Rachel stuttered. She couldn’t say she was nervous about seeing him again, that was too much information. She was supposed to be playing hard to get. She thought fast.
‘Er, you know. I don’t go to these kinds of parties much. And, well, all the girls here are like models and they were staring at me when I first walked in, so I was feeling a bit insecure,’ Rachel said, which was partly the truth.
‘Are you kidding me?’
‘No.’
‘Come on, you’re winding me up.’
‘I’m not, honestly.’
‘Rachel, you’ve got nothing to feel insecure about. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?’
‘Er, yeah.’
‘The reason they were staring at you was because they were jealous.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re better looking than them.’
Rachel’s mind froze. How was she supposed to take that? Was he saying it because he was attracted to her or was he merely stating a fact? She hoped it was the first one. There was a long silence as Rachel tossed this thought around in her mind. It made her go mute as she tried to think it all through. A silence as long as winter came between them.
*
Lewis couldn’t think of anything to say. Rachel had gone quiet. It was probably that last thing he had said - probably too forward. Why had he said that? He must have embarrassed her, which was why she wasn’t saying anything. He’d killed the conversation and now he was floundering around for something to say.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.
‘I’m okay, honestly. Don’t worry. Go back to the party if you want.’
‘No, I’ll stay.’
Lewis didn’t want to go back to the party, he wanted to sit with her all night on the sand and charm the pants off her like he normally did with girls, but his conversational skills had left him. What was happening? Usually the words just fell off his tongue like melting snow off a roof. The more he thought about what to say the more his brain just locked up. Rachel was having a strange effect on him, like she was made of kryptonite. So this was what it was like to be a nerd - a totally alien sensation. No matter how hard he tried to make conversation the words just wouldn’t come.
Maybe he wasn’t so charming after all. Maybe he had got by on looks, and all the girls he had met before were shallow enough to be satisfied with that. He thought about all the things he’d said and wondered if girls just laughed and smiled in all the right places, not because he was interesting or funny, but because he was handsome and rich. For all he knew he could be a complete geek who just happened to be born in the right body. Now he had met a real girl who actually had a brain, she had seen though him as nothing more than a face and a body.
‘Are you cold?’ he asked. It was a pointless question. The night was warm and balmy with no hint of a breeze. He had to say something no matter how dull it sounded.
‘No,’ she replied.
He thought about asking her how she was, but he’d already asked that a minute ago. Lewis tried to desperately think of something else to say, and therein lay the problem: he had to think. Normally talking to girls was instinctive, it was part of his DNA. But now the gene responsible for chatting up girls had been switched off.
Lewis stared out to sea. She must think he was an idiot - better that than to open his mouth and confirm it.
He watched the horizon in the hope that something would appear to make the words flow, or just something to start the conversation. But the horizon was as empty as his mind. He began rehearsing little lines in his head but they all sounded naff and cheesy. So instead he looked straight ahead and played with the sand. Every second he sat there not saying anything seemed to last a year.
The horrendous deadlock was broken when he heard a patter of footsteps in the sand. Lewis was relieved to see his friend Matt running towards him with a worried look on his face, followed by Cassie cradling a bottle of water in her arms.
‘Matt, what’s wrong?’ Lewis asked.
‘There’s something happening at the house,’ said Matt. ‘Two guys are looking for you and they look really pissed off.’
Lewis didn’t care who it was. He was happy for the distraction and ran towards the house with his friend. He turned back to Rachel and Cassie.
‘I’ll be back in a second,’ he said.
*
Rachel didn’t want him to go. She liked sitting there, just the two of them. Even if they hadn’t been speaking. But she was no closer to knowing whether he liked her or not. Maybe he didn’t, seeing as how he’d disappeared so quickly.
‘Is everything okay?’ Rachel asked.
‘Yeah,’ replied Cassie handing Rachel a bottle of water. ‘A party wouldn’t be a party without a couple of knobs spoiling it.’
Rachel took a swig of water and Cassie flopped down on the sand beside her, eyebrows raised.
‘Well I’m waiting,’ she said.
‘Waiting for what?’
‘Rachel, I swear I’ll throw you in the sea unless you give me the gossip.’
‘Nothing happened.’
‘Don’t give me that.’
‘Honestly. Nothing happened.’
‘No snogging?’
‘No.’
‘You’re lying.’
‘Nope, he just sat there staring out to sea.’
‘What in a kind of romantic way?’
‘No, not in an anything way.’
‘You’re kidding me. He didn’t even make a pass at you?’
‘No, nothing.’
‘He must have said something. You should have laid on the asthma attack a bit thicker, you know, to get more sympathy.’
‘What so he’d call an ambulance and see me taken away with an oxygen mask strapped round my head, no thanks.’
