Long Time No Sea, page 25
‘That sounds great to me,’ I reply. ‘Now that everything is out in the open, hopefully we can all move on.’
‘And all see each other a lot more,’ Cam adds.
‘Erm, wait a minute,’ DJ interrupts. ‘It’s not all out in the open – we still don’t know who wrote that message in the sand, who started the fire.’
We all groan.
‘Mate, it was fifteen years ago, your life is amazing, don’t rock the boat,’ Clarky begs. ‘Unless it gets it started again.’
‘Listen, that night, the night of the party, I wasn’t in a good place,’ Mike begins. ‘I was depressed, thinking that my life was over, and then I saw Jas and Cam slinking off together, going into that storage shed on the side of the house, so I snuck after them, watching them from a gap in the wood. They started kissing and I saw red. Clarky had given me one of his joints. I lit it, determined to self-destruct, but it definitely wasn’t weed, so I dropped it on the floor. I couldn’t stand seeing anything else so I stormed off. I thought I’d put it out – I was sure I had – but it wasn’t long before the fire started. I think it was my fault, I’m sorry, mate.’
I’m briefly freaked out, at the idea of Mike watching me and Cam kissing, when we thought we were alone, but this is a new beginning. What does it matter now?
‘It wasn’t your fault, pal,’ Clarky reassures him. ‘I started the fire. I was in the kitchen, making beans…’
‘Who makes beans at a house party?’ DJ interrupts.
‘Someone with the munchies,’ Clarky replies.
‘Except you didn’t have the munchies,’ Mike reminds him. ‘That weed was pure oregano. That joint you gave me smelt of pizza.’
‘Do you want to hear this or not?’ Clarky snaps. ‘So I poured the beans into a bowl, and I put it in the microwave, and I did what you’re supposed to do, stirring it halfway through, and then Dom called me back to the FIFA tournament to see James’s epic slide tackle, then they started fighting – DJ, you had to come and break them up, and then I did wonder, where I left the spoon, if it was still in the bowl, in the microwave… by the time we realised the house was on fire, I knew it was me who caused it, by microwaving that spoon…’
That’s such a Clarky story.
‘So, which one of you wrote the message?’ DJ asks them.
Mike and Clarky look at one another but neither of them says a word. It doesn’t seem like either of them wrote it.
‘Right, okay, confession time,’ Maxi says. ‘Again. I started the fire.’
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. We’ve got a real Spartacus situation here.
‘You?’ DJ replies.
‘Yeah,’ she says. ‘We were in your room, you lit that candle to set the mood, and then it fell over, and I panicked and said it was a sign we shouldn’t be having sex.’
‘Right,’ DJ replies. ‘I put it out and then ran downstairs after you, to make sure you were okay.’
‘Well, I felt bad,’ Maxi continues. ‘I drank a shot, to give myself some courage, and then I went back to your room and I lit the candle and I waited for you to come back, so we could do it. Then I heard raised voices and smashing so I hurried downstairs, where the boys were fighting over the Xbox. You were there, breaking them up, before they caused any more damage to the house and then, yeah, next thing we were all running for our lives. But I left the candle lit, in your room, and it was me who wrote that message in the sand. I felt guilty, and I thought I was going to die, so I wanted to confess, I suppose.’
DJ wraps his arms around Maxi and gives her a squeeze.
‘Listen, we’ll probably never know whose fault it was,’ he reassures her. ‘But you’re all right, it’s in the past now. Let’s just focus on the future.’
The boat fires up again, and slowly starts to move. We all cheer.
‘Finally,’ Maxi says. ‘The last thing we want is a genuine shipwreck experience.’
‘I don’t know,’ Clarky says. ‘The last one worked out quite well.’
‘Yes, well, when we all go on holiday next year, I’ll make all the arrangements,’ Maxi tells him.
‘Next year?’ I say.
‘Yes,’ she replies with a smile. ‘Let’s make this an annual thing.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ I reply.
