Small Blue Thing (2 page)

“I can’t,” I protested. “You know I can never keep flip-flops
on, not even on the beach.”

“Well it’s about time you learned,” she announced decisively. “Anyway, those are as filthy as the jeans.” She gestured towards my blackened shoes. She was right of course.

“And I’m sure Rob will appreciate the change in look,” she smirked.

“He’ll never recognise me,” I muttered, but I had to agree: I did look different. Perhaps it would be the push he needed.

“This is what we need now,” said Grace, pulling the clips and bands out of my hair and letting it fall down to my waist. “Absolutely gorgeous!” she pronounced as the train thundered into the station and we scrambled to get the bags together. “I think you’ll have a memorable night.”

The sparkly sandals really were not the best footwear for negotiating public transport or walking any distance. As I limped up the stairs at the pub in Richmond I made Grace promise that she would give me back my Converse for the journey home.

“No gain without pain,” she smirked at me as we finally made it to the bar.

“There is no point in looking ‘absolutely gorgeous’ if I can’t stand without wincing,” I grumbled. “I just hope the others got here in time to get a seat.”

We were in luck: they had grabbed the best table in the place, by the big window overlooking the river. There were a lot of us out tonight. We had just finished all of our exams, and now had a few weeks left of term with only a few structured activities and lessons before the long summer break. It had been a lot of hard work, and we were all relieved that it was over for now.

The plan for the night was to gather in the pub, go to the cinema to see the new James Bond film at the really big screen, and
then see if we could get into Richmond’s only club. It wasn’t much of a place and the drinks were ridiculously expensive but it was the only option we had. I wasn’t convinced that we would be able to sneak in as most of us were underage, but we were all up for having a go. Tom had been able to get most of the boys some reasonable fake ID, so they were all pretty confident.

We were a mixed bunch, with the girls from one school and the boys from the school next door. Our group had grown over the years we had been together, meeting up on the school buses and over the fence which divided the playing fields. Once we had started in the sixth form, we were allowed off the school grounds at lunchtime, and that was when some of the relationships had got more complicated. Right now, there were no particular pairings, but I felt that with the end of the exams that might change.

I knew that Grace was pretty keen on Jack, and she and I had spent many long hours considering our plans of attack on him and Rob. Unfortunately we knew that some of the others had the same idea, and at that point everything was up for grabs.

Rob’s look had been thoughtful as he had eyed me speculatively in the pub before going to the cinema. “Nice outfit.” He nodded his approval. “What’s brought about this change of image then?” With his head inclined he looked me up and down, a small smile on his lips.

“Ah, well, actually it was an emergency Oxfam shop visit,” I admitted sheepishly. I heard Grace groan in exasperation behind me.

“Don’t tell him that – let him think you have made an effort,” she whispered in my ear. I groaned inwardly – I really wasn’t very good at being as cool as I was trying to look.

“Really?” he smiled, leaning in a little closer. “What sort of
emergency?” The rest of the group fell silent, intrigued by what had made me change my fashion principles.

“Well,” I hesitated, suddenly unwilling to tell them all about the bracelet, “I sort of fell into the river when I was trying to rescue a trapped swan.”

My friends all roared with laughter. That was the Alex they knew, not the one sitting in front of them with the floaty dress.

“You’re not a vet yet Alex,” chuckled Jack, ruffling my hair. “I’d leave the animals alone for a bit until you know what you are doing.”

“I think the swan would agree with you,” I admitted ruefully, smiling back at Jack.

“Nasty, vicious things, swans,” he added. “I wouldn’t mess with one.”

“I guess Alex is braver than you then, mate.” smiled Rob, edging closer towards me. I could see the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Although they seemed to get on most of the time, I wasn’t sure that Rob really liked Jack, and that disappointed me.

Jack was one of my oldest friends and we had pretty much grown up together. He was also one of the best looking boys in town, and as captain of the football team, incredibly fit. It was such a shame that I could never see him as anything other than another brother. His older brother had been in the same class as my brother since they were four, and our parents had become close friends. As a result we ended up doing all sorts of things together. As the only girl I had regularly been over-ruled and had quickly learned to climb trees, play football and generally join in. Jack and I had a long, shared history that Rob could only guess at.