‘That’s weird. He seemed to be all charming and super smooth.’
‘I know, but it just stopped when we got to the beach.’
The two girls sat on the sand trying to figure out what just happened.
‘Well, he did say one thing,’ said Rachel.
‘Yes?’
‘I told him I had an attack because I felt nervous, and he asked why. So I made up something about feeling intimidated by all the good-looking girls here.’
‘Yeah, go on.’
‘He said something about me not worrying because I was just as attractive as they were.’
‘Rachel, you idiot. Why didn’t you say this before? That’s immense.’
‘Is it?’
‘Hell, yeah.’
‘Then why did he go all quiet?’
‘Maybe he’s shy.’
‘Cassie, he doesn’t strike me as the shy type.’
‘Come on, we better get back up to the house otherwise he’ll think you’ve gone off him.’
‘You really think he’s interested in me?’
‘Rachel, you are one of the smartest girls I know but sometimes you can be really thick. Of course he is.’
Cassie and Rachel made their way back up to the house, arm in arm. As they walked into the garden it was strangely empty. The music was still playing but only a handful of people hung around. They walked towards the house and saw that everyone was crammed inside. Cassie and Rachel pushed their way into the lounge. Everyone was standing around in a circle watching Lewis explaining something to two very large men who looked very serious and very angry.
At first, Rachel thought they were plain clothes policeman telling him to keep the noise down. But when the men started raising their voices, she realised that keeping the peace was the last thing on their minds.
‘So what are you going to do about it?’ asked one of the men. He had a blue T-shirt on that revealed two large muscular arms. The other man was similarly dressed in a white T-shirt. They both had short cropped hair and tattoos up their arms, not the trendy kind that everyone has, but the old style that have a dirty blue look to them like they’re made of bruises.
‘I’m not going to do an
ything. I’ve done nothing wrong,’ said Lewis.
‘Yes you have. Our little sister’s in tears because of you,’ said the man in the white T-shirt.
‘I never promised her anything. We had a good time together and that was that.’ Lewis folded his arms as if to signify the end of the matter.
‘That’s not the way we heard it. You told her she was the only girl for you.’
‘No I didn’t.’
‘You calling our sister a liar?’
‘No, listen, this happens a lot to me.’
‘Oh yeah? Go around breaking little girls’ hearts, do you? Leaving people like us to pick up the pieces?’
Rachel didn’t like the sound of this. It couldn’t be true. Then someone standing next to her whispered something to her friend: ‘Well, Lewis has got a reputation.’
‘Yeah,’ the friend replied. ‘He’s like the Russell Brand of Bournemouth.’ They both giggled.
Rachel wasn’t having any of this. They seemed to be talking about a different Lewis to the one who carried her down to the beach.
‘We’ve heard all about you,’ said the man in the blue T-shirt. ‘You think you’re a big shot, don’t you.’
‘No I don’t.’
‘Yes you do. We asked around. Everyone’s heard of you. You’re a man-slag. A tart. A womaniser. I bet you don’t even remember her name do you?’
‘No, course I don’t,’ said Lewis. ‘I can’t remember every girl I’ve got off with.’
‘There you go, ladies and gentleman.’ The man in the blue T-shirt addressed the crowd as if he were a barrister trying to convince a jury. ‘He says he can’t remember the girls he’s got off with. I think that makes him an asshole, don’t you?’
Rachel shuddered. She wanted to run to Lewis and stand next to him in support. But she was also beginning to see a different side of him.
‘Okay, I admit I do get off with a lot of different girls. I’m not denying that,’ Lewis said. ‘But I never promise them anything. I always make sure they know it’s a bit of fun. Anyway, I’m going to stop all that now.’
‘That’s convenient for you,’ said the one in the white T-shirt. ‘But you’re not getting off that lightly. I don’t care if everyone sees what we’re going to do to you. You deserve it.’
The two men moved in towards Lewis, who put his fists up ready to fight. Just then, someone pushed their way through the crowd. It was the mountainous figure of Seth.
He moved into the centre of the room and stood in front of Lewis, blocking their way.
‘It’s okay mate, I can handle this,’ he said to Lewis, looking down at the men. He was a good four inches taller than them and he was wider than both of them put together. Seth smiled. ‘Do you know what tonight’s forecast is?’
‘Eh?’ they asked in unison.
Seth cleared his throat. ‘I said, do you know what tonight’s forecast is?’
The men looked confused.
When there was no answer, Seth moved slowly towards them so his face was inches away from theirs. He held up one gigantic fist. ‘Tonight’s forecast is thunder.’ Then he held up his other fist. ‘And lightning. Let me tell you, people who get hit by thunder and lightning never get up again.’