I’m sure we’re safe to do this again next year because, at the very least, we’ll only have a year to create new issues. After airing out our dirty laundry from pushing twenty years ago on this trip, there can’t be much left for next time. Then again, with this lot, you never know.
33
We’re back at the villa now, sitting on the outdoor dining terrace, surrounded by festooned lights, the moonlight twinkling on the pool’s flat, still water. The smell of freshly made pizzas from the villa’s wood-fired oven fills the air – it really is a perfect night.
I take a bite of my pizza and exhale a contented sigh.
‘This is incredible,’ I announce between mouthfuls.
Maxi agrees with a nod.
‘The best pizza I’ve ever had,’ she adds. ‘That oven is a game changer. I’m going to get one for my garden, although I suspect half the flavour comes from eating them on holiday.’
‘Speaking of game changers,’ DJ chimes in. ‘What are we all planning to do for the rest of our holiday?’
‘I heard there’s a great, chilled-out hiking trail nearby,’ Clarky suggests – the very thing Maxi wanted us to do, before we wound up shipwrecked because a hike didn’t sound adventurous enough for him.
‘I was thinking skydiving,’ Maxi jokes.
‘I thought we could climb a volcano,’ DJ adds.
‘I hear scuba diving is nice this time of year,’ Mike says, keeping the joke going.
‘I know of a beach where they’ll leave you to starve to death,’ Cam suggests.
‘Oh, and if none of that takes your fancy, I know a resort not too far from here with a seriously top-notch room for swingers.’
‘All right, all right, very funny,’ Clarky says. ‘But now that I know I’ve got a while to live, I’m a bit more keen to make sure I don’t kill myself. Let’s stick with the walk.’
‘Music to my ears,’ Maxi says. ‘We can do that tomorrow but, for tonight, how about we go down on to the beach, sit around the firepit?’
‘Sounds amazing,’ I tell her.
‘We need to relax,’ she says. ‘It sounds like things are going to be pretty full on, when we all get home.’
‘Well, home for me is living with my mum and dad,’ I point out.
‘Me too,’ Cam adds. ‘Well, my mum and dad. My gran isn’t well, I said I’d move in for a bit, help out.’
‘And I’ll be around,’ Maxi says. ‘I’m thinking of finding somewhere to rent, close by, if Cam and I are going into business together.’
‘And, just saying, I can work from anywhere,’ DJ adds. ‘If you want some company, that is.’
‘I’d love that,’ Maxi says with a smile.
‘And I’m only in Leeds,’ Clarky adds. ‘So not too far away.’
‘Far enough, though,’ Mike says with a laugh. ‘I’m still living in the village too. It’s going to be strange, having everyone back again.’
‘I’ll alert the fire brigade,’ DJ jokes, finally – and thankfully – seeming like he’s over it now.
It occurs to me, looking around the table at my oldest friends, that this isn’t the end of our story, it’s the beginning. It’s a new chapter, at the very least. Now that we’ve put to bed our old drama, it’s time to start a new one, a new series – a sort of reunion show – only now we’re all older, and wiser… well, hopefully we are, at least.
But we’re still the same characters, though, all still bringing the same traits (for better or worse) to the table.
This is going to be a new beginning for all of us, a chance to get to know each other again, to see where our relationships go. And as for what happens to us now, well, I suppose we’ll see where we all are this time next year, won’t we?
34
THEN – 1 SEPTEMBER 2008
I’m standing at the entrance of the annual fair – the one our village hosts every year without fail to celebrate the end of summer. The delicious September sun is beaming down on me, music is playing, people sound like they’re having a great time, and the only thing I can smell is fresh doughnuts. I should be in my element right now, but instead I’m moping around, because Maxi, Cam, DJ, Mikey, Clarky and I would always come here together every year – it was the last day of pure, unadulterated summer fun we would enjoy before the next school term started. This was going to be our last one, before we all moved away, and not only are we spending it apart but I’m having to attend with my parents, which is not a good look.
‘Cheer up, moody,’ my dad teases.
‘It’s bad enough being here with my parents, instead of my friends, but did you have to wear that?’ I can’t help but ask.
