Summer's Edge Page 2

  She wasn’t sure how much anyone had drunk but she knew she’d had too many to have her wits fully about her. But she felt a lovely warm haziness sitting by him, by this guy who made her entire body tingle just by his proximity. He smelt amazing, an intoxicating male scent of clean sweat, soap and beer.

  Suddenly Jules was tugging her arm. "I need to visit the ladies. Come with me."

  Alice was reluctant, she was very happy where she was.

  But Jules was fierce. "Come on."

  The ladies loo was usually pretty awful by this time of night, water splashed everywhere with all the sinks clogged with wet tissues. Cigarette butts all over the floor. At least one cubicle was always out of order or had someone slumped and vomiting from drink. There were other girls queueing who gave them evil eyes.

  "Do you actually need to go? The queue's forever." Alice said.

  "I need to talk some sense into you. What the hell are you doing? You're practically falling all over him."

  "It's not just me. He's been flirting back as well."

  "That doesn't make it any better. For god's sake, Alice, how much have you drunk?"

  "Becky's just as happy with that guy she's hanging off."

  "He's not her teacher." Jules was worried.

  "He's not really my teacher, is he? It's not like any of us play cricket. He's only here for a term anyway."

  "I don't think he'll see it that way."

  Alice looked at herself in the mirror. No matter how great you felt or how unsmudged your make up was, everyone looked like hell in the mirrors of the Dog & Duck. "I swear the lighting in here is designed to make people drink themselves to oblivion." She tried pinching her cheeks to look less pale. Her eyeliner was still in place and her hair was having a good night. How old did she look, she wondered? Twenty-one at least surely.

  "Stop preening in front of the mirror and try to sober up."

  "I'm honestly not that drunk. He's just so sexy, it's overpowering." Alice had drunk too much, but she knew she would still want to flirt with him even if she was sober.

  "He's way too old for you," Jules said.

  "He said that too."

  "I should listen to him then, if I were you."

  Returning to the table Alice made sure she was ahead of Jules so she could get her seat back. She wouldn't have put it past Jules to have taken her place to stop her sitting by Mr Walker. Jules was in such an annoying and uncharacteristically sensible mood.

  "You're back," he said. A light came into his eyes even though he was clearly more drunk than before. He was glad she was back, Alice realised. It was enough to quash any more sensible intentions that Jules might have inspired in her.

  "I'm back," she said and smiled at him. His eyes narrowed but his gaze didn't leave her.

  She couldn't remember afterwards how long they sat there or how much more they drank or even if they held a coherent conversation. Alice was far from sober but she was more intoxicated by him than alcohol.

  Jules had clearly given up on her and was talking with the red-haired guy and another couple of guys, probably more of the cricket team.

  Then they were sitting there and he was looking at her and suddenly he was leaning towards her and his lips brushed hers. Only briefly, but they were warm and firm and a jolt ran from her lips to the pit of her stomach.

  "You taste better than beer," he said in her ear.

  "You didn’t really get a proper taste," she said.

  "This isn’t wise."

  "Does it matter?" she asked.

  "It probably should."

  And then his mouth was on hers again, and she felt his tongue entering her, exploring her as the kiss deepened. He probed her own mouth, wet and warm and intimate and making her want more of him, want him closer.

  He wasn't even touching her elsewhere, they were solely kissing. But any contact with him was like electricity.

  Some small part of her brain was freaking out: you’re kissing Mr Walker! What the hell are you doing? but the rest of her was in ecstasy. She was reciprocating, wanting to taste him back, to drink him in.

  There were cheers and catcalls when the other guys noticed.

  "Oi Stewie, stop molesting that poor girl," one of them joked.

  Alice opened her eyes to see Jules glaring at her with an accusatory expression. Becky was so drunk she barely noticed what Alice was up to. She was smiling foolishly, half draped over the cricketer she liked who appeared to be equally attracted.

  Mr Walker broke off. "I don’t think she needs rescuing. Do you?" he asked Alice.

  She didn’t answer but smiled at him and went to kiss him again to an even louder chorus.

  "Alright lay it off, it’s not a sideshow," Chris told the other guys. He was more in control of himself than the others, keeping an eye on his players. "None of you are going to be in any fit state tomorrow to play Somerset."

  It was closing time anyway. Or rather chucking out time, since they were in a lock in and the landlord had finally had enough.

  "Here’s where I should ask for your number," he said.

  Alice panicked slightly. She couldn’t imagine how her mother would react if she picked up the phone to a strange Australian man, clearly not a schoolboy, asking for Alice. She also didn’t want him to know that she still lived at home.

  She noticed Becky writing her phone number down on a beermat for the guy she had been flirting with. If Mr Walker was really inclined to call her, he could reach her through Becky.

  "Here’s where I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to find it," she said.

  Quite apart from the fact that he was surely going to recognise her at school next week. But she was trying not to think about that.

  "You want me to look through the phone book for every single Alice?" he asked. "What’s your second name?"

  That wouldn’t help him either, since it was listed under her stepfather’s name.

  "You can contact me through Becky," she said. This would also raise the chances of the other guy calling Becky, so Alice felt she was doing her friend a favour.

