Gone (16 page)

“What, like on a date?” she asks.

“Maybe.”

“A real date?”

“What does a real date involve?”

“I don’t know I’ve never had one.” 

I concentrate on the ambers for a moment to see if she is being serious. I think she is.
Jesus.

“A real date it is.” I state firmly.

A little silver head pops between us. “Someone’s going to have to ask Mum and Dad.”

“Do not.” Bex frowns. This time the frown is far more realistic.

“Josh, you’d better do it. They like you.” Emily laughs again with her words.

In a move I would never envision her making Bex starts to chase after her sister, both of them screeching as they run over the grass. Laughing, I watch them chase each other until I see them get very close to the edge of the wall. Shit. I can’t have them falling into the sea. I’d never be allowed to take her on a date then.

Rebecca

To Date or Not to Date

“What you going to wear?” Emily is sat on my bed, her legs swinging as she watches me pull a comb through the orange straw that I sadly have to call hair.

“This?” I wave at my clothed body.

Emily looks me up and down. “But that’s what you wore to the castle?”

“Yep.”

I had my shower and dried myself off before putting back on my dirty clothes. I put clean pants on. Just in case.

Excitedly Em throws herself back onto the mattress and with great enthusiasm starts to kick her legs on the bed. “Bex, you are so ridiculously clueless, it’s scary. I am thirteen and I know more than you!”

“Yeah, how many dates have you had?”

“Two.”

Oh. That’s a bit of a bitch.

Concentrating on parting my hair in the middle before working out just what to do with it, I glance at her in the mirror. “What am I doing wrong then?”

Crossing her legs Em sits back up on the bed and stares at my reflection. “Okay, do I need to go over basics with you?”

“What are the basics?”

“What sort of date is it?”

I give a sigh and twist my hair up out of the way to start my make-up. “Is there more than one kind of date, because no one has told me that?”

“Is it casual? Dinner? Drink? Oh no you’re not allowed alcohol.”

“Very funny.” Splodging a squirt of foundation on my make-up sponge I grimace at her little blonde perfect self.

“Firstly stop what you are doing. You don’t need the make-up.”

“Excuse me? I think you’ll find I do.”

“No you don’t. Secondly, just in case you haven’t noticed, Joshua is crazy hot, scorching hot, volcano erupting hot.”

I blush instantly. Nope, I had failed to register that fact at all.
Not
. “That’s enough from you. You’re too young for thoughts like that.”

Em sticks her tongue out at me before continuing my date lecture. “
You can’t go out in the same shitty clothes he saw you in today. He needs to know you want to go on a date, and that you have tried to make an effort despite the fact you two have been rolling in the grass all afternoon.”

“Why?”

“Because guys like to feel they are not the only one’s doing the chasing.”

“
Well I’m not chasing.”

With a dramatic eye-roll Em gets up from the bed. “I’ll organise your outfit, you get your hair to behave and do something.”

“Yes, Miss.” I make a strange sound and Em turns and looks at me in surprise.

“Did you just giggle?”

“No.” I don’t giggle. Ever. Although that was a weird noise I just made.

With a superior rise of her eyebrow she turns back to my cupboard and I continue to stare in the mirror. No make-up, really? She must be mad! Maybe just a little bit of eyeliner then, that’s a fair compromise between all and nothing.

Ignoring my hair I set about darkening my eyes while I watch Em pull together an outfit.

“There,” she announces proudly.

I look at the green scarf and skinny jeans.

“I can’t wear that!”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t wear a bra with it!”

Marching over to the window she slides the pane of glass up and peers outside. “No. I can’t see them.”

“Get back in from the window before you fall on your head. What can’t you see?”

“There should be pigs flying past because Rebecca Walters has just said she is worried about going out without a bra.”

“Okay, that’s enough, get out!”

Giggling Em heads for the door, she is halfway down the stairs when she shouts up, “Better hurry up, Bex, I can hear his van outside.”

“Shit!”

I scramble to fit into my jeans and quickly tie the scarf into a halter neck top. I am running down the stairs to get to the door first when I remember my hair. Crap. Up it is.

Rebecca Walter is going on her first date ever, with mad hair and no make-up, and I thought I was supposed to be making an effort!?

Joshua

The Date

I’m grinning like a lunatic as Daisy comes to a shuddering halt by the front gate of Bridge Cottage. I’ve been unable to stop grinning all afternoon. What a geek. It’s the date. The date was approved by Bex’ mum and dad who looked slightly confused when I dropped the girls off earlier, after our castle jaunt, and asked if they would mind me taking Bex out for the evening.

There is a minor problem in the date scenario. I’ve never really been on one either, not something I was willing to admit to Bex this afternoon.

To make this feel like something other than hanging out with each other at the beach I am wearing jeans. Obviously I still have my flip flops on with them, my hair tied back in a loose band and a slightly smarter T-shirt, but I like to think I have made a half decent effort at dressing up for our date.

When the front door to the cottage opens I realise I have not made enough of an effort, because Bex is standing there looking mind-blowing. Hair twisted up with loose strands falling around her neck combined with skinny jeans and a dark emerald green silk halter neck top that when she turns I can see exposes all of her back.

Shit.

There is no way I’m going to be able to keep my hands off the smooth expanse of skin exposed between the two ties keeping the top in place. Suddenly the date seems like much more of a challenge.