Now, listening to Rob, I realised that actually he was jealous of Jack. No wonder he was tetchy. I looked at Grace as she raised
her perfect eyebrow in amusement at Rob’s behaviour. I just knew that I had won the battle with Ashley before it had even got going. Rob Underwood – the fittest guy in the whole school! I couldn’t quite believe that, if I just kept my head, he was mine for the taking. I tried to keep my breathing even to settle the sudden and unexpected butterflies in my stomach.

Rob had made himself comfortable next to me, with an arm along the back of my chair. I stole a quick glance at him in the window opposite. He was classically handsome, but tall and blonde, not dark like Jack, and as always he was dressed well in casual but expensive clothes. His brown eyes sparkled as he caught me checking him out. He leant in close.

“You do look really lovely tonight,” he murmured. “You should fall in the river more often.”

A shiver ran down my spine as he let his fingers trace a line down the back of my neck. How long had I been dreaming of this moment? I wasn’t going to be able to resist.

I sat back in my chair and his hand fell across my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ashley stiffen. She was not going to be happy, but that was her problem, not mine. I was going to enjoy my night out.

Rob made sure that he was sitting next to me in the cinema. Grace had been able to manoeuvre herself next to Jack, so we were guaranteed a decent amount of post-night-out gossip. The movie was not a good one for romance though, with far too much action and violence. However, during a more peaceful scene Rob casually brushed his hand against me as I reached for my bottle of water, then smiled at me and wrapped his long fingers through mine. I was just beginning to relax and stop worrying about whether my palm was too hot and sweaty when there was a particularly horrific
torture scene. Without thinking I squeezed his fingers really hard and he surreptitiously sneaked his hand back. Luckily in the dark he couldn’t see me blush, but after that he slung his arm across the back of my chair where I couldn’t hurt him.

After the film we quickly decided that we needed food, not the nightclub, so we all piled into the local branch of a pizza chain. We waited a few minutes while the staff rearranged some tables in a far corner of the room, and as we walked over, I realised that yet again Rob was manoeuvring so that he and I were sitting together. On the way to the restaurant I had noticed that Grace and Jack had hung back together, and I was positive that he took her hand at one point as we walked over the road. Sure enough, they ended up sitting together too.

I caught her eye as we sat down and raised my eyebrows slightly in a question. She immediately blushed and hid behind her menu, then peeked round at me and nodded minutely.

Rob was acting in a very possessive manner towards me, making sure I had a menu and a drink, that I had a decent chair and wasn’t sitting in a draught from the open window. It suddenly got to the point that I wanted to scream at him to relax. What was wrong with me? Just yesterday I would have given anything to have him fussing over me, but today it was starting to annoy me. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t making the most of tonight. I had been waiting for Rob to make a move for months, and now that he had, I wasn’t sure he was what I wanted. The trouble was, I realised, I didn’t know
what
I wanted.

I tried to unwind. Maybe it was just a reaction to the end of the exams. I forced my tense shoulders to relax and turned to Rob with a smile.

The waitress got more and more harassed as our large
group got rowdier waiting for the pizzas to finally arrive. Then we were suddenly silent, tucking into our favourites and exchanging slices with others. We sat there for ages polishing off every piece on every plate, dissecting the plot of the film and considering the relative merits of this particular James Bond actor.

The restaurant stayed open late to cater for the post-cinema crowd, but some of us had a time limit as we had to be back in school the next morning. Grace and I were on an Art Club trip into London first thing, and she was going to sleep over at my house that night so we could catch the last train home together. It looked like we would have plenty to discuss on the long walk up from the station.

Part-way through a lively discussion with Eloïse on whether the last Bond was better looking than this one, or just too old, I glanced at my watch and saw that we’d have to leave the restaurant soon or we would miss the last train home.

“Hey, Grace,” I called along the table, “we really ought to be going soon.”

