7. Ivy Thompson
IVY THOMPSON
T he next morning, I’m up bright and early. As soon as the sunlight started to seep through my blinds, there was no chance I could lie in. I’ve spent all night tossing and turning.
After getting showered and dressed, I head downstairs to grab some breakfast, praying I don’t bump into JJ or Finn.
Finding out that JJ will be staying for the summer is bad as it is, but knowing I could see him almost every day? I need to get out of the house as much as possible.
When my toast pops up, I slip my phone from my pocket and call Daisy.
“Ugh, Ivy,” she grunts into the phone. “It’s so bloody early.”
“I’m sorry, but I really need to get out of the house.”
Daisy exhales a breath. “Okay. Meet me at the beach huts in twenty.”
I nod and butter my toast before taking it on the go. “Please bring Rufus. I need the extra love.”
Her soft laugh echoes in my ears. “Okay. I’ll bring him. Let me get ready, and I’ll see you soon.”
“Thank you,” I say before taking a bite of my breakfast and heading out the door.
The sun has just risen over the horizon, projecting the most beautiful shades of orange and pink across a cloudless sky. Sunrise is my favourite. Everyone cries over sunsets, but never when the sun rises; it’s severely underrated.
In those few moments, it feels like time stands still and we’re given a new chance at yesterday.
As soon as I reach the beach front, I suck in a large breath of air and smile. The waves gently crash into the shore. My eyes close for a second. Peace. So much peace. It warms my heart, and I didn’t realise how cold it was before now.
I’ll always be a seaside girl.
My shoes touch the grainy sand. It’s a lot lighter than I remember, but still stunning. Every inch of this beach is shining in its own glory.
I snap my head to the sound of a barking dog. Rufus bounds towards me along the beach huts. I grin and lower to the ground as he rushes into my arms, knocking me backwards. A laugh bursts out of me, and I give him a big hug as he attempts to lick my face.
“Stop it,” I chuckle. “I won’t taste good, Rufus.”
He licks my hand, and as I gently push him away, he pants with his large tongue extended. My heart melts. Such a big softy. I wrap my arms around him and give him another hug.
Soon, Daisy catches up to us and I stand from the ground, dusting off the sand from my ass. “He’s very excited to be out today.” She flashes me a smile as she holds out an arm and brings me into a gentle embrace. “What’s going on? Because getting up at this time should be illegal.”
“What should be illegal about this?” I say, gesturing to the rising sun and orange-painted sky.
Daisy glances and places a hand on her hip. “True. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten up for the sunrise.”
My lips twist into a frown. “Why?”
“It was always our thing, and it didn’t feel right doing it without you. You’re the only person who could drag me out of bed at 5am to see a sunrise.”
I beam at her. “But worth it, right?”
Daisy nods and looks back to the sky. “Right.”
We walk down to the beachfront and sit by the dry sand, watching the water come and go in gorgeous, quiet waves.
“What’s been going on?” she asks, patting the spot next to her for Rufus to sit, but he darts into the sea and splashes around in the shallow water.
A smile creeps up onto my face as I watch him. Oh, to be a dog and have absolutely no care in the world. At least I wouldn’t be in the predicament I’m in right now.
My face drops within a second. “Well…” I clear my throat and focus on the sunrise. “One of Finn’s friends from university is staying with us for the summer.”
“Right,” she says as I pause.
“And he—” I cut myself off and turn to her. “I kind of met him last week without knowing who he was, and we went on this non-date date.”
Daisy’s green eyes widen in shock. “Oh my god, what?”
“I know.” I cover my face with my hands.
She tugs on my wrist and forces me to look at her as she blinks. “You need to tell me everything.”
I choke down a breath, but I can’t find it in myself to tell her that I slept with him. Not because I’m ashamed, but because I can’t wrap my head around the idea myself. It’s unlike me, and as much as she’s my best friend, I don’t have the courage to disclose it to her yet.
“He’s staying at your house?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to tell Finn?” she asks.
“Absolutely not. It’ll make the situation worse. With everything that happened with Ben—” I close my eyes and catch my breath. “I can’t. Finn will freak out, and I want to have a good summer.”
Daisy chews on her lip. “But what if he finds out?”
“He’s not going to find out.” I shake my head with confidence. Because he can’t.
Finn is protective. He always has been. But since my accident, I saw the way he deteriorated. He blames himself, but it’s not his fault.
“What’s he like then?”
“Please, let’s not go there.” I wince.
She groans loudly. “Come on. I need the details. You’ve been away for years, and I want the goss. And quite honestly, Ivy, you going on a date seems pretty serious to me.”
I study my best friend and her curious eyes.
“First, I was on a date with someone else, and it was definitely the worst date of my life. Anyway, later on when I was leaving, my heel snapped, and JJ was standing there helping me. He offered to take me out to try and make my night better. At first I was sceptical, because I just wanted to go home. But then we went to a bar and got cocktails and shots. It surprised me how much fun we had.”
