Love Me, Dreamy: A YA Paranormal Romance with Breathtaking Twists

by Laura Burton

  Amelia looked at him strangely and laughed. “Well, that’s one way of putting it,” she noted as Toby blushed.

  “I’m not very good with words,” he confessed and rubbed the back of his neck. Amelia noticed he had freckles along his forearm.

  “It’s beautiful isn’t it.” She sighed looking out at the scene. She had only been to the Forest of Dean once in her life on a school trip. The teacher brought the students to this same viewing point and her eight-year-old self had been blown away, having seen nothing as grand and magical before.

  “It’s pretty neat,” Toby replied softly. His eyes lingered on Amelia for a long time and she blushed under his gaze.

  “Are you hungry? I’m starving, and I’d love to buy you dinner,” Toby offered as he held out his hand. Amelia chewed her lip.

  “There’s not really anywhere to eat here, and I should probably get going,” she said uneasily as she began to walk back down the path. Toby lowered his hand and his smile faded. The two of them walked in silence, listening to the birds singing and the trees moving in the breeze. As the day wore on, the temperature cooled, and the colours of the forest became more vibrant as the sun lowered in the sky. The floral perfume of nature intoxicated Amelia’s senses and every atom in her body relaxed.

  “How long are you in England for?” Amelia asked softly as they reached the carpark. Toby shrugged his shoulders.

  “A week, maybe. I’m not sure how long I can stay.” He took Amelia’s hand and held it tightly.

  “Today has been the best day of my life. I’m glad I met you,” he professed. Amelia beamed a smile at him.

  “It has been fun,” she agreed. Toby pressed his soft lips to the back of her hand and smiled at her.

  “Are you free this week? I’d love to do some more English things before I go.” Amelia bashfully averted her eyes, feeling his intense stare on her.

  “Well, I have this Friday off work. Have you been to see the Roman baths before?” she asked. Toby shook his head.

  “It’s a date, then?” he said, hopeful. Amelia looked back at him, his eyes were wide, and even though they had spent the whole day outside, he showed no signs of fatigue. Oh, to be young again, Amelia thought to herself. She nodded at him with a smile.

  “I’ll meet you in Bath at noon.”

  Chapter Three

  A Date in Bath

  Amelia stared at her reflection critically as she considered whether her brown curly hair looked frizzy pulled back into a ponytail. She reached up and dragged the scrunchie from her hair and her dark locks fell down in giant waves to her narrow waist. Her hair was long and wild when down. She couldn’t decide which look she wanted to go for. Amelia’s hazel eyes glimmered in the yellow lights of the public bathroom as she smiled at the thought of Toby rolling down the grassy bank in the Cotswolds—his boyish face broken out into a gleeful grin and arms stretched out without a care in the world. Even during the brief time they spent together, Amelia could sense his carefree nature, and she envied him for it. She grew up to be the good girl, ever worried about how her actions might be deemed inappropriate or whether her clothing demonstrated a sense of conformity or rebellion. She spent many nights fighting back tears as her grandma ruthlessly combed through her thick curly locks, taming out the knots. She was never seen in public with her hair down, but instead, had it scraped back into a tight knot on the back of her head, looking sleek and refined, and tamed by hair product to keep the frizz at bay. Yet, there she was, standing in a Victorian public bathroom in the centre of Bath, looking into a murky mirror and eyeing her wild, brown hair fanned out over her shoulders and frizzy at the hairline. She couldn’t help but grin as she unbuttoned the top of her silk blouse and traced a finger over the gold locket sitting on her collarbone. She ran her hands through her wild mane and shook her head with delight as her hair swayed with the movement. If hair could have emotions, Amelia thought hers would be joyous to be free. She tightened the straps of her backpack at her shoulders and smoothed out the cotton of her grey trousers and stepped back to see herself more fully. Standing on the toes of her black stilettoes, Amelia could barely make out her ensemble. With her hair up, she looked like a lawyer fresh out of a courtroom, but with it hanging free and wild, she looked like a girl who was ready for an adventure. She grinned.