The two men stared at the apelike knuckles waving in front of them. They swallowed hard.
Seth continued his little performance and whispered: ‘One other thing you need to know is I love fighting. I’d love to see what your two stupid faces look like after I’ve buried my fists into them. I guess I’m a bit of an artist when it comes to kicking people’s asses. The only reason I haven’t done it yet is because it’s Olivia’s birthday and I think two mangled bodies probably wouldn’t make her very happy, so jog along little men.’
The men looked blank.
Seth cleared his throat. ‘I said jog along little men.’ Seth’s voice was still quiet but laced with menace.
They looked at each other, turned and walked out of the house. The crowd of people made a corridor for them. A few drunken people muttered something about them being losers, and then they were gone.
Lewis turned to Seth. ‘Cheers, man, but you know I could’ve handled them on my own.’
‘Yeah, right. You’re a lover not a fighter. Did you like my thing about the weather forecast?’
‘That was the corniest line I think I’ve ever heard – thunder and lightning? Been working on that one for a long time, have you?’
‘Oh, yeah. But did you see their faces? That was classic.’
Lewis and Seth laughed and high-fived each other. Rachel could see them from the other side of the room, being all matey and smug. She felt disgusted. She didn’t agree with the two men’s methods - coming here to start a fight - but she could understand their motivation. They were defending their sister’s honour, which was the decent thing to do. Lewis, however, wasn’t decent. From where she was standing it all looked like a big joke to him. How many other girls had he done this to?
Just then, Olivia marched up to Lewis looking like she was going to dislocate her jaw and bite his head off.
‘You stupid prick,’ she said, shouting about an inch away from his face. ‘This is my party and you had to go and spoil it.’
Instead of dispersing, everyone stayed to watch the new drama unfolding. Seth stepped back and cracked a large smile.
‘What?’ said Lewis with his hands up in the air as if he was about to surrender. ‘I can’t help it if a couple of idiots turn up and want a fight.’
‘Yes but you’re the reason they turned up, aren’t you? You and your bloody libido. Just give it a rest will you.’
Olivia turned and stamped away from Lewis. On her way, she passed Seth.
‘What are you smiling at?’ she growled, and continued marching off towards the garden. The smile on Seth’s face only got larger.
‘Hey, don’t worry about it, man,’ Seth said, putting a hand on Lewis’ shoulder. ‘Come on, I’ll get you a beer.’
On the other side of the room, Rachel was getting a clearer picture of what Lewis was like. It was making her increasingly uncomfortable.
‘We’re leaving now,’ Rachel said to Cassie.
‘What? Why? You didn’t believe all that did you? Those blokes were just a couple of wankers.’
‘I didn’t have to take their word for it. Weren’t you listening? Lewis admitted it. He’s a womaniser. And I don’t want to hang around here and be another name on his list of girls.’
‘Rachel, you should give him the benefit of the doubt.’
‘What? And end up like their poor little sister, no thank you. I’m going now, with or without you.’
Rachel headed for the front door with Cassie following behind. As they made their way down the driveway Cassie struggled to keep up.
‘Hey slow down. What’s the rush?’
Rachel stopped and spun around. Her face flushed with rage.
‘Don’t you get it? Ten minutes ago I thought I was sitting on a beach with Mr Right. Five minutes later it turns out he’s Mr Wrong and has been with every girl in town. How do you think that makes me feel?’
Cassie didn’t say anything. She just stood there looking at the ground. Rachel turned and carried on walking towards the bus stop.
*
Lewis was getting worried. There was no sign of Rachel anywhere. He’d been back to the spot on the beach but she and Cassie had disappeared. He returned to the house and searched every room - still nothing. He asked if anyone had seen her but nobody knew who he was talking about.
Lewis stood in the middle of the living room and ran his hands through his hair. Even if he did find her he had no idea what to say to her, apart from how’s your asthma, which sounded rubbish. He sat on the sofa and watched everyone enjoying themselves. For the first time in his life he felt lonely.
Chapter 7
*
The ends of Clive’s fingers were numb. He had been hitting the keys of his laptop almost continuously for the past twelve hours and his ey
es were bloodshot from staring at the screen.
After his mother had given him the idea to write a story, he had sat at the computer feeding words into it from Saturday evening and throughout the night. It was now 8pm on Sunday and he’d had no sleep whatsoever. He knew this was foolish but every time he tried to shut his eyes more ideas would prod his brain and stop him from dozing off. Every time, he was forced to get up and commit them to his computer’s memory. In the end he didn’t bother going to bed but resigned himself to the fact that sleep would only be granted when he was finished. His mind was totally locked into writing mode. It was like the most potent caffeine on earth.
Becoming Edward Page 6