  "I might just do that." He gave her one last kiss goodbye, slow and lingering, still not putting his arms around her but just leaning down towards her. She could have kissed him forever.

  But there was Jules, yanking her by the arm, dragging her out into the cool night which chilled her skin like a cold shower.

  3. Bowled over

  Alice was walking on air as they went through the streets to find a taxi. There was no point trying to get one in the throng spilling out of the Dog & Duck. The chances of getting into a cat fight or having someone vomit on your shoes were much higher.

  "I think I’m in lust," she told them. "He kisses better than any guy I’ve ever known."

  "You haven’t kissed every guy you’ve ever known," Jules said.

  But nothing could dampen Alice’s spirits. Even with the alcohol wearing off she was in a buoyant mood.

  Jules had to practically pull her out of the path of a car. "Have you taken something?" she asked.

  "No, I’m just high on life."

  "I wouldn’t be if I were you. You won’t be singing on Monday morning when he spots you in assembly. Or tomorrow morning given how much you’ve drunk."

  They were all heading back to Jules’ house. Her parents were the most laid back about them returning in the early hours. Becky’s parents had no idea how late they stayed out.

  Becky herself was also elated, gushing about her cricketer. "Brett’s only twenty-two and his mum’s a nurse just like mine."

  "Come on, we’ll go to the taxi rank in the High Street or we’ll never make it home," Jules said. She was usually the party animal of the three so it was odd for her to be like this.

  "Why are you on such a downer?" Alice asked. "Is it because you didn’t pull?"

  "I did pull if you must know. He asked for my number but he’s not my type."

  "He was nice looking," Becky said.

  "It takes more than that. He was too whole
some."

  The other two were in fits of laughter at this. "You play Captain Sensible all night and then you complain because the guy who hits on you is too wholesome? You were the one who set us all up with them."

  Alice guessed that Jules was worried about Mr Walker. Jules was trying to stay out of trouble that term, the last thing she wanted was a suspension before their final exams. She’d got her dream offer to read law at one of the best universities in the country but she needed top results in her A-levels to take it up.

  Not that she was the only one. Alice was hoping to do veterinary science which was even more competitive. Though she did have a few more options in front of her.

  Her spirits were still soaring as they rode in the taxi. She felt warm and happy all over. A gorgeous man kissed me, she thought. An actual man. Not a schoolboy.

  "Did Brett say when he’d call you?" she asked Becky. She hadn’t given a lot of thought to what she would actually do if Mr Walker did try and contact her. She wanted him to, of course, but she had no idea where it could go if he did.

  "No, but he said he’d call me for next weekend."

  "Does he know you’re still at school?" Alice asked.

  "Yes but he didn’t seem bothered by it."

  Jules made a sarcastic noise from the front seat. "I don’t think your Romeo will be quite so laid back, Alice."

  "Maybe I could just avoid him at school all week. Make sure I don’t go near the cricket pitches."

  But there were a thousand places she could bump into him. Assembly. The dining hall. The main corridor past the staff room. Anywhere else in the grounds.

  "Maybe you’d better just get it over with," Becky suggested. "Perhaps he’ll be cool about it. After all, you are eighteen."

  "He could get sacked, Becky. And we’d probably all get suspended or even expelled if they found out we were going about the town with fake ID and getting off with county cricketers," Jules said.

  It was a strange thing being eighteen. In theory they were adults and could do what they liked. In practice there were a whole host of rules about upholding the school’s reputation that they could still fall foul of.

  "Your best bet," Jules continued, "is that he sees you, gets over his shock, and completely blanks you. Never refers to it again. It’s not like you need to have any dealings with him, is it?"

  This was true. But Alice wasn’t sure she just wanted to forget about it.

  They arrived at Jules’ house, split the cost of the taxi fare, and crept inside as quietly as possible. Jules’ parents - her father and stepmother - were pretty tolerant but they didn’t want to push their luck.

  "You’re lucky having Kate you know," Alice said, referring to Jules’ stepsister. Kate was the same age as them but she went to a different school.

  "How so?"

  "She’s blazed the trail for you. She’s always had loads of freedom so now your dad has to treat you the same."

  Jules’ father had remarried when she was fourteen, and though she didn’t mind her stepmother she hadn’t initially got on very well with Kate. They had resented one another badly at first and this had eventually progressed into a sort of blank tolerance. Only the last year or so had relations thawed. But both had entirely different interests, schools and friend groups so they didn’t really socialise together.

  Both Jules and Alice had lost a parent: Alice’s father had been killed in a car accident before she was born, and Jules’ mother died when Jules was eight. It was partly what had brought them together as friends.

  "I don’t think I’ll ever shower again," Alice said as they brushed their teeth. "I want to feel the smell of him all over me."

  "You won’t say that when you wake up tomorrow reeking of stale booze and sweat."

  Right now all Alice wanted to do was fall asleep and dream of Mr Walker. Once she was in bed she closed her eyes and relived the entire night, replaying the moment his lips touched hers over and over again. She didn’t want the memory to fade. It still gave her a jolt in her stomach just to think about it.

  If only he was here now, running his hands all over her body. She was still a virgin but she would definitely go all the way with him.

