Six
‘Hi, sorry I’m a bit late,’ I say as I arrive at the end of the harbour to find Rob waiting for me.
‘No worries.’ Rob turns around from where he’s been leaning on the railings looking down into the waves. He looks gorgeous this evening. Even though he’s only wearing black jeans and a black Guns N’ Roses T-shirt, he looks effortlessly casual and relaxed.
‘Hey, you look nice,’ he says, noticing that, for once, I’ve made an effort. ‘I like your T-shirt.’
After a lot of thought in a short space of time – I’ve been in a permanent rush since I left Rose’s cottage with my borrowed dress – I wolfed down my tea, then dashed upstairs to my bedroom to find something to wear to meet Rob. After throwing nearly everything I owned onto my bed, the only thing left hanging in my wardrobe was my newly borrowed mermaid dress. I decided eventually on blue jeans, a smart black jacket and my white Bon Jovi T-shirt with the band’s emblem on the front – a red heart with a dagger vertically though the middle, and two angel wings at the top. I pulled my curly hair up on one side with a comb, and at the last minute I whipped on the black pixie boots, instead of my usual trainers.
‘Thanks. I like yours too.’
‘Great minds think alike, obviously!’
‘Great minds that like rock music,’ I remind him in case he’s forgotten we have that in common.
‘Yes. So, what would you like to do?’ Rob asks.
I shrug. I’m not entirely sure what you actually do on a date? This is the first one I’ve ever been on. But I don’t tell Rob that. ‘I don’t mind. What would you like to do?’
Rob looks like he might be as much in the dark as me. Even though I don’t think he’s been out with anyone since he came to St Felix, I can’t imagine it was the same at his previous school. ‘Shall we go for a walk on the beach?’
‘Yes,’ I reply keenly. ‘I’d like that. Which one?’
We’re spoilt for beaches here in St Felix. There’s the busy harbour beach just below where we are now – at high tide we’d only be able to walk along that for about a minute, but at low tide the sand extends right around the side of the harbour to another much longer beach on the other side of Pengarthan Hill, very popular with holidaying families. Then there’s St Felix Bay where the surfers hang out, waiting to catch the huge waves that often roll into the bay there. Rose’s house looks out over that bay. Just around from that is Morvoren Cove, where we’ve been rehearsing our performance for the dance, and, finally, Porthaven Bay – a tiny cove that is often fully covered at high tide.
‘How about St Felix Bay?’ Rob suggests. ‘We could go across the town then down over the beach. If we went up over the hill, we could stop for a drink or something at that little café that’s always open on Morvoren.’
‘Oh, yes, and I know a really lovely little place to sit there.’
‘Tucked up on the cliff face?’ Rob asks. ‘Looking out over the sea?’
‘Yes – you know it too?’
‘I often go up there for a bit of peace and quiet when it’s busy in the town.’
I smile at Rob.
‘What?’ he asks. ‘Have I said something odd?’
‘No, not at all. I think that sounds like the perfect way to spend the evening.’
We walk together across the town and along the soft sand of St Felix Bay. We stop for a few minutes to watch the surfers attempting to catch the early evening waves.
‘Have you ever tried surfing?’ Rob asks as we watch yet another wave crash over the top of a wetsuit-clad surfer.
‘No, not really my thing. I’m much better off on dry land. Have you?’
‘I’d like to, but I don’t think I’m strong enough – these guys are really muscly.’
‘I think it’s more about technique than muscles,’ I say to try to reassure him. ‘If you want to, you should try it. I think they do taster sessions for beginners.’
Rob shrugs. ‘Maybe one day. Shall we walk again?’
We walk across the beach, chatting about school and the competition on Saturday and what possible costume Suzy might come up with for both Eddie and Rob to wear.
‘It’s all right for Eddie,’ Rob says as we come up off the beach and take the little path up and over the hill that leads to Morvoren Cove. ‘He can carry off something bold and bright. He has the personality for it.’
