Aaron Connor (26 page)

It didn’t take long for us to
come out of the main Festival and approach the V.I.P section. We
showed the woman our passes. She confirmed that they were genuine
and let us in. Some people from this section had already returned.
Many of them were smoking happily and contently on Shisha Pipes and
long Churchwarden pipes. I saw one bloke smoking from a corn cob
pipe outside a tent which had the Stars and Stripes hanging up
inside. This really did seem like the chill out zone, away from the
crazy partiers beyond the barriers. It was nice to have some quiet
time for relaxing.

Our end of the VI.P section was
pretty much empty. The occupants of these Tepees were still in the
main part of the Festival. Inside our own Tepee it was almost
silent, except for the sound of music in the distance. Lizzie
settled down on the bed and started to read the Brochure. I went to
the Tepee’s bathroom to try out the shower in there.

It was a bizarre device. The
shower head was attached via a pipe to a see through plastic box
filled with water. A battery run pump, when turned on, brought the
water from the plastic box through the pipe and out of the shower
head. It wasn’t all that powerful, it just dribbled out. It was
enough to have a decent wash with. I used some of the “freebie”
soap that the Festival provided to wash myself. It wasn’t the best
shower I’d ever had, but at least I was no longer dirty.

When I finished I went back
into the main room. Lizzie went into the bathroom after me, she
also wanted a shower. I thought she might, so I left at least half
the water that was inside the plastic square for her. I zipped up
the front of the Tepee and zipped up all the windows. The solar
powered lights, that had been charging all day, now lit the room in
a dim orangey glow. I laid down on the bed, put my hands behind my
head and closed my eyes.

I was laying there for a long
time. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t really thinking about anything. I
just lay there. I could feel all the tension leave my body. It was
like I was frozen in time, stuck for eternity in perfect comfort.
It’s like when you’ve just woken up and you’re so cosy in your bed
that you just don’t want to move. I was happy where I was and
didn’t want to budge.

“
Aaron?” asked
Lizzie,

“
Yeah?” I
asked,

“
Open your
eyes” she said,

“
Why?” I
asked,

“
You’ll see”
she answered,

“
Alright” I
said.

I opened my eyes to see Lizzie
standing before me, completely naked. It was a bit of a shock, a
nice shock mind but a shock all the same. I’d always imagined what
Lizzie looked like underneath those clothes. I think I would have
liked it better if I was prepared beforehand. This was just a
massive surprise. So I just lay there, staring at her angelic body,
completely unsure what to say or do. I can remember my lips
wobbling as I tried to figure a way to react to this. I was
seriously struggling with it.

Her body was even better then I
thought it would be. Her hips were shaped like an hourglass. Her
belly was flat and I could see a sparkling belly button piercing
that I’d never seen before. Her breasts were of perfect shape and
size. Her small nipples were light pink. Her lovely hair hung over
her shoulders like a supermodel.

That was the moment I realised
I was in love with Lizzie. I knew that I was truly in love because,
even though her body was even better then I imagined it, I couldn’t
help but be mesmerised by her eyes. Those large eyes staring back
at me were so beautiful that, even though I’m ashamed to admit it,
it made me feel like crying. I didn’t though, blimey that would had
been awkward.

Lizzie fiddled with her hair
shyly, as if she were waiting for me to give her feedback like a TV
Talent Show judge. I didn’t say anything though. I got up from the
bed, walked over to her and kissed her. I held her naked body in my
arms. I could feel a certain amount of shyness in her that I didn’t
recognise. We parted from the kiss and she looked back at me, still
with that shy expression on her face.

“
Are you
alright?” I asked,

“
Yeah” she
replied, “Do you . . . do you . . .”

“
Want to have
sex?” I asked,

“
Yeah” she
replied,

“
Do you?” I
asked,

“
I . . .” she
stuttered, my heart sank with affection,

“
What’s
this
really
all
about?” I asked,

“
It’s just . .
. “she began, “We’ve been going out for a while now. All of the
other girls at school have already done it. They said that if you
don’t do it, it’ll make your boyfriend break up with you. I love
you. I want to stay with you. I want you to be happy”

“
If you want
me to be happy” I began, “Then all I ask if that you’re happy. I
didn’t except this from you. I never though that you’d think . . .
that I’d . . . do you really think that I would have left you if we
didn’t have sex?”

“
That’s what
all the other boys did to their girlfriends” Lizzie said, “I wasn’t
sure what would happen if I didn’t”

“
Lizzie, I
love you too” I said, “Not like, “School – Love” but real love. If
you don’t want to do it, then don’t. I don’t want you for sex. I
want you because I adore you. I just want to make sure that you’re
safe, happy and comfortable. I will never leave you. No matter what
you may say or do I’ll stick by you. You’re my soul mate Lizzie,
you’re . . .”

“
What?” asked
Lizzie,

“
You’re the
girl I want to marry” I said.

Even
I
didn’t expect that. I
was as surprised as Lizzie. I didn’t think it through. The thought
was just in my mind while I trying my best to express my feelings
for her. It just slipped out. Now, that could have gone quite
badly, if the person I was talking to was anybody but Lizzie.
Lizzie smiled with shaking lips. She was on the verge of crying.
Even now, she’ll always tell me that that was the most beautiful
thing I’ve ever said to her. I handed back her shirt to put on. She
took it happily.

Lizzie, if you’re reading this,
I want you to know that I love you so much. I’ll never take back a
word I said to you that night. I meant all of it. Every word was a
genuine fact and they still are. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t
be here writing this book about our adventures. Thank you. Thank
you for everything.