  The door to the bathroom swung open and a blonde-haired woman strolled in with a breezy air of confidence. She smiled serenely at Amelia as she entered and picked a toilet stall. Amelia smiled back and watched her disappear behind a door at the end of the bathroom and looked down at the damp flooring.

  “Hello, lovely, it’s just me again. How are you feeling today?” The woman’s voice echoed around the bathroom and Amelia grimaced at the inappropriateness of the woman on the phone while using the lavatory. She took one more tentative glance at the mirror, stole herself some courage, and left the bathroom.

  “Don’t mind me, lovely. I’m just sorting things out for you now.” The woman’s voice echoed out of the bathroom as the door swung closed behind Amelia.

  The sunshine was so bright, it made everything look warm. The cobbled streets appeared to reflect the sunlight and the Victorian shop windows shone white, nearly-blinding Amelia as she walked by. The sound of buses and traffic filled the air and crowds of people hurried in all directions around the narrow streets. Amelia remembered the last time she had been to Bath.

  She was ten years old and it was Christmastime. Her grandma took her to the Christmas Markets, and they bought warm chestnuts, which Amelia was forced to try and found the taste too bitter to enjoy. There were people lining the streets, who were painted gold and standing impossibly still as if they were statues. Amelia could remember gazing up in awe at the rows of multi-coloured string lights sweeping across the street. Big red bows sat on every lamp post and the sound of a brass band flooded the area with Christmas carols.

  It was summertime now and there were no decorations to be seen, but huge sprays of flowers outside every shop and scores of birds flying around in the bright blue sky above. The buildings were old and dirty, but the sight oddly fit. There was an air of history to the city, and any imperfection only added to its character. There were narrow chasms along the roads designed to carry rainwater and sewage away from the city. Now, however, they were redundant but added character to the roads. Occasionally a car tyre would dip into one of the chasms with a bump, or a pedestrian would stumble into the dip as they attempted to cross the road. A reminder of days long past. A history never to be forgotten.

  Amelia continued walking amongst the crowd and looked over to her right to see a tall man with white-blonde hair, wearing a light grey suit and crisp white shirt. His brow was furrowed as he walked with urgency, speaking quickly into his phone.

  “How have her vitals been tonight? Any changes?” He waved a hand and a taxi stopped by the side of the road and Amelia watched him climb inside.

  “And he thinks I just sit around and do nothing all day! He even had the audacity to call me his ‘lady of leisure’ yesterday!” Amelia turned her head to her left to see two pregnant women walking. One of them had long red hair tied in a braid that wrapped around her head. She wore a light floral dress and held her bump protectively with both hands. Amelia’s eyes hovered over the woman’s bare forearms that were covered in freckles. The woman next to her had a much larger bump; she looked like she might give birth at any moment. She had deep chocolate brown skin and wore a short vibrant purple weave.

  “Don’t you pay any attention to him. He’s got no business telling you what you can and cannot do,” she said confidently to the redhead.

  “Why, if my man said that to my face, I’d tell him ‘Shut your mouth!’ It isn’t easy walking around with a giant bowling ball stuck between your legs. We are growing babies here. There’s nothing leisurely about that!” she continued; the redhead laughed. Then the woman’s dark eyes met Amelia’s for a moment. Amelia shyly averted her gaze and slowed her pace, so the women walked farther ahead
. She could barely hear the woman ask the redhead. “Did you see that? Did she just look at me?”

  “Don’t be silly,” the redhead said. Amelia blushed at the exchange and turned to walk down a side street to get away from them.

  A bell rang twelve times and Amelia quickened her pace through the side street and hurried along the road towards the meeting point.

  She rounded a corner and found herself at a crossroads with various signposts dotted around and a road sectioned off from traffic. Crowds of people swarmed back and forth at a constant speed until Amelia saw a break in the stream of people. She saw him. A young man standing with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, wearing a dark blue polo shirt and a brown satchel hanging on his broad shoulder. Amelia felt herself grinning ear to ear as their eyes met and he waved a hand casually in her direction.

