An open flame by Shanice, C Ward (essential reading .txt) 📕

for a job at least there will be no awkward graduation ceremony or picture day, just go in collect our grades and be done with it all. When Leila surfaced around noon accompanies by Mr impatient she had a very charming smile stretched across her face matching his. Hmm, odd that he is still here considering she doesn’t like to be attached to people, they headed into the kitchen grabbed some snacks and juice and headed on back not before a backwards glace from Leila in my direction with a wink. I just shook my head and buried my face into my book perhaps I could finally finish it.

 

As the sunlight poured across my bedroom floor indicating that it was Friday morning I pulled myself out of bed with a groan, I’d stayed up very late last night finishing off my book, but at least I had finished it and could return it to the local library, I preferred to take books out rather than buy them as Im not a risk taker and don’t like to waste money on something I may not enjoy, so this way I can enjoy a good book and have a healthy bank balance all at the same time- happy days. Leila decided to call a taxi to take us to college for our last day because she felt she needed an extra 30 minutes to get ready, after all she was up late too as Richard, formally known as Mr. impatient left at half eleven last night and she insisted on showering right after he left as well as this morning. I doubt she’ll be seeing him again although I can’t recall a time where I was on a first name basis with somebody she brang home, well, for somebody she brang home to sleep with. We rolled into college at precisely 8:55 so we had five minutes to get to our timetabled classroom to meet our tutor so that we can receive our grades for the overall course. We trailed up the long staircase to room 713 to be faced with balloons and cake and a stack of folders in the furthest corner, probably our portfolios and certificates. I sighed inwardly, I didn’t want a celebration at college, no fuss no party, I just wanted to get the hell out of here, I wasn’t the popular one in our college class, that was Leila and Steph Green our class reps, I preferred to sit at the back take notes and leave so I definitely didn’t want to spend any more time here than I needed to. I put on my poker face and walked through the double doors and falsely smiled at my class members, the same routine I had been pulling off for the Past two years.  Finally, Mr Wyatt came in and gave us a heart felt speech about how we have been a pleasure to teach for the past two years and how he will miss us all greatly and took it upon himself to hug each of us individually, when it was my turn I savoured the embrace as much as I could, mostly because I had a crush on him since the very second I saw him but also because I would never see him again. I soaked in his scent, hugo boss mixed with Lynx Africa by the smell of it his stubbly facial hair slighty grazing my face as he bent down to embrace me, his medium length dirty blonde hair falling around his face complimenting his hazel eyes fell to one side as he swooped down, after a brief tight hug he pulled away and offered a sincere smile. ‘’ Good luck in the future, I’ll miss teaching you very much, I wish you well’ he uttered his words so that I believed he was talking directly to me with sincerity in his words not just a mantra he has been repeating to everybody in his classroom. ‘’You too sir, honestly, I’ll miss you and this college too, I’ll never forget’’ I offered up a warm smile and went off in search for Leila who I’d last seen muttering away with Steph and Caleb. ‘’ How long do you think this will go on for?’’ I asked Caleb, he peeped down at me with his piercing emerald eyes and shrugged his shoulders, ‘‘ An hour or two I guess, who knows, everyone seems to be having a great time, maybe they’ll drag it out all day’’ I nodded and turned away from him, I hope this doesn’t last another hour. Mingling for another 30 minutes I began getting impatient and bored with everyone, I couldn’t seem more disinterested if I tried I was itching to know my grades now and I couldn’t help but bite my nails. My Wyatt called everyone’s attention to the front of the classroom. ‘’ So, you’re all here for one last time, pretty sad right guys..’ he laughed knowing people weren’t really that bothered by it all ‘Anyway, I’d just like to be the first person to congratulate you all, no matter what those papers say behind me, I know you have all worked very hard over these past two years, I should know as I’ve taught you throughout both, you all deserve the best in life, don’t settle for anything always aim higher because you’re all capable and worth the best..’ he offered everybody a warm sincere smile which made my heart melt. ‘So, this is it the moment you have all been waiting for, if you’d like to take a seat and I’ll call you up to collect your portfolio folders from unit 6 and your brown envelope containing your paper results and certificates, thank you for waiting, best of luck guys.’ He walked around the table he was standing in front of whilst we are sat on the nearest chairs placing our bags beneath the tables so that we could carry our things back with us.