“You okay?” she asks. I am standing on the doorstep with my mouth hanging open.

“Um, yeah. Uh you look nice. Uh, I mean beautiful.”
Just call me Mr. Smooth.

Bex hesitates like she is not sure what to do next. “I’m not quite ready. I need to finish my make-up.” She holds the door open making room for me to walk in which I do, taking a step closer to her.

“Stay as you are.” Okay, even I can hear my voice is noticeably a pitch lower.

“You’re kidding right?”

I move my hand towards hers clasping our fingers together. “Nope.”

“Told you,” shouts a voice from a different room.

“Shut it,” Bex shouts back.

“You kids ready then?” Bex’s dad walks into the hallway and I try to drop her hand. She doesn’t let go of mine, she holds onto my fingers tighter. I stand a little straighter in response.

“Yes, sir.” I say.
Yes sir? Yes sir?

“Be back by midnight please, Bex.” He gives Bex a smile and watches as she registers his words.

“Midnight? But the coach will turn back into a pumpkin.”

Her dad laughs a loud burst of laughter. “Go before I change my mind.”

“But what about my ball dress?”

“Eleven thirty.”

“Glass slippers?”

“
Eleven.”

At this Bex gives a screech and pulls me by the hand to the door. “See you at midnight, Dad.”

I am just going through the door when her dad touches me on the arm. “Take care of her.”

I turn and look him straight in the eyes, “I plan to.” And with that I am through the door and about to go on my first real date, in what could possibly be classified as forever.

“So where we going?” Bex is practically bouncing with excitement as she buckles up her seatbelt.

“First you have got to apologise to Daisy for calling her a pumpkin.”

“I’m not apologising to a car.”

I turn the key halfway in the ignition and let the engine falter on the start. “Nope, she is going to need a stroke, or an encouraging word.”

“Okay, are we talking about the car or you? Because if you want me to stroke you, you really just have to say.”

I turn and raise my eyebrow at her until she scrunches her face at me. “Sorry.”

“Say it louder so Daisy hears.”

“For fucks sake, I am sorry. Can we get going before I change my mind?”

I start the engine. “Now that wasn’t too hard was it?”

Bex pulls a face and looks out of the window.

“I can see you in the wing mirror.”

She pulls the face more.

“Very attractive.”

“So where are we going anyway?”  She turns back to face me.

I leave her question hanging there for two minutes until I apply the brakes and pull the handbrake up. “We are here.”

Bex looks out of the window and peers into the darkening evening. “It’s the beach.”

“Yep.”

“Really? I put my best top on, and squeezed into my jeans for the beach?”

“Stop moaning and come and see.” I jump out of my side of Daisy and make the point to get to her door in time to open it before she does. She slides out and offers me a smile that is borderline shy.

“Bex?”

“Yes?”

Stepping her back against Daisy’s door I press my body tight against hers. “Thank you for coming on a date with me.” I lower my lips and kiss under her ear where I can catch the faintest hint of a floral perfume.

“Well you know, I don’t wear this top for just anyone.” She smiles at me again, this time the smile has a taunting edge to it.

The blood pulses in my veins.
She had so better not.
“Well that is a good thing.” My voice has that low unique depth to it I only heard for the first time today. “Because I think I would be very jealous if you did.”

This is quite an ironic statement because I think it’s the most clothes I have ever seen her wear. It’s kind of sexy, but I have a distinct urge to take them off.

Bex reaches up and places her lips against mine, grazing her teeth against my bottom lip which makes my stomach tighten. “You’ve nothing to be jealous of, Joshua.” she sing songs my name and my stomach tightens even more. “So are we doing this date?”

“Come on then, Miss Walters.” I grab her hand and lead her over to the sand. I slip off my flip flops and she does the same so I pick up both pairs and walk us down towards the rock where we sat talking the first day I met her, and where I found her just last night before the sea tried to steal her away from me. Christ was that only last night? It seems like forever ago.

Bex gives a little gasp as we pull closer and I give myself a mental high five like a complete loser. Before I went to pick her up I set up about fifty tea-light candles, hoping to god they would not go out. Blankets are laid amongst the candles and I have a stash of driftwood ready to burn.

“Ever seen blue flames before?”

“Yeah on a gas hob.”

I burst out laughing. “Funny and good looking, is there anything you can’t do?”

“Surf.”

“Well that’
s true. We’re working on that.”

I snag a lighter out of my back pocket and set light to the tinder in the middle of the fire. Grabbing her hand I pull her onto her knees on the blanket. “Watch.” I point to the fire as the crackling and spitting starts.

“Watch for what?” She moves herself right into my side and I wrap a firm arm tight around her as we settle on the blanket.

“
Wait.”

“I’m not good at waiting.”

“Well I can help with that.” I tilt her mouth towards mine and kiss her with the slowest most lingering kiss I can manage, while also trying to keep one eye on the fire.

“Look now,” I say.

She turns her head towards the fire and gives a loud gasp. “Shit its blue.”

“Yep and no gas around.”

“I would ask for you to explain, but really I just want to snog.”

“Well, that, I am more than happy to help you with.” I pus
h her back against the blanket and climb over her lap as she grins up at me. “Now you see, the salt from the sea crystallises and when the fire─”

“Josh, very pretty, now just kiss me Goddamn it.”

So I do.

An hour of dedicated snogging later I can hear her
stomach rumbling above the waves rolling on the sand.