Dad looks down at his T-shirt and smiles. Large lettering that says ‘this is not a drill’ surrounds a cartoon image of a saw. It’s the most dad T-shirt I’ve ever seen.
‘You know this is the last one before I go to uni alone, right?’ I point out, even though I know that they know that.
‘I know, darling,’ Mum says, putting an arm around me, giving me a squeeze but then quickly backing off in case she’s ruining my street cred too. ‘But we’ll make sure to have a good time.’
‘Listen, DJ’s dad told me I had to punish you as severely as I could within the confines of the Good Book and the law,’ Dad says with a snigger. ‘Except you did tell us where you were going that night, you didn’t do anything wrong while you were there, and you’re eighteen years old – you can make your own decisions. But just in case we do run into DJ’s dad, it will be obvious that I’m punishing you by wearing this T-shirt.’
I allow myself a little laugh. Dad is just trying to lighten the mood but he’s not wrong about DJ’s dad. He went crazy, threatening to call all of our universities and tell them the kind of kids they were accepting, if we didn’t promise to keep ourselves all apart for the rest of the summer. He said we were all bad for each other, that we were trouble together, and that this was the only way to ensure we didn’t mess up our futures. I’m not sure all of our parents agreed with such a nuclear reaction, but no one wanted any trouble so in the end they all decided it would be best if we didn’t hang out any more, at least until we had completed our studies, which seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
The community fair always has such a warm and welcoming atmosphere – I swear, everyone in the village attends, no matter what their age. There are stalls where you can buy things like handmade crafts, and jewellery, food stands with all sorts of delicious offerings, a variety of live entertainment all day and – of course – a strong selection of fairground rides.
My phone chimes with a message so I take it from my pocket to see who it is. It’s Maxi.
Sending to the gang. Anyone who is at the fair, meet me at the tallest ride in 5 mins. Make it sound scary so your folks don’t join you and don’t forget to delete this message! X
I look up from my phone to see my mum and dad looking at me expectantly, both grinning, their eyebrows higher on their foreheads than usual.
‘It’s just a thing about ringtones,’ I lie.
‘I see,’ Mum says, clearly not fooled.
‘You know, you’re right, I need to enjoy myself a bit more,’ I say brightly. ‘I think I want to go on that thing.’
I turn around and point up at the tallest ride here. I’ve no idea how tall it actually is, but it towers above the fair. It’s sort of like the hearts and diamonds ride you’ll often find at fairgrounds, except it’s much smaller, for just a handful of people, and instead of tipping on its side and spinning really fast, it slowly lifts up high into the sky and slowly turns around so that you can take in the view. Despite being very high up it could sound quite pleasant, except instead of being strapped inside the ride, the people on it are strapped to the outside, so that they can enjoy the view.
‘You want to go on that?’ my dad says in disbelief. ‘The girl who cried until they let her off the big wheel?’
‘That was ages ago,’ I insist.
‘You were fourteen,’ my dad replies with a laugh.
‘Then I guess I want to face my fears,’ I say.
‘Okay, darling,’ Mum chimes in. ‘Your dad and I will go grab a bite to eat. But be good.’
‘Always,’ I tell them with a smile.
There’s no way they don’t know that I’m slinking off to find my friends but, like I said, my parents aren’t all that mad at me for what happened. We will need to be careful, though. If DJ’s dad sees us together, he’ll go mad.
I kill time for a few minutes, eventually approaching the meeting point, but when I get there I can see that my friends are all strapped into the ride already. As I step up to the towering fairground attraction, I feel a mix of excitement and nerves churn in my stomach. Looking up at the massive metal structure, and then back down at the bit where you get on, I note that it’s a hexagonal shape, with one of my friends strapped into each of the spaces – and there’s one space left for me, between Maxi and Cam.
‘This is her,’ Maxi tells the guy running the ride. ‘Thanks for saving the space for her.’
I widen my eyes at her.
‘It’s the only way we’ll get to talk,’ she insists. ‘It was this or the house of mirrors, and can you imagine how much damage Clarky would do to himself in there?’
