A/N: hey soooo…. Right ummm…. I really have nothing to say, sooo…. Enjoy the chapter!
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We walked down the same path as the one we used to go to the chapel. I saw the campfire's light to my left. We walked a bit more down the same trail, then suddenly turned onto a smaller one, almost invisible, that branched off in the direction of the gypsy camp. My heart beat faster and faster by the minute.
The light grew and grew, but suddenly the trail changed direction and we were heading behind it. I looked at Ann questioningly. "What?" she asked. "We wouldn't meet them at the camp. What would the gypsy women say?" I nodded my understanding.
We kept on going for a while until I saw the light of a different campfire up ahead. We got closer and closer until only a thin wall of bushes and trees separated us from what was ahead.
Felicity went ahead of the group and held up a large branch so we could all get by. Pippa went in first, followed by Ann, and then me. Just when Cecily was in front of the branch, Felicity came in, instead, and let go of the branch so it whipped Cecily's face. Cecily came a second later, fuming, followed by the two other girls.
I turned around to look at where we were. I almost gasped at the site.
It was a small clearing. A river made its way by the other side and was met by a little pond. There were beautiful plants everywhere. In the middle of the clearing was a large campfire with benches all around it. Sitting on these benches were the gypsy men.
Felicity skipped across the clearing and, in front of everyone, plopped down onto a gypsy's lap. He had long black hair held in a messy ponytail. He looked like a dog, doing anything that Felicity would tell him.
Pippa danced gracefully towards her partner, a bulky fellow with spiky brown hair. He was intimidating, but looked like a little kid with a goofy grin almost permanently imprinted on his face.
Ann sat down close to a fairly short young fellow with brown hair up to his shoulders and dark brown eyes, so dark they could have been black.
Cecily and the other two girls went over to their partners. I eyed the few other gypsies that didn't have any girls with them. None of the first few caught my interest, but as I saw one gypsy sitting alone on the bench a few yards away to my right, I gasped in shock and wonder.
He was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. He was tall and rather muscular, with wavy black hair up to his shoulders, so soft they fell. His skin was a soft brown, but seemed pale, in a way, as if it was glowing. His strong body was illuminated by a loose white shirt with a low collar that let you see most of his chest. His eyes were pitch black, but in the light of the fire they had a weak tint of gold. His handsomeness was increased by the way he stared fiercely into the fire. It was an intense gaze.
Another man stepped from the bushed about a yard away from me. I didn't see his face until he sat down on the bench next to the gorgeous man. I didn't even glance back at the handsome stranger as I saw this one's face.
He was definitely the brother of the man sitting next to him. His brown curls were shorter, though, and ended at his ears. But the skin was the same, looking at if it was somehow glowing. His face was heart-shaped with high cheekbones. His eyes were golden-brown, and seemed to smolder. They had this look in them (as if all of his beautiful features weren't enough) that looked sad, almost lonely. He was a bit more boyish than his brother, but less muscular. He wore the same shirt as his brother, but in black.
He suddenly turned his head from the fire to me. My heart sped up. He seemed to be inspecting me, looking me boldly up and down fiercely, almost angrily. He seemed as if his nerves had been sharpened by the sight of me, somehow. Our eyes locked for half a second and I looked down at my toes, blushing fiercely as all red-heads do.
"Gemma, darling? Come over hear and meet our friends," Felicity called to me. I reluctantly lifted my gaze from my uncomfortable shoes to Felicity and walked over to her slowly. She patted the bench beside her and I sat down obediently.
I cupped my lips with my hands and whispered into her ear, "Who are those two dashing fellows across from us?"
Felicity directed her gaze at where the two gorgeous men sat and giggled. "They are rather handsome, aren't they? Yes, well, the muscular one is Amar, and his beautiful brother in the black shirt is Kartik. They joined the gypsy band last year. They have been with several different bands, they say, but none of them ever strike their fancy for long."
Suddenly, Felicity seemed to form an idea in her mind, for which she rejoiced by smiling triumphantly. She pushed me off the bench, and I got onto my feet before I could completely fall over. "Lauren," she called to one of the girls I had not known the name of. "I would like to speak to you for a minute. Please do come over here."
I glared at Felicity. "What was that for?" I hissed. She shrugged uncaringly as a girl with long, tangled blonde hair sat down beside her.
Then I saw what Felicity had done. The bench she sat at was full, and so were all the rest. Well, all accept one.
I glared a bit more at Felicity, but soon got tired of it. I walked shyly around the fire to the bench where Amar and Kartik sat. "May I sit here?" I asked shyly. Kartik turned his face to me, unsmiling. Suddenly, his face became a mixture of emotions; disgust, anger, pain, and a fight against himself for something unknown to me. He nodded quickly to my question, seemingly angry at me for reasons I could not defy.
Kartik turned his head to his brother and whispered something quickly. Amar's eyes suddenly became unfocused, almost scared. He nodded and whispered something back to his brother. This time, I didn't hear but I could tell what he said by the way his lips moved: "Go."
Kartik stood up and ran into the bushes he had entered from. I felt sad and scared at the same time. Sad because I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that he had left because of me. No, of course not, I thought. Why would he leave because of me if he didn't even know me?
I was frightened because of the way he had stared at me. He seemed angry; brutally angry. But at the same time, he was in pain, as if he was being whipped.
I looked down at my toes miserably. This wasn't going the way I had planned; not at all. I knew, deep down, that I had wanted to have a secret relationship with a gypsy ever since Ann had told me about hers with Benjamin. I was hoping a bit that such a thing would happen between me and Kartik, but the chances of that seemed slight.
"I am sorry," said a strong yet smooth voice from beside me. I turned my head. Amar was looking at me apologetically.
"Whatever for?" I asked, for I was profoundly confused.
"You must think that my brother ran off because of your arrival," he explained. "No, Kartik had some unfinished business back at the gypsy camp. I hope he hadn't offended you."
I smiled warmly at the kind man. "Not at all," I said. "But thank you for your concern."
Amar smiled so all his teeth glistened in the light of the warm, happy fire and said, "Anytime."
I looked around me. All the Spence girls were standing up slowly and saying their goodbyes. I nodded towards Amar in response to his "goodbye" and trotted towards Ann.
"Did you have a good time?" she asked sincerely. That is why even though I had just met Ann, I already loved her as if I had known her my whole life.
I felt a sudden urge to tell her everything that had just occurred, but I managed to hold it back and instead said, "I had a fine time. I'll tell you all about it when we get back to school."
And so that was how my first secret meeting with the gypsies went. I hadn't enjoyed it as much as I would have liked, but I still couldn't wait for next time.
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A/N: okay so Gemma finally met Kartik and Amar! But there is something wrong with Kartik… You don't have to try hard to guess what! Please r+r!!!!