I always thought that I knew so
much about Lizzie. This behaviour shook me up so much. I felt
saddened by it. It made me feel so horrible, to think that she was
convinced I’d leave her if we didn’t have sex. I don’t know if
that’s a comment on our modern society, how pressured young people
are to have sexual relationships. All I cared about was she
understood that we’d only have sex when we were both comfortable to
do so. No exceptions. Sex is nothing more then temporary pleasure.
Love is for life.

We just snuggled that night.
Falling asleep with this fantastic woman in my arms was just
heaven. Holding her there, I knew that I’d do anything for her. I’d
go anywhere, fight anyone and do anything if it meant that Lizzie
would be safe and happy. She was, and still is, all that I ever
needed. She was my life source. After being with her for so long, I
don’t think I could have survived without her energy. Her presence
had become a part of me. If I lost her, I’d have to carry on living
my life like a puzzle with half of the pieces missing.

CHAPTER TWENTY – TWO

“
Wake up
Romeo” said Lizzie the next morning, “Time to meet
Barry”

“
Alright” I
grunted, “I’m up”

“
Aaron?” asked
Lizzie,

“
I’ am getting
up” I assured her, “give me time, give me time”

“
Oh no, I just
wanted to ask you something” said Lizzie,

“
Fire away” I
replied, I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes,

“
You remember
that thing you said about marriage last night?” she
asked,

“
Yeah” I
replied,

“
Did you mean
it?” she asked,

“
Of course I
did” I answered, “I didn’t scare you did I?”

“
No” she said,
“I just think it’s so sweet. Do you . . . want us to like, spend
our entire lives together”

“
Yes” I simply
answered, “I’d have it no other way”

“
I love you”
she said,

“
I love you
too” I replied before leaning in to kiss her.

We parted from the kiss and got
out of bed to get changed. We put back on the clothes that we’d
been wearing for the past few weeks of this trip. Everyday we were
spending together on this quest for social enlightenment was
bringing me and Lizzie closer together. Our love and affection for
each other kept growing until we were inseparable.

This was another note to add to
my list of reasons why leaving St.Ians was a good idea. If I didn’t
leave, I’d just be in a car park drinking my life away and wasting
the time I had been given on this Earth. I doubt that I would have
found the courage to tell Lizzie how I felt about her if I stayed.
Once again, I’m not saying that you have to do what I did. Just
because it worked for us doesn’t mean that it’ll definitely work
for you. I was lucky that this trip turned out the way it did, so
far. Don’t runaway just because I ranaway, as you will see, this
adventure was about to make a very nasty turn.

We left the Tepee within the
hour and walked across the grass in the early morning haze. It
wasn’t quite light and it wasn’t exactly dark, it was somewhere in
the middle. The world had turned grey again. My surroundings
haven’t been like this since I was in St.Ians. I didn’t think
anything of it. I never stopped for a moment to think that it might
be a sign, a sign of things that were to come. I didn’t think about
it in that way, all I knew was that that lovely sunny spell we had
was over. British sunlight always makes a late or delayed
appearance and will only stay around for a day or so.

Morning dew was sparkling
across the ground. People were coming out of their tents to stretch
and do some morning exercises. We passed the bloke with the
American flag in his tent. He was plucking away on a banjo while
his friend jammed with him on a harmonica. Their jolly bluegrass
beat certainly brought up our spirits on this dreary morning. Very
soon we were out of the V.I.P section and were walking into the car
park.

Just like he said, Barry was
standing near the front gate smoking on another one of his thick
cigars. We approached him. He spotted us and smiled with a mouth
that was full of golden teeth. He really was a nasty looking
character. He looked like something you’d see in a gritty crime
drama, if this was then Ray Winstone would be playing Barry. We
arrived before the frightening man and waited for him to
acknowledge us.

“
Morning” he
said bluntly, “You ready to go?”

Barry was very much a “straight
to be point” kind of guy. There was no pussy footing around things.
He was the kind of guy who just wanted things done, so naturally he
developed a conversational style in which he just says what he
wants to happen. Barry would have been very good in financial
business or maybe even law, because you often get those “no
bullshit” types on those industries.

“
Sure” I said,
“We’ve got everything we need”

“
Good said
Barry, “You get your bike and I’ll get my car. I drive a black
Mercedes with blacked out windows. Keep an eye out for it. I’ll
roll down my window so you can see me better, kapeesh?”

“
Sounds fine
to us” said Lizzie,

“
Right then”
said Barry, “Let’s get cracking”

Barry walked away towards his
car. It seemed that our conversations with Barry were short. It was
like, we’d say four sentences each and that was it. It was like he
was always in a hurry. Barry was a busy man so I guess he always
was in a hurry. We didn’t say anything about it though, didn’t want
to make a bad first impression. I and Lizzie also walked back the
way we came towards the Moped.

I think by this point I’d begun
to get quite fond of that bike. Yes it was a disgusting mix of
bright yellow and rusty brown. Yes it was loud and clunky. Yes
riding in the sidecar was like being in a space rocket without any
seat belts. Yes people laughed when we rode by. Yes we both may
have looked like a couple of plebs to everyone else. I didn’t care
though, I loved that bike and I still do.

It’s in our garage. She sits
proudly in the centre of the room, as a constant reminder of the
amazing journey it took us on. I don’t think Adam has ever made an
attempt to get it back. Then again, I haven’t seen Adam since the
night we left St.Ians. He hasn’t made any effort to track me down.
I sometimes feel a bit guilty for taking it, and then I remember
what a repulsive prick he was.

Like many times before this, we
climbed onto the Moped and strapped on our helmets. Lizzie drove
this time. She took the front and we sat there waiting for Barry’s
car to appear. Lizzie kicked the ignition which brought the engine
to life. It seemed like ages before Barry’s black car drove past
us. His window was rolled down and we briefly saw him as he drove
on by. Lizzie twisted the handle and we were soon following Barry’s
car out of the Festival car park and back onto the main road.