“Holy shit.” Daisy claps a hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe this.”
“Trust me. I feel the same.”
“Was he nice at least?”
I nod. “He was charming, funny, and easy to be around. Stupidly good-looking. Like way, way out of my league. I’m still baffled by it, and I’m convinced it was some kind of fever dream.”
“I don’t even know what he looks like, but you are not out of anyone’s league, Ivy. You are beautiful,” she says as her brows press together.
The corners of my lips curve at her words, yet I don’t always believe them. “Thanks, Dais.”
“Did you want to see him again?”
“We had fun, but I left it at that.”
“So, is that a no?”
“I’m not sure if I can be in a relationship right now.”
“What happened when you left?”
“Nothing.” I sigh. “I didn’t give him my number. I knew I was moving home, and he told me he goes to university.” I grip onto the sand to release it moments later.
Daisy frowns but doesn’t say anything.
“Then I got home, and Finn said his friend was coming to stay. And there he was, getting out of his car.”
She stares back at me with shock. “Oh my, this is like an episode of Geordie Shore.”
I roll my eyes at her dramatics. “Nothing is going to happen. It’s not going to work, so there’s no point going there.”
Daisy calls Rufus back to us, shaking off his wet fur. “Well, that’s a shame. Shall we go for a walk? We’ll lose Rufus to the ocean if we keep taking our eyes off him.”
“Sure.”
As we walk down the beach, Rufus runs circles around us. Daisy fills me in about what she’s been up to with university. She’s yet to find a boyfriend, and I know how picky she is. They’ll have to be perfect in every sense.
Two people in the distance begin to walk towards us with a small brown terrier. Rufus barks and Daisy sighs, calling out for him as he moves closer but doesn’t reach the other dog.
“Honestly,” she mutters. “He’s made friends with the whole town.”
I chuckle quietly. “Wouldn’t expect anything less from him.”
We walk towards the two people who have stopped so Rufus can gently greet their dog. Daisy grips my wrist. “Oh my god, do you know who that is?”
“No.” I squint. “Who is it?”
“Isaac and Harriet,” she murmurs under her breath. “From school. I haven’t seen them in ages.”
We inch closer until Isaac’s eyes find mine. He does a double-take. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s seeing a ghost; except I didn’t die, and everyone in this town knows that I survived and moved away without a second thought.
“Ivy?” Isaac calls out. “Oh my, how long has it been?”
“A while.”
Isaac was one of my first friends at school. We had some classes together, including biology where we both thrived. But when I left, we didn’t stay in contact. That’s my fault, I wanted to leave everything in this town behind.
“How are you?” I ask.
I focus on his face, curly black hair, and glowing brown skin. He looks so grown up now, even with the evidence of stubble on his cheeks and jaw. Throughout school, we were mostly the same height, but he’s rocketed since. At least eight inches taller than me.
“Good.” He doesn’t take his eyes off me. “I’m good. You back for the summer? I had no idea you were home.”
I clear my throat. “Yeah, just visiting for now.”
“Fair enough.” He flashes me a handsome smile. “Well, hopefully I might get to see you a bit more this summer.”
“For sure.”
“There’s a party tomorrow.” Harriet catches my attention. We weren’t as close as I was with Isaac, but I remember her being a nice girl. “On the beach. You guys should come. There will be a bunch of people from school coming, and it might be nice to have a little reunion.”
Daisy hums. “Sounds like fun to me. Ivy?”
Isaac’s gaze lingers on me carefully, and I nod. “Yeah, of course. We’re there.”
“Great.” Harriet grins. “We’ll probably start just before sunset. Bring drinks.”
“Of course,” Daisy says as Harriet calls for her dog to move away from Rufus. “See you then.”
Isaac and Harriet begin to walk until Isaac stops and locks eyes with me, offering me a gentle smile. “It’ll be really great to see you there, Ivy,” he says genuinely.
“You, too,” I agree.
When they’re gone, we head towards the road. “That guy has had a crush on you since year seven. I swear.”
I shake my head, dismissing her words.
“He asked me to the school disco in year eight, but we went as friends. That’s all we were throughout high school.”
Daisy tuts. “Trust me. I can tell. He’s chuffed you’re home. And his glow up has done him wonders.”
She’s not wrong. He looks great, I almost didn’t recognise him at first.
“Hey,” Daisy says as she dips her hand into her pocket to take out her vibrating phone. “Sorry, I need to dash off. I promised my mum I’d help her with my grandma this morning.”
“It’s okay. Thanks for meeting me. I needed to get this off my chest.”
She cups my arm and pulls me into a hug. “You’ve got this. Summer is going to be good. Focus on yourself.”
“Of course.”
“See you tomorrow for the party?”
“Most definitely.” I lean down to scratch Rufus’ damp ears. “See you later.”
I wave and prepare myself to head home.