Small Blue Thing Read online

  “Well,” I hesitated, suddenly unwilling to tell them all about the bracelet, “I sort of fell into the river when I was trying to rescue a trapped swan.”

  My friends all roared with laughter. That was the Alex they knew, not the one sitting in front of them with the floaty dress.

  “You’re not a vet yet Alex,” chuckled Jack, ruffling my hair. “I’d leave the animals alone for a bit until you know what you are doing.”

  “I think the swan would agree with you,” I admitted ruefully, smiling back at Jack.

  “Nasty, vicious things, swans,” he added. “I wouldn’t mess with one.”

  “I guess Alex is braver than you then, mate.” smiled Rob, edging closer towards me. I could see the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Although they seemed to get on most of the time, I wasn’t sure that Rob really liked Jack, and that disappointed me.

  Jack was one of my oldest friends and we had pretty much grown up together. He was also one of the best looking boys in town, and as captain of the football team, incredibly fit. It was such a shame that I could never see him as anything other than another brother. His older brother had been in the same class as my brother since they were four, and our parents had become close friends. As a result we ended up doing all sorts of things together. As the only girl I had regularly been over-ruled and had quickly learned to climb trees, play football and generally join in. Jack and I had a long, shared history that Rob could only guess at.

  Now, listening to Rob, I realised that actually he was jealous of Jack. No wonder he was tetchy. I looked at Grace as she raised her perfect eyebrow in amusement at Rob’s behaviour. I just knew that I had won the battle with Ashley before it had even got going. Rob Underwood – the fittest guy in the whole school! I couldn’t quite believe that, if I just kept my head, he was mine for the taking. I tried to keep my breathing even to settle the sudden and unexpected butterflies in my stomach.

  Rob had made himself comfortable next to me, with an arm along the back of my chair. I stole a quick glance at him in the window opposite. He was classically handsome, but tall and blonde, not dark like Jack, and as always he was dressed well in casual but expensive clothes. His brown eyes sparkled as he caught me checking him out. He leant in close.

  “You do look really lovely tonight,” he murmured. “You should fall in the river more often.”

  A shiver ran down my spine as he let his fingers trace a line down the back of my neck. How long had I been dreaming of this moment? I wasn’t going to be able to resist.

  I sat back in my chair and his hand fell across my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ashley stiffen. She was not going to be happy, but that was her problem, not mine. I was going to enjoy my night out.

  Rob made sure that he was sitting next to me in the cinema. Grace had been able to manoeuvre herself next to Jack, so we were guaranteed a decent amount of post-night-out gossip. The movie was not a good one for romance though, with far too much action and violence. However, during a more peaceful scene Rob casually brushed his hand against me as I reached for my bottle of water, then smiled at me and wrapped his long fingers through mine. I was just beginning to relax and stop worrying about whether my palm was too hot and sweaty when there was a particularly horrific torture scene. Without thinking I squeezed his fingers really hard and he surreptitiously sneaked his hand back. Luckily in the dark he couldn’t see me blush, but after that he slung his arm across the back of my chair where I couldn’t hurt him.

  After the film we quickly decided that we needed food, not the nightclub, so we all piled into the local branch of a pizza chain. We waited a few minutes while the staff rearranged some tables in a far corner of the room, and as we walked over, I realised that yet again Rob was manoeuvring so that he and I were sitting together. On the way to the restaurant I had noticed that Grace and Jack had hung back together, and I was positive that he took her hand at one point as we walked over the road. Sure enough, they ended up sitting together too.

  I caught her eye as we sat down and raised my eyebrows slightly in a question. She immediately blushed and hid behind her menu, then peeked round at me and nodded minutely.

  Rob was acting in a very possessive manner towards me, making sure I had a menu and a drink, that I had a decent chair and wasn’t sitting in a draught from the open window. It suddenly got to the point that I wanted to scream at him to relax. What was wrong with me? Just yesterday I would have given anything to have him fussing over me, but today it was starting to annoy me. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t making the most of tonight. I had been waiting for Rob to make a move for months, and now that he had, I wasn’t sure he was what I wanted. The trouble was, I realised, I didn’t know what I wanted.

