The music on his mp3 player blared into his ears as he came soaring down the dangerously unmarked road on his bicycle. All Luke could remember was thinking “oh my god, I’m going to die.. and I don’t even like this song!”. But all of this was for a good reason, he was in a hurry to get home, and had about five minutes to make a twenty minute journey. So how did he get himself into this kind of mess? Well, why else? It was for a girl of course! I’ll start from the top.
He wasn’t really the best looking dragon, but Luke had somehow managed to attract the attention of a pretty young panther named Lily. He had met her through a friend, and they had kept in touch online. Soon enough, they became good friends and they arranged to meet up again. It was the summer holiday when he asked if she wanted to come over and meet his other friends, and when she said she would, he was happy as ever.
The day turned out to be a very good one, and once it was over, all of his other friends had gone home. He had nothing else planned, so he promised he would walk her home, having absolutely no idea where she lived. Luke’s mother told him dinner would be ready soon, so he shouldn’t take too long. He decided it may be best if he took his bicycle for a quicker journey home.
The journey back to her house took about forty minutes, maybe more. Luke knew he should’ve turned back for home so he wouldn’t be late, but there was something about her laugh and smile that made him keep on walking and talking. They said their goodbyes when their journey came to an end, but that was when Luke’s mobile rang. It was his mother, wondering why he had been gone so long. She sounded very cross.
The journey home would be quite a long one if he took the route they used to reach her house. He knew of a faster way from here, but they weren’t very cyclist or pedestrian friendly in the slightest. He knew he had little choice though if he stood a chance of being home in reasonable time.
The evening was a warm one, and Luke was beginning to regret wearing such warm attire. He struggled his way up the long hill, mounted on his bicycle with his mp3 player on shuffle. The next part of his journey would probably be easier, but far more dangerous. The other side of the hill lead into the next village, but the road down the hill was an old and badly damaged one, with blind corners and potholes all over the road. He also knew from experience that drivers didn’t take much care driving along this road.
And this is where we started, Luke was shooting down the hill, trying not to get himself killed by everything that road had to throw at him. The worst part of it was that there was yet another, steeper hill to climb afterwards.
Needless to say, when Luke arrived home that day, his muscles ached all over, he had probably sweated more than he had drank that day and his mother had a face like thunder when he arrived at the door. In his mind, though, it was definitely worth it.
*
A few weeks passed, and their friendship only became stronger. They would walk her dog together, even though he was embarrassed about being dressed in his Sunday best each week.
Luke still lived with his parents, and it was a religious household. That being as such, he was taken to church every Sunday to pay lip service to a God he wasn’t even sure existed. But it wasn’t all bad, as the church he attended was actually only a minute’s walk from where she lived. Every week after the church service had ended, she came to see him for just ten minutes or so each week. He didn’t really think much of it at the time, he only ever thought of her as a friend.
Then came the day when he finally invited her over for an evening to watch some TV and eat some pizza. Luke’s parents were going out for the night, so they occupied the front room, putting scrubs on the box and settling down to eat some really tasty pizza.
For a while they sat quite awkwardly, watching TV in silence. Luke had never been very brave when it came to girls, and even then he didn’t realise that Lily wanted to be a little more than just friends.
As the night went on, they both started to relax. Luke’s sense of humour seemed to strike a chord with Lily, and soon they were play-fighting on the carpet for the remote control to the TV. That was until they ended up in quite an awkward position. He was lying over her, blushing uncontrollably. Luke thought she was a really good looking girl, she had long flowing brown hair, and deep brown eyes. Her smile and laugh were like an angel’s, and it was probably at that point that he realised that he had strong feelings for her. When the night came to an end, Lily’s parents had arranged to pick her up just up the road from where he lived. He walked up with her, and they stood together at the end of the road. She saw the headlights of her dad’s car in the distance, and then looked him in the eyes. Luke never forgot what she said next.
“Would you mind if I kissed you..?”
Luke gently took her into him arms and they shared their first kiss. It was only a quick one, but it was one that he would never forget. He waved her goodbye as she and her dad drove off home. Luke was so happy, he could barely contain himself, he wanted to tell the world how lucky he was. Adrenaline took over and he sprinted back to his house, beaming in glee. He was so carefree that he almost fell over on the way.
When he arrived home, he was puffing and panting, thinking about the magical evening he had just shared with one of the prettiest, kindest, gentlest girls he had ever met. On the side table, he noticed that she had left a black and white chequered wristband behind. He sent her a message telling her it was there, and she replied, telling him to keep it.
He did, and he wore it all the time. It would always be a reminder to him of the night he fell in love with the most special girl in the world, and on that night he made a promise to himself that he would always love her, and always keep her from harm. To love and protect, always.