  “Hey, stranger. Long time no see,” he said lightly as Amelia reached him. They hugged and Amelia’s senses were overwhelmed with the scent of sandalwood and spice.

  “Are you wearing cologne?” she asked with her eyebrows raised. Toby gave a sheepish grin, both of his cheeks dimpled as he did so.

  “I thought I’d make an effort,” he replied, colour rising to his face. Amelia laughed.

  “We’re going swimming in the Roman Baths. I don’t think it’ll last long,” she said as she shook her head with amusement.

  “Oh,” Toby said. They turned and walked towards an old building as they talked. The world appeared to blur around them as they bantered with each other and strolled blissfully up the staircase, then along a corridor and absent-mindedly bought passes to access the pool.

  “I’ll meet you in the pool,” Toby called out as he disappeared through the door to the men’s changing room.

  Amelia walked through to the ladies changing area and found herself alone. There were rows of wooden benches sitting by walls of lockers. She hurriedly unbuttoned her blouse and shimmied out of her trousers at mammoth speed. Amelia had prepared for this by wearing her black swimsuit underneath her clothes. She carefully folded her clothes and placed them neatly on a shelf in her locker and placed her shoes inside. Then, she pulled out a yellow towel from her backpack and hung the bag up in the locker and closed the door. She was fumbling with the locker key when the changing room door swung open and a lady came in with a mop and bucket.

  “Good morning, love. It’s only me, here to clean this place up for you,” the woman said kindly. She had black hair swept up into a loose bun and wispy strands fanned out over her narrow forehead. The lady could not have been taller than five feet and her petite frame made her look younger than Amelia supposed her to be. However, the fine lines around the woman’s dark eyes gave her true age away. The woman did not look at Amelia but set about mopping, bent over the broom handle and kept her eyes on the floor.

  Amelia pulled the locker key out of the door and dragged on the rubber wrist band attached to the key. The rubber caught on the hairs of her arm and pinched her. She took a sharp intake of breath and rubbed her wrist to numb the pain. Then she wrapped her yellow towel around her and walked through a door labelled “Pool.”

  Amelia followed a corridor to a staircase and climbed the steps with ease, wondering whether Toby was at the pool already, or if he would be at the bottom of the stairs behind her. She reached the top and pushed open an old wooden door. Brilliant sunlight flooded her vision momentarily. Amelia blinked rapidly as she walked forward, and her eyes adjusted to the light. She found herself on a rooftop, with a large, square pool lined with stones. Several people bobbed up and down with floats wrapped around their neck and shoulders. A look of total bliss washed over every face in the pool. Toby was nowhere to be seen. Amelia dropped her towel on a sun lounger and stepped into the glistening water; it looked like it called to her, welcoming her to surrender to it. Her knees buckled and she sank to her shoulders as the water around her lifted her up and she floated to the surface. Amelia let out a startled cry, the water was like millions of tiny needles pricking her skin and she shivered.

  “Oh, sorry, lovely, I should have warned you the water is cold today,” a blonde matured woman called out from the side of the pool. Recognising the voice, Amelia lifted a hand to shield her eyes and squinted to look at the woman. It was the same person she had seen in the public bathroom. She wore a lanyard over a silk blouse and sat by the pool writing on a clipboard.

  “Hey.”

  Amelia turned around and saw Toby standing by the water’s edge in blue board shorts. His blonde hair was swept to the side and Amelia could not help but notice his defined torso and broad shoulders. All that was missing was a surfboard to complete his look.

  “The water is really cold,” Amelia called out to him as she watched him descend the steps and collapse into the pool with a contented sigh.

  “What are you talking about? This is amazing!” he said as he floated on his back with his eyes closed, a look of serenity awash his face, matching the other people in the water. Amelia rubbed the goose bumps on her arms and lowered herself until the waterline rose to her neck. She was beginning to adapt to the temperature now and the heat of the sun was hot on her face and lit up the surface of the water like a giant mirror. Amelia wished she brought her sunglasses.

  “I don’t understand something,” Toby said suddenly, snapping Amelia out of her daze. She squinted through the light to see him standing in the pool with a look of confusion on his face. A line formed between his brows as he frowned.

