I made my way to my first class of the day, and eventually became engrossed in the intricacies of biochemistry. I'm not going to lie, I've always liked the academic part of school. I guess you could call me a bit of a nerd. I wasn't too keen on my peers, though. They inspired either disgust or indifference in me. I had wondered if I had some peculiar personality disorder, but then I realised that it was because I was an entirely different species to my classmates. Yeah, that would explain quite a lot, actually.
The day seemed to pass fairly rapidly after biochem, with people staring less and less at me. Nevertheless, I was still enormously relieved when the final bell rang, and I was able to escape the stifling curiosity. Angus was parked right outside the school gates, and he stood leaning his long, powerful body against the car. If he noticed the gaping stares, mine included, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he smiled at me, and opened the passenger door, shutting it again once I was firmly ensconced in the comfortable leather seat. A few seconds later, he was sitting next to me.
"Where to?" he asked, as we pulled away from the kerb. I looked at him in surprise.
"Ring, remember?" he smiled wryly at me. I blushed, of course. I had forgotten about the ring.
"Right, then," I grinned at him. "Let's go and get a ring. Ooh, I wonder if they'll have a pink diamond in the shape of a heart..." I let my voice drift off, and glanced up at Angus, who was looking a bit startled. I couldn't help it - I started laughing. He looked down at me, sighed, and shook his head in mock disapproval.
"There's a family run jeweller in town. Mum says he's the best," I told him and he nodded.
"I await your direction, my lady," he intoned, looking down at me, his dark eyes glinting mischievously.
A few missed turns later, and we pulled into a parking lot opposite a row of small old fashioned shops with creaking signs hung from old stone walls, and weathered window panes covered in dust. The second from the right looked particularly dilapidated, but when we opened the door and walked inside, it was surprisingly neat, and smelled like lavender and old furniture. Angus was trying to explain to me about indicating where to turn before we reached the junction, and that saying "turn here" as we drove past the road was simply not helpful at all, and I was pretending to listen.
"May I help you?" An elderly man with a woolly cap appeared from behind a dark green curtain as if by magic, and went to stand behind the glass counter beneath which dozens of rings lay nestled in blue velvet, glittering beguilingly.