Chapter 10
The Day Before the Party
With her birthday so close now, Holly couldn’t fight the excitement that had been bubbling away all week.
It was like she was seven again and excited for the Rollerblade Barbie she’d been desperate for since she’d seen it in the Argos catalogue.
She found herself scrunching her eyes to squish her anticipation in.
What made this feel all the more important though, was that this wasn’t about the birthday presents she’d be getting - although if someone gave her that Barbie she’d still be pretty happy.
No, she knew this was because of Seb. He’d arrived back yesterday, she’d heard him chatting to her dad in the pub whilst she’d hidden on the stairs.
She hadn’t been able to sleep last night.
Every time she closed her eyes, visions of him filled her mind - playing out all kinds of versions of the conversation he’d be having with Sloane tomorrow.
In the end she’d given up and watched The Lake House again, followed by Just Like Heaven.
She adored that culminating scene in films when the main characters kissed for the first time, after she’d been willing it to happen.
It made her heart flutter and she was overcome with a warmth that made her smile with excitement for the possibility their happily ever after was within their grasp.
She must have fallen asleep at some point during the night though because she had woken up to a blank TV screen and a sore neck.
Today, she’d be heading to The Dolphin to drop off some decorations her mum had got for her. She knew she could do it tomorrow, but she needed something to keep her occupied. Her phone buzzed in the back pocket of her acid wash jeans as she pulled her hair into a high ponytail.
Seb:
Hey Stranger
Her heart leapt at Seb’s message.
Holly:
Hey
Seb:
All ready for the party tomorrow?
Holly:
Think so
Holly face palmed. Why couldn’t she think of something better to say than think so? But as she racked her brain for a way to keep their conversation going, Seb did it for her.
Seb:
Got time to meet me at the beach?
Always. I’d love to. You had me at Hey Stranger. The perfect replies screamed at her, but her fingers typed out;
Holly:
Sure
Seb:
See you in 15?
Taking Danny to the cinema later, but am free this morning.
Holly:
OK
Oh, she was hopeless, she told herself as she smacked her forehead repeatedly with the palm of her hand.
‘Something bad happened?’ her mum’s concerned voice asked from the doorway, making her jump and nearly drop her phone.
‘Mum!’
‘What?’
‘You nearly gave me a heart attack.’
Her mum laughed. ‘Come on then, who had your attention so much you didn’t hear your clodhopper of a mother approach?’ She wasn’t wrong. No one would ever describe Sandra Loxley as being light on her feet.
‘Seb just messaged.’
‘Oh, I see,’ she said absently, but the glint in her eyes betrayed her otherwise nonchalant reply.
‘He wants to see me before he takes Danny to the cinema.’
‘You’d better get going then. Good job you’ve put actual clothes on today instead of those tracksuit bottoms you keep insisting on wearing.’
Holly rolled her eyes. She knew her mum never understood her love for Juicy Couture tracksuits. But they were so comfy, and the vibrant colours always made her smile, which in turn helped to get each day she wore them off to a better start.
‘It doesn’t matter what I’m wearing, Mum.’
‘Of course it does.’
She knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help herself. ‘And why is that?’
‘Because,’ she paused theatrically, ‘when you look back on this morning in years to come, you do not want to picture yourself in fuchsia velour tracksuit bottoms, with writing across your bottom.’
‘And why would I be looking back on this particular morning?’
‘Because, hopefully, it’s the start of things between you and Seb.’
Holly wanted the ground to swallow her up. Even more so when her mum continued, ‘Mary and I have been chatting–’
‘You’ve been talking about this with his mum?’ Holly cut her off, incredulous.
‘We have keep fit classes together,’ she shrugged.
‘Oh well, of course - that explains it.’
‘Mary can’t understand what’s taken so long.’
‘Please tell me you haven’t said anything to Seb about this?’ Holly pleaded with her mother, whilst praying to anyone who would listen.
‘Of course not.’
‘Thank goodness for small mercies,’ she sighed out. Her dread at the prospect had sapped any energy she had left this morning, and she sank down on her bed.
Her mum was just smiling at her now.
‘What?’
She pinched up her shoulders as her smile grew more animated. ‘I’m so excited!’
Holly shook her head, but couldn’t help the small smile that crept up her face.
‘Seb only wants to catch up before all the fuss tomorrow. He’s not going to confess his love for me down on the beach.