  “I thought we were going to be taking a swim in the Roman baths,” he murmured as he looked around the rooftop. “How are we in a Roman bath when we’re on a roof? How did the Roman’s get the water up here?” Amelia laughed softly and covered her mouth with her hand.

  “It’s just the water from the Roman baths… not literally a Roman bath,” she explained. Toby raised an eyebrow at her and considered the thought for a moment.

  “Well, I guess that makes sense… I’m not sure what makes it so special though? The view is nice. You can see the whole of Bath,” he said turning to look out at the rooftops around them. Amelia could hardly make out anything because of the blinding sun. She moved forward and her arm brushed against Toby’s by accident. She jumped and mumbled “sorry” before moving away.

  “Can I be honest?” Toby asked, turning to look straight at Amelia. His gaze made her feel like he was searching her soul.

  “Okay,” she said shyly, her hand still raised to shield the sunlight from her eyes.

  “You don’t look like you’re very comfortable up here,” Toby said blankly. Amelia feigned shock and gasped.

  “What? No! This is… great!” She tried to sound convincing, but Toby gave her a look to say she wasn’t fooling anyone. They looked at each other for a moment in a silent standoff before they both burst out laughing.

  “Shh!” Amelia looked up to see the blonde woman sitting by the pool, she had a finger to her lips and wide furious eyes.

  “This is a place of rest and healing. I expect you to respect this and keep the noise down,” she reprimanded them. Amelia looked back at Toby who made a motion to silently apologise with a shrug, then he turned and locked eyes with Amelia. They floated around quietly among the other people bobbing up and down in the water, all sporting a look of seriousness. Then Toby burst out laughing again. Amelia pressed a hand against her mouth to stifle her laugh while Toby turned his into a prolonged coughing fit. The blonde-haired woman’s eyes narrowed, and she pointed at Toby with a look to kill.

  “Maybe we should go…,” Amelia whispered to him, Toby nodded and the two of them slowly waded through the water and climbed out of the pool.

  “Well, I guess that was a British thing to do,” Toby remarked as they walked through the door to the staircase and made their way down. Amelia wrapped the yellow towel around her tightly and shivered.

  “I’m sorry. That didn’t work out too well, did it?” she remarked as they reached the bottom of the staircase. Amelia stared at the sign to the ladies changing
room and bit her lip.

  “Are you hungry?” Toby asked suddenly. He rubbed a towel over his shoulders and dragged it across his hair. Amelia was slightly entranced by his movements, feeling like she could guess where he was going to move next.

  “Starving,” she replied as she licked her lips and tried to remember the last time she ate.

  “Okay, I’ll meet you outside,” Toby said decidedly as he threw the towel over his shoulder and strolled confidently towards the men’s changing room. Amelia watched him swagger away and caught herself staring as he disappeared behind the door. She then swivelled on the spot and made for the ladies changing room.

  The room was empty as Amelia dried off and dressed, her conscious mind lost in a daydream, not paying close attention to lining up her buttons correctly or making sure her blouse tucked in neatly into her trousers. She smiled to herself as she replayed Toby collapsing into the freezing pool with a look of bliss on his face. His movements were fluid and the water moved obediently around his body. She wondered why it didn’t seem cold to him. Although, she did remember that when she was younger, she was not as sensitive to the cold either. Perhaps that came with age? Amelia thought back to when she was nineteen.

  She was living in Bristol at the time with her best friend Suzie; they shared an apartment in the city centre that overlooked the docks. It was the epicentre of all the entertainment. She could hear the street performers doing their daring acts, the music from the Hippodrome theatre and the constant stream of traffic that did not die down until the early hours of the morning. Amelia was working as a temp, taking on whatever jobs were available. She was a cleaner, dog walker, receptionist and even worked as a backing artist at the theatre production of Wicked. Every day was different, and she had no time or mental capacity for love; it was just her and Suzie against the world. That was until Suzie found Robert and she went off into the metaphorical sunset with her new husband, leaving Amelia behind having to order take out for one.