My Golden Life

Chapter 49

I had never felt this overjoyed in my entire life, who knew love felt like this. To say I was in love with someone was something I would never imagine myself saying. Artie never left my mind, and whenever I thought about him, I could feel my heart start to race. How is it that it took me so long to realise my true feelings for him? I guess my mind didn't want to believe it, as I would probably then worry too much about whether or not he felt the same way. Actually, I did start to question that. I knew he had feelings for Guinevere, but the way he was around me made me think otherwise. 

Ughh, love is so complicated. Why does it mess with you every hour of every waking day? Still, I didn't want this feeling to ever go away. After the ball, I kept having dreams about him, specifically about what our first kiss would be like. I dreamed of it being super romantic, under the stars with the moon shining down on us. Artie's hand would gently stroke my cheek while his eyes stared deeply in mine.

"You don't know how much I love you, Katie," He would tell me. "You mean everything to me."

"You mean everything to me too," I'd say. "I love you with all my heart."

Then, the kiss would happen. I'm going to be generic when I say that sparks would obviously fly. My arms would be found wrapped around Artie's neck, pulling him closer. Sadly, this was when I would wake up. I longed to go to sleep at night just so that I would experience that moment over and over again. Although, as much as I loved those dreams, I wished that they would become a reality.

 I wanted to tell Artie how I felt, but as I said before, I didn't know if he even felt the same way. Plus, the thought of him rejecting me was something that made me anxious. I was extremely frightened about what he would think of me if I told him who I really was; I was adamant that my Goldilocks past would ruin everything. I did try to not think about it, but I can't lie; it was tremendously hard.

With the ball being over, the start of the school holidays officially began. At Worcestershire, that meant students were able to travel back home to be with their families. For those who couldn't go home, they stayed in the student village grounds. Since I didn't have a home to go to, I, unfortunately, was stuck at the school, which made me not only annoyed but upset as well. I could have gone to Far Far Away and spent Christmas with Shrek and the others, but I didn't want them to know about my circumstances and what had gone one in my life since I last saw them. 

Practically everyone went home for the holidays, and only a handful of people like me stayed behind—a handful as in twenty students. I was not looking forward to it at all, three whole weeks of nothing to do. But then, as I was walking back to my dorm room after saying goodbye to Isabel, Merida, and Lucy, I saw Artie heading up the pathway in front of me.

"Katie? What are you still doing here?" He asked.

"I'm staying here for the holidays." I sighed.

"How come?"

"My...err...parents have gone travelling," I lied. "And they won't be back home in time."

"Oh, that's a shame. Look on the bright side, though," Artie said. "At least I will be here to keep you company."

"What? You're staying too?"

"Yea, I've always stayed here during school breaks."

"Don't you go home? I questioned. "What about your parents? Doesn't your mum and dad want you home for Christmas?"

"My mum sadly passed away when I was born," he said quietly. "And I explained to you before, my dad and I aren't that close."

I gasped at the new information I was hearing. I felt so sorry for Artie. The fact that he never got the chance to know his mum broke my heart. It made me glad that I got the opportunity to know and spend time with my mum while she was alive, I cherish every memory I had with her, and I will never take that for granted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Artie. That must have been horrible for you growing up."

"It was," He nodded. "But I know she wouldn't want me to be sad. I have a small painting of her, so I know what she looked like."

"You'll have to show me sometime, " I said.

"I mean we have the whole Christmas break," He smiled. "And with little people here, we can spend more time with each other without no disruptions."

The very thought of that made me jump for joy, in my head, that is. This was the perfect opportunity to confess my feelings for him, and possibly have a first kiss happen.

"That's fantastic!" I cheered. "This is going to be great."

"With you here, it will be." He chuckled, making me blush. "Listen, I've got a TV in my room, you want to kick start the festive period by binge-watching some movies?"

"Definitely." I laughed. "I've got popcorn in my room if you want some."

"Of course. Movies and popcorn go hand in hand." He gleamed.

So we both headed to my dorm to collect the popcorn and then went over to his building. I was super excited about what would occur over the next three weeks. I knew for sure that this was going to be the best Christmas ever.