Contrary to what I expected, Rob isn’t confident and self-assured at all, but actually quite shy, and he definitely lacks confidence in himself and his abilities.
‘When you’re on stage, it’s not about whether you have the personality in real life, it’s whether you can pretend to have it long enough to convince your audience,’ I tell him.
Rob smiles at me. ‘You’re right, of course. But I’ve never done anything in front of an audience before – what if I’m rubbish? What if I freeze when I get up there?’
‘What if we all do? Luckily, the others will cover if one of us goes wrong. We’re not going solo. We all have each other.’
‘I know I said this the other day, but I really am so pleased to be a part of your little gang, Frankie. I’ve always been quite envious of you guys.’
‘Can I be honest?’ I ask.
‘Er . . . yes. I guess so.’
‘I was really surprised when you told me that.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you always seem so confident and at ease with everything. Like I said to you, it was me who was envious of you coming to the school and fitting in so quickly. I’ve grown up here and I still don’t feel like I fit in properly. You seemed to find it so easy.’
‘Maybe I’m better at pretending than I thought after all, then. Because that’s far from how it felt.’
‘Maybe you are. Perhaps you’ll surprise yourself when you get on that stage on Saturday night – you might even enjoy it!’
We stop at the little kiosk at the front of the café that sits at the top of the beach and buy a can of Diet Pepsi each. Then we make our way up to the cliffside hideaway where I sat and had my lunch on Saturday.
‘I’m so pleased Mum and Dad moved here to Cornwall,’ Rob says as we gaze out at the view. ‘I really like it here.’
‘Where did you live before?’ I ask.
‘Cambridgeshire. They ran a little country pub there. It was OK, but the scenery is so much lovelier here. Have you ever been to Cambridgeshire?’
I shake my head.
‘It’s very flat. The view here is much prettier.’
I turn to look at him and realise to my surprise he’s now looking at me, and not the view in front of us.
I don’t know what to do – apart from flush a ridiculous shade of red. Rob looks similarly uncomfortable, so I turn away, pretty certain my cheeks must be on fire, they’re that hot.
‘Whoa, what’s that?’ Rob’s sudden cry makes me turn back, and I see him looking down into the waves.
‘What?’ I ask, relieved the awkward moment has passed so quickly. ‘What did you see?’
‘It looked like a huge fish’s tail,’ he says, still staring at the sea. ‘What fish do you have here in Cornwall with tails that big? It definitely wasn’t a dolphin or a basking shark. It looked like . . . a huge goldfish tail. You know the sort – all soft and feathery.’
‘Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I saw something similar myself sitting here the other day.’ And also when I was at Rose’s cottage. That’s three times the tail has been spotted in the last few days.
‘Did you? What do you know about it?’
‘Nothing. I’ve never seen it before either. It’s very odd, though. Like you said, it’s far too big to be a regular fish, but it’s not shaped like a dolphin or anything like that.’
‘Strange! We’ll have to do some investigating then and find out more about it.’
I like that he says ‘we’.
‘If you want to that is?’ he adds.
‘Yes, I’d like that. I like a bit of a mystery.’
Rob grins. ‘Funnily enough, me too. Shall we watch for a bit longer in case it appears again?’
‘Yeah, we probably should.’
We sit up on the cliff edge for another half an hour, but we don’t see the tail again. As the evening draws to a close, the wind that was warm and light when I left my house earlier this evening now has quite a chill to it as it blows up off the sea.
I feel myself shiver, and Rob turns to me. ‘Are you cold?’
‘A bit. I think the wind has changed direction.’
‘Do you want to go back?’
That’s the last thing I want to do. I’m really enjoying spending this time with him – just the two of us.
‘No, it’s OK, I’ll be fine.’
‘I . . . I could put my arm around you?’ Rob asks, looking down immediately after he’s spoken. ‘To try to keep you a bit warmer?’
Again, I’m lost for words. So I just nod.
Rob slides a bit closer to me along the smooth rock, then puts his arm around my shoulders.
‘Is that any better?’ he asks.