  Right now the little voice saying "he’s a teacher!" was well suppressed by the euphoria of it all.

  * * *

  The sun was horribly bright, Alice’s head was splitting and her mouth was desert dry. Jules had been right: and even she had woken up feeling fairly rough. Becky just pulled the sheet over her head and moaned.

  Despite her intentions of the previous night Alice went straight for the bathroom. Jules’ parents had an amazingly powerful shower that drummed down on her, half punishment, half pleasure.

  Closing her eyes in the steam she replayed everything that had happened. Much of it was hazy but she remembered the kissing, how she had felt, how much she wanted it again. And more.

  Next week was going to be interesting, if he recognised her.

  Back in Jules’ bedroom there was a discussion going on about whether they should go to the cricket that day. "We could take your dad’s pass and sit in the members’ enclosure," Becky was saying.

  Alice guessed that Becky, who had no interest in cricket, wanted to watch Brett play.

  "God no, way too keen," she advised her. "Not unless he specifically asked you to come. Did he?"

  Becky admitted that nothing had been said.

  "He’s going to call you, isn’t he? Leave it at that."

  "Alice is right you know," Jules agreed. "You don’t want to look like a groupie."

  "Does cricket have groupies?" Becky asked.

  "Lawn bowls has groupies," Alice said. "Seriously. You don’t want to be that girl. Let him pursue you."

  "I bet you’d go if Mr Walker was going to be there," Becky said.

  Alice’s stomach flipped slightly at the prospect. There was a strong chance he would be there, given his friendship with Gloucestershire’s coach. But she thought about it for a moment. "No, I wouldn’t. Even if there wasn’t the whole complication of him being at school next week I still wouldn’t go. It’d just look sad."

  "Besides which are they even playing at home?" Jules asked.

  "In Taunton. But it’s not far."

  "No way can you go then, it will look absolutely desperate. Like you’re stalking him."

  Becky was obviously disappointed but she couldn’t win against both of them. Nor did she want to go by herself. "What if he goes out tonight and meets someone else?"

  "If he does, he does," Jules said. "They are sportsmen. What goes on tour and so on."

  "I think he really liked you," Alice said, to console Becky who was now looking really glum. It wasn’t exactly a lie, Alice couldn’t honestly remember through the haze of lust and drink what Brett’s intentions were or weren’t. But she didn’t want Becky making an idiot of herself or feeling miserable. "And they’re not on tour anyway, they won’t be staying overnight if it’s only Somerset."

  They were all going to sit around brooding if they didn’t go out and do something. Alice suggested they go shopping. "You can look for something nice to wear for when he calls you," she said.

  4. In the pavilion

  Monday came all too soon. From the moment she stepped through the school gates Alice was on edge, anticipating that she might encounter Mr Walker at any moment.

  Assembly was an absolute ordeal. She kept her head down and tried to hide in the crowd as she entered the hall. She deliberately avoided Becky and Jules, fearing they would be more recognisable as a threesome. To her relief Becky and Jules weren’t sitting together either. Jules was late and had to take a seat nearer the front.

  For all her worry Mr Walker didn’t even appear in assembly that day. It wasn’t completely mandatory for teachers and as a cricket coach he wasn’t even full time.

  At lunch they came up with a plan. "Biting the bullet is best," Jules had decided. "We’ll go and watch the cricket after tennis and let him see you. Get this over with. Otherwis
e you’ll just be distracted by it for days."

  It was a beautiful late April day, flawlessly sunny. Warm in the sun though cool in the shade. Their tennis skirts were also extremely short and much more alluring, so Alice thought, than normal school uniform. You were supposed to wear huge regulation gym knickers underneath. But as these were only sold in the school shade of bottle green which looked awful through white tennis wear, no one ever did unless they were playing a match.

  They walked together over to the school cricket pitch and sat on the grassy slope near the pavilion.

  "He’s going to freak you know," Jules said.

  "Maybe he won’t recognise her in different clothes."

  "He’ll recognise the three of us."

  They watched the play for some time. Mr Walker was focused on his job and not on any spectators around the place. Alice was impressed by how athletic he looked as he walked about the pitch. He really was stunning with his tan and his tall, muscular figure. All the First Eleven boys looked wimpy next to him.

  It was when he passed near to where they were sitting that he finally saw Alice, stopped and froze. Her stomach lurched. Then he turned away and went back to the practice.

  "See, he’s decided to ignore you," Jules said. "All for the best."

  Alice said nothing. She hadn’t really thought about how he might react, but she still felt crushed.

  "Should we go?" Becky asked.

  "No, that would look really weird, and besides Mike Jackson looks totally fit in cricket whites."

  Mike captained the school cricket team and was one of the heartthrobs of Fairmount. But the problem with being in the Upper Sixth was that most girls preferred to date boys a year or so older. These were now long gone to university and the boys in their own year were in turn dating girls in lower years. Alice could also remember when Mike was several inches shorter than them and it detracted from his charms now.

  "I wouldn’t have thought Mike Jackson was your type," Becky said.

  "He’s not. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy looking, though. You know his older brother’s playing for Worcestershire?"