Operation Marriage

Chapter Fifteen - How to Cliché

Chapter Fifteen - How to Cliché

"Mum!" I shouted loudly as Devon and I walked through my front door with Russell jumping up and down at us, barking happily at the fact there were people. Real life people. Devon patted him and hugged him, giving the mad dog the attention he wanted. "Can Devon stay round tonight?" I heard a clattering noise, confirming that my mum was in the kitchen, presumably cooking something.

"He's already here, isn't he?" My mum called through from the kitchen. Devon and I exchanged and look and started laughing slightly. "Hello, Devon! Of course you can stay round, sweetie! Holland will sort out somewhere that you can sleep. If you need anything you'll know where to find me." I smiled and went upstairs, Devon following me as I went into my room and sat myself down on my bed, my rucksack still hanging off one shoulder. Devon and I were both exhausted, since we had both just walked from Devon's block of flats; Devon wasn't a big fan of buses.

"I hope you don't mind me saying that your parents are horrid." I said as Devon placed himself next to me. He had taken his shoes off, so he tucked his feet underneath his legs, sitting cross legged on my bed. He shrugged and smiled slightly.

"I honestly don't mind. I'm going to agree with you." Devon said, sighing. He then looked over at me and smiled. "I really want to watch you force unpasteurized goat milk down their throats." He then laughed slightly. "Now I'm picturing you actually doing it...it's a funny image. Then I would send them wilted sunflowers to wish them well in the hospital." I smiled.

"Wilted? No, you'd have to send them dead ones, making sure they're all brown and crispy. And remember you would have to send them a lock of my strange yellow tips." I said. Devon smiled broadly and was about to say something when his phone went off. It was the piano instrumental from Titanic. I raised my eyebrows at Devon, who pulled his phone out and rolled his eyes. He put the phone down without ending the call, just so the music would carry on playing. "You like Titanic?"

"Well, it's a movie I don't own personally, but if somebody asked me to watch it with them I would gladly do so. I just think the music's really nice. And I mean the OST. Celine Dion doesn't really do it for me. But I like this soundtrack...you could really dance to it." Devon said, smiling and untucking his feet from his legs and standing up. "Did you know I can ballroom dance?" My eyebrows shot up further. Devon's smile grew into an amused smirk. I couldn't really picture Devon ballroom dancing. I couldn't actually picture him a suit, let alone dancing to beautiful music with a girl in a flowing gown. But I supposed being able to ballroom dance was another way that he tried - and probably failed - to win his parents over. "Come on, stand up." I blinked, before getting to my feet. I was wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt. I was by no means wearing appropriate clothing.

"But I don't-" I started, but Devon had already grabbed one of my hands and put the other on my back. He smiled and gestured for me to put my other hand on his shoulder. I did so, but it didn't feel very comfortable. Dancing isn't comfortable, though. Remember when you tried ballet when you were, like, six? I sighed and just gave Devon and questioning look. "You know, if my life gets anymore cliché I think I'm going to go insane." Devon just laughed.

"Cliché? Oh, you don't know the meaning of the word." Devon said. "Now step, step and twirl before I trip you up." I quickly stepped, stepped and then Devon and I spun around slowly and, I hope, gracefully. I was a bit  shocked, which made Devon laugh slightly. "You know, Holland, it was really nice of you to say those things to Lily...but will you be able to sort them out, y'know? She's so excited and I'd hate to tell her she can't ride. She's always wanted to ride a horse and be a jockey. It's her dream." Devon said as he guided me about my room, stepping gracefully like some sort of pro dancer; adjusting my posture, which was seriously uncomfortable.

"My dad will definitely teach her...I also promised to put you onto a horse because I know that will be funny to watch you try to ride." I said as Devon and I twirled around. I was stumbling slightly, but Devon was living up to his title as butterfly boy. Devon looked down at me, unamused. I smiled as he rolled his eyes and spun us both round.

"You told me you can't ride horses, though." Devon pointed out. I sighed.

"I can ride horses, I've done it several times, it's just I choose not to. I can't because I don't." I explained. Devon nodded slowly, his mouth open in a sort of half smile of confusion.

"Because that makes perfect sense, obviously." He said. We continued to twirl about until the song finished and Devon's phone went silent. We then just stood in the middle of my bedroom, the silence between us was somehwere between awkward and comfortable. What now? Devon seemed to read my thoughts, his caramel eyes looking me up and down, the light reflecting in his glasses slightly. He sat down on the edge of my bed and patted the space next to him. I sat. Devon was quiet as he pocketed his phone, before he looked up at me. "Holland Josephine Clarke, I have known you a very long time. I may not have been the most wonderful person in your accquaintance in that amount of time...so I guess I want to say that I'm really sorry and that I don't think you're a supreme loser..." He looked up through his glasses, a small smile on his face, before he whispered, "I actually think you're really cool. I mean, any girl that has a Star Wars poster above their bed is automatically cool in my book of awesome, but I genuinely think you're actually...um, nice."

"I guess I've been pretty nasty to you on previous occassions, and seeing as we seem to be pouring our hearts out to each other, I would like to take this moment to say that I'm sorry and that you too and actually nice." I said, smiling. "How about, on Monday at lunch, instead of hiding away with our journal, we go to the canteen and you sit with me and the other cool losers throughout the school at the 'cool losers and nerds table'. We're actually really awesome when you join in with our conversations. Oh, and as a heads up, we are also are a little bit lame, like, when you got 'married' to me, they all freaked out and they imagined it as some sort of Romeo and Juliet thing...this kid, Percy, recited the whole balcony scene to the table."

"I know the balcony scene speech." Devon said, blinking. I sighed.

"Same here. But Percy recited everything...even the actions, stage directions, page numbers and he even explained where his addition had been given a coffee stain from Mr Hickets on Janurary 15th at 2.37pm in his second year of Secondary School." I explained. Devon shrugged and looked at me mischeviously, a small but cheeky grin spread across his face.

"So I wouldn't sound totally crazy if I told you that my copy of Romeo and Juliet has a tear exactly three point two centimetres long on page sixteen from where I accidently dropped it in the school's English block when I was fourteen years old, and it landed at an angle of exactly ninety seven degrees, fifteen centimetres away from the wall?" He said. I stared at him for a moment, before putting a hand on his knee and leaning close to him. He bit his lip, expectantly.

"No, husband dearest, you don't sound totally crazy at all." I said, causing Devon to smile, "But you do sound completely insane."