I’m still freezing, but of course I don’t say.
‘Yes, thank you,’ I whisper, barely able to get my words out now I’m this close to him. This has never happened to me before, and inside I’m completely panicking. What happens next? What should I do? What if he tries to kiss me?
Again, we sit for a bit longer watching the waves below us. Well, I think this is what we’re still doing. Both of us sit in complete silence staring at the sea, me completely paralysed by my nerves, and Rob as still as the cliff face behind us.
To my annoyance, I begin to shiver again.
My movement seems to awaken Rob. ‘Oh, God, you’re still cold!’ he says with anguish, as though it’s all his fault he hasn’t been able to warm me up.
‘No, I’m not, honestly.’ I turn to look at him and I suddenly realise how close our faces are.
‘Honestly?’ Rob repeats, staring at me in an odd way.
I shrug. ‘Maybe a bit . . . ’
It’s possibly the strangest, and at the same time most awkward, situation I think I’ve ever found myself in as we continue to stare at each other. If this were a romantic movie, we’d be gazing longingly into each other’s eyes, but the truth of the matter is we’re staring, both of us seemingly wondering what should happen next.
Suddenly, among the noise of the gulls and the swirling wind, I hear a splash down below. Rob hears it too and we both turn away from each other to look.
Below us is the tail again, nothing more than that, simply what appears to be a huge fish’s tail flapping around in the water. Its green, blue and turquoise colours are almost iridescent as they catch the evening sunlight.
Now, instead of staring at each other, we stare at the tail, but, try as I might, I can’t make out a body beneath the waves to try to figure out what species this could be. And then, after only a few seconds, the tail dips down beneath the waves and is gone again.
‘It is real, then?’ Robs says, still looking down into the waves in case it makes another appearance. ‘We didn’t imagine it?’
‘Seems that way. I wonder what it is?’
‘I think we should probably head home soon.’ Rob turns away from the sea. ‘You do seem quite cold now, Frankie.’
‘OK.’ He’s not wrong; I am freezing. But I don’t want this night to end yet.
‘Come on, then.’ Rob holds out his hand and I take it gladly as we climb down from our viewing position.
We walk back through the town and then up the hill that leads out of the old part of St Felix towards the newer end of town, where most of the new-build houses are in little estates.
Unlike the last time we were here, Rob insists on walking me right to my door.
‘I had a great time tonight,’ he says as we pause on my doorstep. ‘Thank you.’
‘I had a great time too,’ I reply, hoping desperately that Mum or Dad don’t appear and open the door. ‘I . . . I’m glad you saw that fish thing too. I wasn’t sure if I might have imagined it before.’
‘Yeah, that was odd. Like I said before, maybe we can do some investigating and try to find out what it could be?’
I nod. ‘The library might have some books? We could take a look one night after school.’ As I’m saying this, I’m actually cringing inside. What are you babbling about, Frankie? You’ve just been on a date with the boy of your dreams and you’re talking about going to visit a library with him!
‘Good idea,’ Rob says to my relief. ‘Let’s do that.’ He glances at the lounge window just behind me. ‘I think your dad might be keeping an eye on us,’ he whispers.
I turn around and see the top of my dad’s head swiftly disappearing behind the patterned curtains.
‘Sorry,’ I whisper back. ‘I think he’s gone now.’
‘It’s fine. My parents would probably be doing the same thing if this were my house. They’re usually a bit busy at night with the pub, though, to worry too much what I’m up to. Right then, I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow?’ Rob begins to back away.
‘Yes.’
He takes another quick glance at the window, then, before I know what’s happening, he leans forward and kisses my cheek.
Then looking almost as surprised as I am, he turns and heads quickly down the path, pausing only at the bottom to turn back briefly and lift his hand to wave goodbye.
But I’m in so much shock, I can’t even lift mine to respond, let alone notice the flushed look on Rob’s face that so closely matches my own current expression.
Rob Matthews kissed me . . . OK, it was only a peck on my cheek, but, still. He actually kissed me . . .