  I tried to unwind. Maybe it was just a reaction to the end of the exams. I forced my tense shoulders to relax and turned to Rob with a smile.

  The waitress got more and more harassed as our large group got rowdier waiting for the pizzas to finally arrive. Then we were suddenly silent, tucking into our favourites and exchanging slices with others. We sat there for ages polishing off every piece on every plate, dissecting the plot of the film and considering the relative merits of this particular James Bond actor.

  The restaurant stayed open late to cater for the post-cinema crowd, but some of us had a time limit as we had to be back in school the next morning. Grace and I were on an Art Club trip into London first thing, and she was going to sleep over at my house that night so we could catch the last train home together. It looked like we would have plenty to discuss on the long walk up from the station.

  Part-way through a lively discussion with Eloïse on whether the last Bond was better looking than this one, or just too old, I glanced at my watch and saw that we’d have to leave the restaurant soon or we would miss the last train home.

  “Hey, Grace,” I called along the table, “we really ought to be going soon.”

  It looked as if I had shaken her out of a dream, she was so entranced by everything Jack had been telling her. I wondered for a minute if she was going to change our plans.

  “Oh. Right. Yes…” she stuttered. “Um, I’ll just finish my coffee…”

  At that moment, Rob took my hand and pulled me round to face him.

  “Now, listen, Little Miss Workaholic,” he said, “as the exams are over, you can allow yourself a little time off to relax. My parents are renting a cottage in Cornwall in the summer holidays, and they’ve said that I can use it in a couple of weeks if I want to take some friends down.” He tucked a lock of my long blonde hair back over my shoulder as he spoke, not quite meeting my eyes.

  “That would be lovely,” I enthused. I had never been to Cornwall and really wanted to try the surfing. “How many of us will it hold?”

  A sly look flashed across his face so fast I wasn’t sure if it had really been there.

  “Well, it can hold eight,” he admitted, “but I was thinking of something a bit more … intimate.” He emphasised his point by running his finger gently across my thigh and squeezing my knee.

  What messages had I given him? We weren’t even officially going out and he had already sorted out a love nest.

  “Um, I’m not yet sure when I’m supposed to be going to Spain with my parents,” I blustered quickly, completely unsure of how to dig myself out of this one.

  I glanced around. No one else had been listening, thankfully, but it meant that there was no one to help me either. I didn’t know what to do.

  “But it’s a lovely idea,” I continued, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “Can we talk about it later in the week? I mean… It is a little sudden, and I’m not sure…” I confessed sheepishly, all pretence of sophistication gone.

  He took my hands and stared deep into my eyes.

  “Of course,” he murmured, reassuringly. “It’s just – seeing you tonight has made me realise that we could have a lot of fun together.” I tried not to gulp too loudly and to remember to breathe. His fingers caressed the insid
e of my wrist.

  “Why don’t we discuss it over dinner on Saturday?” he urged. “I can borrow my mum’s car and we can go to a little place in the country, just the two of us.” It wasn’t a question: he had it all planned out, and I could tell that he wasn’t expecting a rejection. It was all moving scarily fast.

  But it was what I had been hoping for all these months, I reminded myself. Rob had finally asked me out, and to dinner, not just on another group outing. “I’ll have to see what I’ve got arranged,” I said, as casually as I could muster, “but I think I’m free on Saturday.”

  He laughed, seeing through my attempts to remain cool. “Excellent, we can sort out the details tomorrow.” He leaned forward so that his face was really close, our noses almost touching. “I’m really looking forward to getting you on your own.”

  I could smell a hint of mint on his breath. How had he done that? I tried not to think that he was so sure of himself that he had managed to find and eat a mint before starting this particular conversation.

