Chapter 3: Significance

A week passed without anything exciting happening, I saw Charl a few times in the week, and with no match for 5 weeks the only footy access I had was in PE and kickabouts. I managed to score in PE again, taking my tally to four in two, good practice for our title mount.

March approached. The month of birthdays. Not only was it my mum’s and both my sister’s, as well as a few relatives, but Charl’s also lay on the same day as my older sister, Sophie’s. I took a large sum of money from my account and set to work buying presents, from various different stores, for the various different people.

On the Sunday, we went out for tea for Sophie’s birthday. We had a nice meal, and I prepared for the significance of the next four weeks. Two weeks of solid coursework, two weeks of hitting deadlines, two weeks of stress, and ultimately two weeks of anxiety. On the other hand, I had the prospect of the Easter holidays directly after, my final chance to relax before the tireless effort and revision required to gain my A*s.

On the Monday, the day of Charl’s birthday, I took her to a nice Indian restaurant in Harrogate, giving her the perfume, roses and necklace I had got her. I had a fantastic evening, which was marked by a meaningful moment at the end, with both of us revealing our love for eachother.

The next two weeks dragged on, albeit with a Lewis Hamilton Grand Prix win in Albert Park in the process, and I found myself at school late most nights, doing coursework and various other pieces of work.

The Easter holidays arrived, as did my last two weeks of freedom in the meantime. We finished school on the Thursday and I went into town that evening with my mates. The only thing I remember is waking up at Seb’s with a sore head, but I didn’t care, I was looking forward to my two weeks of freedom.

I was up early for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang on Saturday and Sunday, and with my parents jetting off to Barcelona for the week, leaving my grandparents in charge. I spent Easter weekend with them, and made a cheesecake on the Monday evening whilst talking to Charl on the phone.

The morning after I met Charl and we headed off to Leeds on the train for a day of shopping. Not the way I’d planned to spend my holidays, but with the person I’d planned to spend them with. The holidays flew by, and I spent most of my time with Charl, managing to make a complete fool of myself when returning a pass from a younger kid as we were walking back to my house by falling flat on my backside, before the inevitability of school and my exams loomed. Another fantastic Grand Prix in Bahrain marked the end of a memorable two weeks, and the restart of training, just a week before the football season resumed after the Easter break.

I took a deep breath, swallowed my nerves and plunged into another significant passage in time.