It looked as if I had shaken her out of a dream, she was so entranced by everything Jack had been telling her. I wondered for a minute if she was going to change our plans.

“Oh. Right. Yes…” she stuttered. “Um, I’ll just finish my coffee…”

At that moment, Rob took my hand and pulled me round to face him.

“Now, listen, Little Miss Workaholic,” he said, “as the exams are over, you can allow yourself a little time off to relax. My parents are renting a cottage in Cornwall in the summer holidays, and they’ve said that I can use it in a couple of weeks if I want to take some friends down.” He tucked a lock of my long blonde hair back
over my shoulder as he spoke, not quite meeting my eyes.

“That would be lovely,” I enthused. I had never been to Cornwall and really wanted to try the surfing. “How many of us will it hold?”

A sly look flashed across his face so fast I wasn’t sure if it had really been there.

“Well, it can hold eight,” he admitted, “but I was thinking of something a bit more … intimate.” He emphasised his point by running his finger gently across my thigh and squeezing my knee.

What messages had I given him? We weren’t even officially going out and he had already sorted out a love nest.

“Um, I’m not yet sure when I’m supposed to be going to Spain with my parents,” I blustered quickly, completely unsure of how to dig myself out of this one.

I glanced around. No one else had been listening, thankfully, but it meant that there was no one to help me either. I didn’t know what to do.

“But it’s a lovely idea,” I continued, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “Can we talk about it later in the week? I mean… It is a little sudden, and I’m not sure…” I confessed sheepishly, all pretence of sophistication gone.

He took my hands and stared deep into my eyes.

“Of course,” he murmured, reassuringly. “It’s just – seeing you tonight has made me realise that we could have a
lot
of fun together.” I tried not to gulp too loudly and to remember to breathe. His fingers caressed the inside of my wrist.

“Why don’t we discuss it over dinner on Saturday?” he urged. “I can borrow my mum’s car and we can go to a little place in the country, just the two of us.” It wasn’t a question: he had it all planned out, and I could tell that he wasn’t expecting a rejection. It
was all moving scarily fast.

But it was what I had been hoping for all these months, I reminded myself. Rob had finally asked me out, and to dinner, not just on another group outing. “I’ll have to see what I’ve got arranged,” I said, as casually as I could muster, “but I think I’m free on Saturday.”

He laughed, seeing through my attempts to remain cool. “Excellent, we can sort out the details tomorrow.” He leaned forward so that his face was really close, our noses almost touching. “I’m really looking forward to getting you on your own.”

I could smell a hint of mint on his breath. How had he done that? I tried not to think that he was so sure of himself that he had managed to find and eat a mint before starting this particular conversation.

At that point he leaned in just a little further and brushed his lips over mine. I melted. Whatever his motives, he was gorgeous. I deserved a break after all that revision.

I looked up at him from under my lashes. “Me too,” I breathed, pleased that I had refused the garlic bread earlier.

I was suddenly aware of a silence around us. I looked round at the table into the curious faces of our friends.

“So you two are finally getting it together, are you?” chortled Jack, who had his arm slung casually around Grace’s shoulders.

“Look who’s talking,” flashed back Rob, gesturing to Grace, who immediately blushed a deep crimson. Then there was a loud scraping noise from the other end of the table as Ashley leapt up from her chair and ran for the Ladies.

I straightened up. “Oops,” I whispered. “This is going to be awkward.” I stole a glance at Rob. For just a second he looked smug, then he frowned.

“Mia,” he called down the table, “is Ashley alright? Should someone go and see…?” He managed to get just the right level of concern into his voice, but Mia was already on her way. He turned back to me. “What’s her problem?” he asked.

“Oh come on. You must know that she has been drooling over you for months.”

“Really? I had no idea.” I bit my lip and fought back my irritation: he wasn’t that dumb. But I really didn’t want it to ruin the evening. Term was nearly over, I finally had a date with Rob, and he had kissed me. I should be over the moon. He carried on. “And now that she has seen me with you, well, no wonder she is upset.”