‘I heard that,’ I hear his voice call out from the other side of the ride.
‘I’m not a big fan of rides,’ I say.
‘This isn’t a ride really,’ the guy running it reassures me. ‘It’s a viewing platform.’
‘And you’ll be okay next to me,’ Cam says.
Now that I’m walking up to my space on the not-ride I get to see him properly, only for a few seconds, but it feels so good to look into his eyes again.
But then I’m placing my back to the wall, standing on a small ledge, with a small cage that closes in front of the lower two thirds of my body, and two thick metal bars that cross over in front of my arms and chest, presumably all keeping me strapped in safely. Now that I’m in my place, I can’t see any of my friends.
‘Here we go,’ Clarky says excitedly.
At least I can still hear them.
‘Okay, going up,’ the man tells us. ‘Hold on.’
The operator pulls the lever and we begin to ascend, slowly at first, but then it feels like the speed picks up a little.
‘Oh, I don’t like this, I don’t like this at all,’ I blurt.
I feel a hand tapping against my body, coming from Cam’s direction. I look down and see his hand searching for mine, so I grab it. As I do, my lungs fill with oxygen in a way they haven’t done for weeks.
The ground beneath me begins to shrink, and I can see the fairground sprawling out beneath me, looking more and more like a miniature model of one the further we climb. The sound of the crowd fades away, replaced by the rushing wind and the creaking of the metal. Finally, as we reach the top, the ride grinds to a halt, and then it slowly starts to rotate, and I mean slowly, you can barely feel it, just like you can’t feel the earth turning when you’re on it.
‘Well, now we’ve got some privacy,’ I hear Maxi say. ‘Hello, how has everyone been?’
‘Is that a joke?’ DJ asks, vaguely annoyed.
‘Obviously it’s a joke,’ she says.
‘I’ve been pretty frigging terrible,’ DJ says, stating the obvious. ‘My dad checks my phone multiple times a day, I’m grounded until I go to uni – a uni they’ve chosen for me, some kind of Catholic uni in a town outside Leeds with a chapel and everything, as though that’s going to straighten me out.’
‘That’s rough,’ I tell him. ‘I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I hate the idea of going to York without you guys. I’m actually kind of dreading it now.’
‘Well, I’m only going to be in Manchester,’ Maxi reassures me. ‘I won’t be far away.’
‘And I’m going to be here, working for my dad, so at least you all know I’ll always be around if you ever visit home,’ Mikey chimes in.
‘Of course we’ll visit home,’ Maxi replies. ‘Won’t we, gang?’
‘I’m not even going that far from home,’ I point out.
‘And I’m not sure where I’ll do my PhD yet,’ Clarky says, the sarcasm in his voice building. ‘Oh, no, wait, I’m too thick.’
‘I’m really sorry about that, mate,’ I hear Mikey reply. ‘It’s been a difficult time, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.’
‘I’m not arsed really,’ Clarky replies. ‘We’re all thick, really, compared to Lord Cameron.’
‘I don’t think they make you a lord, just for going to Edinburgh,’ Cam says with a laugh. ‘But it’s a great opportunity and I’m going to do my best to make the most of it.’
‘That’s exactly what you should do,’ I say, because as much as it pains me, there’s no way he can turn down the opportunity to go to such a great uni, just because there’s a chance he and I might be happy together. ‘But I’ll miss you – I’ll miss all of you.’
‘Bloody hell, you’re all talking like you’ll never see each other again,’ Clarky says with a scoff. ‘I went to uni and you see me all the time.’
‘I’m pretty sure that’s because we’re the only people who will be friends with you,’ DJ jokes.
I sigh with relief because it’s nice to hear him joking again.
‘Yeah, well, you’ll be sorry, when I move in with my new housemates and they become my old friends instead of you,’ he snaps back.
I’m pretty sure I know what he means, but it’s hard to imagine anyone putting up with him apart from us.
‘I can’t believe this is it,’ Maxi says, the emotion building in her voice. ‘The last time we’re going to see each other, for God knows how long, and we can’t actually see each other.’