It seemed like forever before my name was called, ‘Charlotte James’ I walked towards the table, probably too quick for anybody’s liking but who cares I was anxious and excited to find out. I shook Mr. Wyatt’s hand and took my envelope and folder and walked back to my seat, first I opened my portfolio, the front covered had been replace with a certificate stating I had achieved an A* for my unit 6 portfolio, I was chuffed, so I continued to open my envelope my results page was listed with 18 units to which I had a 10 A- A*’s, 7 B’s and one C. My certificate informed me that I had achieved an overall A*AA for my whole course, I was so please I practically hugged myself, I caught Leila’s eye from across the room and we thumbed up each other and grinned, definitely have to celebrate no doubt about it. As Mr Wyatt said another farewell, everybody began to pack away their belongings, so I pulled my bag out from under the desk, placed my envelope inside my folder and placed it neatly in my bag, I reached into the pocket to retrieve my phone which I hadn’t looked at since the day before, 3 messages and 1 miscall. I made a mental note to check who they were from once I got back home. Leila and I exchanged grades on the bus ride home, laughing and smiling with genuine happiness at our success and achievement. Once back in our small apartment we opened a few bottles of Kopparberg strawberry and lime poured them into a massive jug filled with ice put them through the blender to make an alcoholic slush and sat on the balcony with some music filling the air. ‘’ We should do something awesome to celebrate, sure clubbing is fun but it’s a bit low key now, especially as we’re 19 we should totally go on holiday somewhere abroad, soon.’ Leila suggested, I looked at her, she was dead serious, ‘As much as that appeals, I really want to start looking for a job in London, we can go down to the beaches if you like, but I do want to get a job as soon as possible.’ She looked across the balcony at all the nearby buildings and turned back to face me, ‘’Look, I already applied for a job in Oxford, I received a letter yesterday saying I’ve got the job, that’s why I’d like to go away abroad with you before we rarely see each other, you’re my best friend and I know London is your dream so that’s why I never said anything about my job offer, to be honest it’s the closest job to London I could find.’ I threw my arms around her, ‘congratulations on your job.. .’ I pulled away ‘So what is the job? We’ll talk about this holiday thing another time, I feel like today is a great day, we’ve both achieved great grades and now my best friend has got a job, I want to  hear all about it’ She smiled at me and nodded and went into full swing talking about Blackwell publishing and all about the application process. I was really happy for her, she seemed enthusiastic about this opportunity and I knew she wanted to go into publishing but I never realised she’d make it so soon, I was proud of her. Six slushes later, Leila received a phone call from her parents to which she headed off to her bedroom to talk to them which reminded me of my texts and miscall so I headed off in search of my bag. I had 1 miscall from my dad, Robert James, judging from the time of the miscall he must of wanted to wish me good luck, flicking through the text messages I clicked on the one from my dad first it was very short and brief, highlighting how busy he is,

 ‘Gd luck Lottie, I knw u’ll do well, u always do, love you lots, dad’

I replied a quick thank you message and told him about my results. Robert James was the CEO of James industries, he owned several businesses across England and Scotland and was looking to open a few smaller businesses in Northern Ireland. Although, my dad was very rich and young for his age that wasn’t enough to keep my mom had an affair when I was only six years old which resulted in a divorce and I ended up living with my mom and only saw my dad during the holidays. I loved both my parents dearly, despite what happened between them they both care for one another. Dad never remarried whereas mom did when I was 11, to Cary Matthews, he too was a wealthy man however he was not a CEO like my dad he was just a very good lawyer, he treated my mom right and took care of her and she did the same for him. My second message was from my mom,

 ‘ Hey baby girl, I know I don’t need to wish you luck because you’re a very clever girl and I know you’ve done yourself and us very proud, you should come over on the weekend we could go shopping and have a nice girls day out, bring Leila if you like we can talk all about your results then, Much love, BFN xoxo’

I typed a quick thank you message and stated my result as well as a confirmation of the plans for the weekend, I scrolled down to the third message on my phone and my heart skipped a beat, it was from Tobias,

‘Hi Charlotte, remember me? Anyway, I was wondering if you’d like to meet up sometime, perhaps grab something to eat or drink, up to you, be nice to see you again soon, just text me back when you can, speak later x’

I hugged my phone like a childish schoolgirl, he wants to see me again, I couldn’t