. "I really enjoyed the view."

Mara makes a face, poking his stomach. "Very funny."

After the weekend Fen came back to school and together they stand out: the daughter of the famous inventor and the boy who was kidnapped. Even now Mara notices how people are looking at them in the hallway of the school. Some people are blatantly staring, whispering to their friends. Fen acts like he doesn't notice, he just does what he wants and ignores everybody else. Mara wishes she had more of his confidence. When she was alone she already felt like she was being watched constantly by her peers, yet that has somehow doubled this week. Thank god it's friday afternoon and she doesn't have to return to school before monday.

"Will you be coming to watch the game tomorrow?" Fen asks as he puts his own gym shoes away in his locker. Fen's rugby team is playing a home game.

Mara nods. "Yes, of course. 9:30, right?"

"Yup." Fen leans back against the lockers and pulls her against him for a kiss.

Fen is not the first boy Mara has kissed, though with him kissing is taken to a whole other level. His hand is on the side of her neck, his thumb softly caressing her cheek. Mara would almost forget they're at school.
"I have to go. Reginald is gonna pick me up," she says softly when she pulls back from their kiss.

"Reginald. That is such a ridiculous name!" her boyfriend chuckles, loosely holding on to her hands. "Are you sure it's his real name?"

"You know, that's something I've asked myself too," Mara smiles. "I bet they get to choose a new name when they finish the butler academy. Like, a proper British name to go along with the stiff upper lip."

"I bet his real name is Wesley."

"Or Tim." Mara suggests, before tugging at Fen's hands. "I really have to go now. He's probably waiting already."

"Can't I come with you?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea..." This whole week Mara has been wanting to tell Fen what happened, yet she has no idea how to do that. What will Fen say when she tells him it was her dad who kidnapped him? He did something wrong, yet it turned out all right and Mara doesn't want her dad to go to jail. After all, he's all she has left.

"Why?" Fen coaxes her chin up with his finger so he can look her in the eyes. He's always so attentive, always wants to know what's going on inside her head. It's very sweet, though this time it's not so welcome. Mara is much too scared for losing him. What if he doesn't want to see her again when she tells him?

"I uh.... I haven't told dad about us yet," she says evasively.

"Oh? Are you ashamed about us? Your dad doesn't want you dating a punk kid?"
Fen squints his eyes, giving her a hard look. Mara bites her lip until he eases his thumb across her lips.
"Relax, I'm just teasing ya," Fen says, "I'm sure you have your reasons."
He leans in and plants a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

With a sigh Mara falls back against his body, sliding her arms around his waist.
"I barely saw dad this week. I didn't get a chance to tell him."
That much is true. Ever since that whole drama on wednesday night she hasn't talked to her dad. She saw him in the house, though they didn't say more than one sentence to each other. Mara has been having dinner alone or with Reginald. The butler is running the household like nothing ever happened and Mara hasn't talked to him either about the kidnapping. How do you even go about that? 'Hey, remember how you and dad kidnapped my boyfriend?' That's not exactly casual dinner talk.