Betrothed by Wanda Wiltshire Page B

right. Our place is on the third floor and I share a room with my sister. We have a spare room but it’s smaller and neither of us will give in and take it.’ I smiled as I recalled the ongoing battle. ‘You should see her half of the room; it’s covered in posters of her latest celebrity crush.’
    ‘Her celebrity crush?’
    ‘The latest famous guy she’s in love with.’
    ‘And you, Marla—do you have a celebrity crush?’ Leif smiled.
    ‘You’re my only crush, Leif. If I could, I would have a poster of you on my wall. But I can’t take a photo of what’s only in my mind.’
    He looked at me strangely for a moment, then carried on. ‘Caringbah—where is that located?’
    ‘It’s in Sydney,’ I said, surprised he didn’t know. He was my dream after all.
    ‘Australia?’
    ‘Of course.’
    He looked satisfied, his expression resolute as he said, ‘This is not working, Marla. I’ll not meet with you like this again.’ He kissed me and as his lips met mine it dawned on me that he was saying goodbye.
    ‘Wait!’ I cried. But it was too late, I was already waking and he was gone. I sat up and burst into tears. I lay in bed sobbing for a good fifteen minutes before Ashleigh woke.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ she murmured.
    ‘I just had the most disturbing dream.’
    ‘Yeah, but it was just a dream. Go back to sleep.’
    I tried but couldn’t, so I wandered out to the lounge room and switched on the TV, turned the volume low. I should have been glad. The idea of some psychotic and powerful Fae king being out to get me, should have terrified me into relief that it was just a dream. But none of that mattered—I wanted Leif so badly that I would have taken anything that went with having him. I had no way of understanding my feelings. I had never felt anything remotely like this for a real guy, so how could I be so totally obsessed with one I’d dreamed up? It made no sense. I had no doubt I was losing my mind.
    I sat in front of the TV, crying on and off, mourning the loss of the man from my dreams.

CHAPTER FIVE
    While I sat on the lounge lost in misery, the sun rose and with it, my spirits. Eventually I was able to see how ridiculous I was being, getting myself all torn up over some creation of my mind. By the time my father had left for work and my mother was pottering around the kitchen making coffee, I’d decided I wasn’t going to waste another minute pining over Leif. I would put the whole fantasy behind me before I lost my mind entirely. I had a perfectly hot guy interested in me and I knew there were lots of other girls who would be happy to take him off my hands. I was going to make the most of Jason’s interest in me.
    Though I was tired, I needed the half-hour walk to school. As I strolled along, I lifted my face to the sun, drawing it in and feeling more alive as I did so. By the time I arrived at school I felt all right. I could see Hilary by our tree when I walked through the gates, waiting—not so patiently it appeared. I laughed when I saw her.
    ‘What’s funny?’ she asked, frowning.
    ‘Nothing,’ I said, shaking my head.
    She remained tense.
    ‘Relax, Hilary, Kyle’s coming tomorrow night,’ I said, putting her out of her misery. ‘I’m sorry, I should have called you.’
    ‘I am relaxed,’ she said, her forehead transforming from furrowed to smooth as she released the breath she’d been holding.
    ‘You really like him, don’t you? I didn’t even know you knew Kyle that well.’
    ‘Well, he’s in a couple of my classes,’ she said, blushing.
    I smiled. ‘I’m actually looking forward to tomorrow night,’ I said, surprised that I meant it.
    Later that day I was sitting under our tree with Jack and Hilary when I saw Jason and Kyle approach. Hilary sat up straighter, smoothing her skirt, when she noticed.
    ‘Hi girls.’ Jason grinned as he sauntered up, closely followed by Kyle. ‘Jack,’ he added as an afterthought. Jack scowled and turned away. Jason ignored it and