Knives & Waterlilies

6. A Night Outside

*Toby's Point of View: Letter to Agony Aunt*

I have been rather busy recently and haven't had time to talk to anyone about how I feel. Maybe I ought to explain how things are going with Tanya.

Since that date thing with Adriana and Kevin, Tanya has not been able to stay off me. She's really nice, but it feels weird.

You see, she calls me her "boyfriend" when I have not even confirmed it myself. Did it ever occur to her to ask me where I thought we were in this relationship? Adriana did say we were going pretty fast. I barely spoke to her until she joined the newspaper club.

What irritates me about her being at the newspaper club is the fact she insists on me spending the most amount of time with her. I'm the editor, so I'm helping with everyone's part in the newspaper, it's not like the Agony Aunt section is top of my priorities.

And even though I appreciate that she hasn't made me hang out with her friends, it does bug me when she is with me, Adriana, Lily and Curtis. Kevin fits in but Tanya just doesn't. She's just too over enthusiastic about stuff...

Thing is, there is just no escape from her when you are in a boarding school. We have our own seperate lessons, then when I want to relax, she comes over to the common room and sits with us. In the evening, I just want to do my homework but she suggests we be "study buddies".

Even after dinner and it's time for us to get ready for bed, she starts texting me even though I barley have anything to talk about apart from my trip up the stairs.

I don't really get it though. Aren't relationships supposed to make people happy?

I could break up with her I guess, but I am still keeping it up. Maybe I will gradually learn to fall for her. Maybe I will finally see more than just a nice but slightly irritating girl. It hasn't really been long since we first started being together.

Why am I explaining all this now? I have never had a chance to before. She's always been there I guess... But also, something happened last night which has influenced all the plans I had for today.

It was a typical Friday night. The school are more relaxed on Friday nights. Our normal bed time is at 9:30-10 o'clock, but on Fridays they usually let us stay up for a little bit longer. But 10:30 is definately when we are supposed to be in our rooms.

I couldn't sleep though, I just lay in bed with my eyes wide open. There was an empty bed beside me, where Curtis usually goes. A chill from the open window came through making me wrap myself up even more in my covers.

Suddenly, I heard a knock. I wasn't even sure if it actually happened. Just in case, I covered my almost naked body with a dressing gown and opened the door.

I saw a pair of green eyes glare at me. "Lily, what are you doing here?"

She just smiled at me. "Is Curtis around?" she asked, ignoring my question.

"Nah, he's on the roof. He's been smoking a lot recently," I answered honestly.

"Oh dear, I hope he's not under a lot of stress..." she looked at the ground briefly, then glanced back at me. "What about you then?"

"I'm standing right infront of you aren't I?" I like being able to ask witty questions like that. Only friends like Lily get to see that side of me.

"Great! You can come with me now!" she grabbed my wrist.

"It's quarter past 11," I stated.

"Yes," she chuckled. "The perfect time to play some tennis."

"Wait, now?"