  At that point he leaned in just a little further and brushed his lips over mine. I melted. Whatever his motives, he was gorgeous. I deserved a break after all that revision.

  I looked up at him from under my lashes. “Me too,” I breathed, pleased that I had refused the garlic bread earlier.

  I was suddenly aware of a silence around us. I looked round at the table into the curious faces of our friends.

  “So you two are finally getting it together, are you?” chortled Jack, who had his arm slung casually around Grace’s shoulders.

  “Look who’s talking,” flashed back Rob, gesturing to Grace, who immediately blushed a deep crimson. Then there was a loud scraping noise from the other end of the table as Ashley leapt up from her chair and ran for the Ladies.

  I straightened up. “Oops,” I whispered. “This is going to be awkward.” I stole a glance at Rob. For just a second he looked smug, then he frowned.

  “Mia,” he called down the table, “is Ashley alright? Should someone go and see…?” He managed to get just the right level of concern into his voice, but Mia was already on her way. He turned back to me. “What’s her problem?” he asked.

  “Oh come on. You must know that she has been drooling over you for months.”

  “Really? I had no idea.” I bit my lip and fought back my irritation: he wasn’t that dumb. But I really didn’t want it to ruin the evening. Term was nearly over, I finally had a date with Rob, and he had kissed me. I should be over the moon. He carried on. “And now that she has seen me with you, well, no wonder she is upset.”

  I needed time to think. I glanced at my watch again.

  “Oh crap!” I exclaimed. “Grace, we need to leave now and make a run for it, otherwise we’ll have to pay for a taxi.” We grabbed our bags, threw down some cash to cover our share of the bill, and waved at everyone as we dashed for the door. At least I wouldn’t have to look at Ashley’s face when she finally reappeared. I wondered whether Rob would try to comfort her, and couldn’t work out why that thought didn’t bother me. Then all other thoughts went out the window as I ripped off the silly shoes and ran with Grace down the high street.

  Grace and I didn’t get a huge amount of sleep that night. We only just made it to the last train, and spent the entire journey and the long walk deep in a dissection of the night’s events.

  Grace was glowing. She had been longing for Jack to notice her for years, and now she was finally in with a chance. We discussed in detail her best approach to maintain his interest over the next few weeks. If she could keep the other girls off his radar until the start of the holidays, she would have a much better chance of hanging on to him longer term, we reckoned. There was so much to debate, and I encouraged the conversation along so that I didn’t have to spend too much time talking about Rob.

  However, she wasn’t going to be completely deflected. “So, it looks like Rob’s finally taken the plunge and committed to taking you out,” she said, as we continued trudging up the road between the station and home, with me finally back in my Converse after a quick wrestle with her on the train.

  “Yes, that seems to be his plan … but there is rather more to it than that: he wants me to go to Cornwall with him in a few weeks. His parents have rented a cottage.”

  “That’s brave of you, volunteering to spend so much time with his family at this stage!”

  “Ah, well, that’s the problem. You see,” I admitted, “his family won’t be there. It would just be the two of us.”

  There was a sharp intake of breath, and I stole a quick glance at her face as we passed a street light.

  “He’s a fast worker, isn’t he?” There was a pause. “Are you thinking of going?” she added, suddenly lightening her tone.

  “How can you even think that?” I exclaimed. “It’s way too soon.”

  “I know,” she agreed, “but sometimes even the best plans can just evaporate in the face of extreme temptation.” There was a far-off look in her eye as her voice faded away.

  I spotted a weakness. “That sounds like something you might have been thinking about yourself,” I challenged. “Does this mean that you and Jack will be…”

  “Huh, chance would be a fine thing. I was only thinking about the pact.”

  Grace and I had made a pact a long time ago that we would look out for each other if either one was thinking of stepping over the line with a boyfriend. We had seen too many of our friends leap into disastrous, short-lived relationships during the last year, and neither of us wanted to be hurt as they had been.

