It sounded hopeful, and Matie knew more about men than I ever will. She also understood me.
“You’re honest and sensitive and really sincere. You’d never play games.”
“But he’s honest and sincere too, and doesn’t seem like the game-playing kind.” I remembered how he’d talked to me that day by the school gate. The way his grey-blue eyes held mine.
“Maybe, but think, Angelina. He’s probably reeling from all the attention. It’s a lot to get used to for a sixteen-year-old, suddenly being famous. How can he tell if girls are interested in him or in his reputation? So he’s just dating casually and not getting close to anyone until things calm down and he can find his feet.”
My sister was right, I could see it. He was never arrogant, even with all the groupies that followed him around. And they were awful. Every time he was out of class someone came up to him wanting a selfie. Osian was always nice and kept things light then legged it to the library and hid in there. He played the field, but he never gloated or bragged about it. It was the girls who did the bragging.
Watching quietly from the sidelines, I got to know him a little better each day. He’d always looked gorgeous, but now I saw – really saw – how he behaved: he was gorgeous on the inside too. I had fancied him; now I admired him, I respected him. I fell in love with him.
And the love made it so much worse waiting for him to find his feet and start wanting a sincere relationship.
“How long will it take?” I questioned my sister next time she came home.
“I don’t know. But for now, why don’t you focus on your studies? Your A-levels are coming up next year and if you really are set on plant science—”
“Horticulture,” I corrected her.
“Whatever, but you need good grades to get into a decent uni, so concentrate on studying. Don’t follow him around waiting for him to notice you. Guys hate that. Nothing so pathetic as a hanger on, a girl who’s alwaysthere.” My sister’s voice deepened on the last word.There! “He knows where to find you when he wants you.”
It made a lot of sense.
So I stayed away from him, never happened to accidentally-on-purpose be in the same side of the library. I even left First Aid Club to avoid him, even though it was my favourite and run by Miss Gibson.
Hopefully, he would come to his senses sooner or later.
I could wait.
For a year and three months, I waited. Tricia continued to bring me gossip, and like an idiot I listened to every detail which seemed to prove that I’d aimed too high, that he was far out of my league.
Eventually, school came to an end. Our A-level results came out, and everyone went their separate ways.
Tricia applied to Kingsway College to study journalism – no surprises there; she was made for gossip.
Osian was leaving education to focus full time on his tennis, which meant he was staying in London.
And I… I had an offer from UCL, one of the best universities in the country. I turned them down.
The UK had 144 universities that offered courses in Plant Science, Horticulture, Forestry, Landscape Restoration and Soil Science. I picked Queens College Belfast.
Northern Ireland was as far from London and Osian as you could get.
As it turned out, not even Antarctica would have been far enough.
Wherever I went, I couldn’t seem to leave Osian James behind. News of him, pictures and video clips followed me. I just had to type his first name and Google guessed the rest and reeled off endless results.
On my graduation day, three years later, I was getting ready in my cap and gown, one arm pushed through the sleeve, when my phone ding-dinged with a text.
TRICIA:OMG did you hear?
Tricia and I were no longer pretending to be best friends or even ordinary friends, so it was unusual to hear from her. The short message had a link to a news article.
OSIAN JAMES WEDS AMERICAN TENNIS STAR
After a much-publicised romance the two young champions, both 21, tied the knot in a private ceremony in Santa Fe. Osian first met Kirsten Sheringham at the US Open last year and they have been inseparable since. “It’s the happiest day of my life,” the groom said as he beamed into the cameras and held his beautiful bride in his arms. The newlyweds will be spending a short honeymoon in New Mexico before heading to Spain for the Davis Cup.
And a minute later another text.
