17 Made Mistakes

⋆30༄ Somewhere else

Hello! Enjoy another chapter ❤

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Davina's POV

A yellow tulip has been the only thing that's haunted my mind for the last twenty-four hours. I couldn't think about anything else. Obviously, it might have been coincidental — it's not like my mother is the only person who knows about the existence of yellow tulips, plus, it seems like she receives them from someone, not buys them. Also, I don't see why my mother would visit Beverly's grave. Last time I checked, she didn't know about the unfortunate girl, and since Will and his family have been out of touch, there was no one that could potentially feed her the information.

At this point, after all the bickering with my mum, I don't even want to bother asking her any questions. I know where it will get me. I'll be spending the rest of my holidays at grandparents', and I'd rather avoid that. I haven't been there since. . . Well, a long time.

Another reason why I'm not eager on trying to decipher the yellow tulip mystery is because I've got other things I need to sort out first. I've got Mason to talk to (I figured I shouldn't be having more fun with him since Nathan swept me off my feet anew and reentered my life), I've got the 'threats' to be vigilant about, Connor to possibly make closer friends with, and talking about friends, I really need to contact Anaya. On top of the problematic cake, there is the maraschino cherry - William Reyman, who regardless of his promise of calling the police on me, was still occupying my mind. Not because I couldn't live my life without him. I just couldn't bear the thought of him living his own in the misery that something has forced upon him. I just need to know what happened on that day. I really need to.

The issue is, when you've got too many things gnawing at your mind, you become exhausted and overwhelmed, eventually finding yourself not caring about any of them, therefore, I'm sat on the sofa, flipping through another page of the book that I've been reading.

And then the door bell rings.

I shut the volume, put it aside, and trudge towards the entrance. "No way." My mouth pries open when I swing the door ajar. "What are you doing here!?" I squeal, excited, bouncing in little jumps of exhilaration.

"You really must've missed me." Anaya shakes her head, amused. "Don't get too cheerful. I'm here for only one day."

"It doesn't matter." I can't help the beaming. "I was actually thinking about giving you a call. Please, come in." I move aside so she can make it into the house. "How did you know where to come anyway?"

"I've messaged Nathan. I'd figured that since me and him go to the same classes, and he's your ex-boyfriend, it'd be better to get a hold of him rather than Will." She follows after me into the kitchen. "Has he contacted you at all since then?"

My loud snort fills the air. "No."

"That sucks, man." Anaya leans against a worktop. "Any idea what happened to him?"

"Nope." The 'p' sounds hollow as I pop it. To avoid the eye contact, I busy myself with making tea.

"You don't want to talk about him, do you?" She quizzes knowingly.

Another curt no escapes my mouth. Then I add, "Why are you staying here for only one day?"

"My family has planned the whole holiday." She pretends to shoot herself in the head. "I know I'm an adult now, and I can do whatever I want, but I don't want to bail on them regardless."

"Understandable."

"So what are we doing today then?" She reaches for the cup.

"No idea." I scratch my the back of my neck. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Actually," she smiles. "I might do."

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"No! Get away from me!" My humorous scream cuts across the length of the lake. I use my arms and legs to propel vigorously.

The water glistens and shimmers in the sun like a liquid gold. Sometimes there is a fraction of a rainbow forming above the splattering surface as the light strikes the soaring droplets.

"Come here, silly!" Nathan springs in the aqua density, making his body extend forwards, allowing him to reach me. His mighty chuckle becomes quite distant and drowned out as he pushes my head underwater.

I ease my body deeper into the lake, effortlessly escaping his gentle grasp. Having swum my way out of his hands, I pop my head above the rippling surface, finding myself right behind him. "You shouldn't have done that!" My chortle rings out in the air whilst I launch myself onto his back, using all of the force that I've been endowed with to push him under the water but my attempt is futile. Instead, I just mold to his body, as if I was a baby monkey holding tight onto its mother's neck.

Nathan laughs heartily. "That was embarrassing." He chuckles anew, and before I manage to protest, he leans backwards and makes the both of us end up in fervent splashes.

As we keep having our fun, all I can think of is how grateful I am for Anaya coming up with the idea of contacting Nathan. Before we left my house, she had rung him, and he offered to meet us with Kai, with who Anaya was now chatting on the lakeside.

Regardless of how quickly my tattoo is healing, and how dainty it is, Nathan still made me cover it with some Vaseline and cling film, which I then taped to my body. 'Better safe than sorry,' he said, and I couldn't argue with that.

I haven't had the time to tell Anaya that I'd met with Nathan more than once, so when we arrived at the closed off lake, she was downright confused about our conversation regarding the bonfire that we previously had had. I quickly filled her with all the details whilst the boys were spreading the blankets and got the drinks out of the boot of Kai's car, because yes, for once Nathan wasn't driving and could have a beer — not that he does alcohol really often.

"Shall we have some rest?" Nathan's voice brings me back to reality.

I divert my eyes to his floating body. It looks like a balloon tied to the bottom of the lake, and I find myself hating it. "Sure," I murmur quietly, but my thoughts are already somewhere else. Somewhere in 2017, in Ambleside, by the waters of Windermere.

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