  In fact, earlier in the week I had been wondering if Rob might be the one, but I seemed somehow to be seeing him a lot more clearly now, and the whole thing just felt … wrong. I couldn’t work out why: he was gorgeous, popular, and available, and now he was interested in me. Why wasn’t I happier?

  We couldn’t resist dropping into the little playground by the bridge and having a quick go on the swings in the moonlight. When we had first moved here, I was nine and had felt far too sophisticated to enjoy the equipment. Now, though, Grace and I regularly used the swings as a place to stop and gossip where no one could overhear us.

  We talked about Ashley. I had known Ashley forever. We had been in the same school since reception, but not always in the same class. In a way we were too similar, too competitive, and we were never the best of friends. But we had shared some good times, like the trip to France in the junior school where she and I had led the raid on the boys’ dormitories, and the more recent choir tour. Unfortunately though, the situation with Rob had soured all that. As soon as I realised that we both fancied him it was clear that the fragile truce in our relationship was going to crumble.

  Life with Grace was much simpler. We were quite different in our looks, outlook and cultures, but were somehow best mates. And luckily we never fancied the same boys. Instead we had shared catastrophic dramas and crushes over the last six years, then the traumas of being dumped at fourteen by boyfriends we never really spent any time with, and, throughout it all, the general irritating nosiness of our mothers. But by now we always knew when the other was in trouble, and had an uncanny ability to ring each other at exactly the right time. I trusted her completely, and I knew that she and I would be friends forever.

  We were still laughing quietly about the boys as we finally crept into the house, trying not to disturb my parents too much. It was a shame that we had to be up early the next morning: we could have gone on gossiping all night.

  I was thinking back over the day, and despairing over the state of my new jeans when I remembered the bracelet. I jumped out of bed and rummaged in my bag to find it. In the low light, the silver gleamed and the stone looked like a deep cobalt pool. I hadn’t realised that I had cleaned it so well earlier. It looked nothing like the blackened twist of metal I had fished out of the mud.

  I slipped it on to my wrist to see how it would look. It fitted really comfortably, as if it had been made exactly for me. As I looked at the stone
, a soothing calm settled over me. It felt right, somehow, to be wearing it, and so wrong that it had spent so long lying under the gravel and dirt. I moved it closer to my bedside light to get a better look, and when the fire in the stone danced, it was breathtaking – almost as if it were celebrating its rescue. It was without question the most stunning piece of jewellery I had ever seen. I finally dragged my eyes away, promising myself that I would give it a really thorough clean the next day.

  I was about to turn out the light when Grace started to cough.

  “It’s nothing, just a tickle,” she protested.

  “You’ll need a drink of water,” I decided. I didn’t want her keeping me awake. “I’ll nip down to the kitchen and get you a glass.” I had shared a room with her plenty of times before and knew the danger – she could cough all night in her sleep.

  It was very dark downstairs, as everyone else had long since gone to bed. I got a glass from the cupboard and filled it from the kitchen tap, and walked back into the hall glancing down at the heavy band on my wrist. I touched the still-cold silver absently and my head was suddenly filled with the image of a gorgeous boy. It was as if he had appeared in front of me. It was so surprising that I jumped back, stifling a scream and dropping the glass. His face was noble yet fierce, with piercing blue eyes, chiselled cheekbones and a strong jaw. His skin was just perfect: smooth-shaven and lightly tanned, with a small mole just by the side of his mouth. He was, without doubt, the most dazzling person I had ever seen. He also looked puzzled and sad, his brow creased, and his perfect lips pressed together in a thin line.

  The image stayed in my mind for just a second longer, enough for me to register the dark blond hair, the tension in his shoulders, and that he was swathed in a dark coat or something, then, just as I started to reach for the light, as quickly as he had appeared in my head he was gone, and I was back alone in my dark hall, standing in a puddle of water.

  “Crap,” I muttered under my breath as I realised that I was imagining things and that I had made a mess on the floor. I heard my mum open the door to their room, coming to investigate the noise. She was always very crabby if I woke her up.