But,’ she paused as her mum squealed when she added that small start of a caveat, ‘but, I am planning on letting him know how I feel tomorrow. If he feels the same way, we’ll see what happens. ’
‘He feels the same way,’ her mum asserted with all the authority of a sergeant major. ‘Mary would bet money on it.’
Holly shook her head again at the teenage display of excitement from her nearly fifty year old mother.
‘You need to stop watching those dating shows.’
‘I agree. This is so much better.’ Her mum’s eyes danced with delight.
Holly wished she could be so confident about how Seb felt.
‘Bye, Mum,’ Holly called out as she extricated herself from the situation.
*
As she walked down the cobbled slope to the beach she spotted Seb.
He was sitting looking out at the waves, as they ebbed away.
The tide was on its way out, revealing the mismatched boulders and shale the sea would conceal when it returned.
Part of her longed to slip off her trainers and sink her feet into the cool pools of water left behind - to roll up her jeans and lose herself to the peace the beach offered.
But her fear of the water extended to the beach, so this was as close as she could go.
Seb was captivated by the view, and hadn’t heard her approach, so she took a rare opportunity to take him in.
Part of her, the brave part, wanted to silently approach and slip her arms around his broad back and breathe him in.
At their sixth form prom, they’d had one dance together and Holly could still remember how it felt to be in his embrace.
She’d tentatively looped her arms around his neck and he’d pulled her in close.
They hadn’t really danced, just moved to the music, but she had savoured every second of it…
until someone had set off the smoke detector and screams had rung out across the dance floor as freezing bullets of water had erupted from the ceiling sprinkler system.
Not wanting to risk being caught staring at him, she coughed loudly, which elicited a slight jump that rippled the muscles across his back.
‘Sorry, have you been waiting long?’ she asked as he turned to face her with a smile filled with such warmth it made her stumble a little.
‘I didn’t mind. I miss this when I’m in York.’
‘It’s a pretty special place.’
‘Yeah, it is,’ he agreed.
‘Not much longer until you’ll be back,’ she said as she sunk down to sit beside him on the shale scar he’d settled himself on. Grateful for the thick towel he’d set down on the slippery slab of grey shale, Holly tried to calm her racing heart when their thighs touched.
‘I’m counting down the days,’ he replied turning a little to face her and pushing the point with his wide obsidian eyes. ‘Here, I wanted to give you your birthday present early.’ He held out a box, wrapped in Fraggle Rock paper. ‘Didn’t want it getting mixed in with all the others tomorrow.’
‘Where did you find this paper?’ she gasped, running her fingers over Red - her favourite Fraggle.
‘A little shop in The Shambles.’
‘I need to go there. I love the Fraggles.’
‘I know,’ he laughed to himself. ‘You can open it early, if you want.’
She did want. She really did. But as she turned it over to reach the sellotape on the other side, a gush of freezing, foul smelling water assaulted her from behind, covering her head and back.
‘What the f–’ she started to scream. But Sloane’s laughter exploded around her, cutting her off.
‘Oh, that was so good!’
‘What the hell, Sloane?’ Seb shouted.
He jumped up and when he looked back at Holly and took in her drenched frame, he pulled off his hoodie and held it out towards her. But she backed away, horrified at what Sloane had done to her.
‘It was just a bit of fun. Lighten up,’ she said to Holly and Seb, as if they were being the unreasonable ones.
Gripping Seb’s present to her chest with one arm, she pushed herself up from the rocks and ran back to the pub; tears streaming down her face.
Holly wasn’t a runner. In fact, she actively avoided running - she’d been late for school in her teens, frequently, because she’d refused to run for the bus.
But today, dripping with stale sea water, she ran home.
Relief slammed into her when she stepped into a silent pub.
The clock on the wall told her if she’d arrived ten minutes later she would likely have faced a couple of the early morning regulars instead of this welcoming emptiness.
Her parents’ voices drifted out from the office, giving their location away.
Carefully, so as not to make a sound, she slipped upstairs unnoticed.
Inside the solace her bedroom offered, Holly stripped off her sodden clothes and swaddled herself in her duvet. Seb’s birthday present sat on the floor next to her discarded clothes; forgotten for now in her humiliation.
Her phone buzzed from under the pile of clothes. She fished it out and checked her messages.
Seb:
You OK?
Sloane:
You seriously need to lighten up. It was a joke.
Sloane’s lack of apology was the final straw. Switching off her phone, she turned away from it as she tucked herself up in the duvet. If she blocked everything out, maybe the humiliation that coursed through her would switch off too.