Summer's Edge Page 4

  Alice felt a pang of nostalgia: for her childhood, for the early days when it was just her mother and her, for Christmas and Easter with grandparents who were now dead. For the safety of it all, for the comfort. Despite not having her father she had enjoyed a very happy time growing up.

  Of course she hadn’t thought of it as easy at the time, who does? She had just taken it all for granted, but it had been easy. Compared with the future which at times seemed terrifying. Terrifying, but exciting as well.

  6. The barbecue

  Having buried herself in schoolwork that week and after revising most of Saturday, Sunday came as a relief. It dawned clear and sunny, holding all the hope and promise of a beautiful English summer. Of course the chances of another poor, rainy year were no worse than any other year but there was something about the start of summer that made everyone joyful. It hadn't failed yet.

  It was warm enough for summer clothes so Alice wore a white vest and jeans. A sundress seemed a bit too much in May, particularly for a barbecue.

  Becky picked her up. She had deliberately chosen to drive so she couldn't drink too much. She was incredibly nervous about seeing Brett again.

  "Thanks so much for coming, I couldn't have gone by myself, not knowing anyone else there."

  Alice was glad she had been persuaded into going as it was such a nice day. She read the map and they made their way to a house in a village a few miles out of town. Cars were parked on both sides of the road and up the driveway which ran alongside the house. They could hear voices and smell barbecue smoke so they walked around the side instead of knocking on the front door.

  Happily for Becky, Brett was already there. He greeted her with a kiss and put his arm around her. Becky did look very pretty that day. She was a petite girl with dark, wavy hair. She was wearing a lacy blouse and new white jeans. Alice felt a bit casual next to her but everyone else there was in regular jeans and t-shirts. She saw the red-haired guy who had chatted up Jules, his name was Graeme, and Grant, the other Australian.

  And then she saw him. Mr Walker, holding a beer, talking with Chris.

  He saw her and his face turned to stone.

  Alice honestly had had no idea he would be here. She hadn't even considered it. From what Becky had said she just assumed it would be all the younger guys, the players. Surely they didn't hang out with their coach all the time?

  Becky was so enraptured with Brett who had taken her off to one side that she didn't even notice.

  "Hello, it's jailbait again," Graeme said, coming over and handing her a beer. So they all knew. She was mortified. Her face showed it.

  "We've all been giving him a hard time. Don't worry, he'll get over it. Just don't call him Headmaster," Graeme warned.

  "You haven't been calling him that?"

  Graeme grinned. "Yes. And he's furious. He also had no idea you were coming along."

  Alice felt like she'd been set up. "I didn't know he'd be here either."

  "Would you have stayed away if you had?"

  The answer to this was probably no, quite the reverse, but Alice couldn't admit it. "I just came for Becky. She was worried about finding the place by herself.

  "Well don't worry, I'll look after you. I see your other friend has jilted me."

  He meant Jules. "She had to go to some festival."

  "A rave?" Graeme asked.

  "Maybe, some sort of hippy thing. Near Lechlade."

  "She didn't look the type for that."

  "She's not, it was her sister's idea," Alice told him.

  "The Australians are desperate to go to a rave. They heard all about them before they came. Let us know if you're going to any."

  Alice didn't go to that many raves but she promised she'd let Graeme know if there were any happening. Kate would know if anyone. "They're always last minute though and sometimes hard to find in the dark." She remembered how horribly lost they had got the last time they'd tried to find one. After driving for ages in apparent circles around unlit country lanes on a moonless night, they'd finally found the location. Only to discover the police had got there about fifteen minutes earlier and were already breaking it up.

  Alice tried to enjoy herself at the barbecue but she couldn't relax with Mr Walker just metres away, deliberately avoiding her. She had no appetite but knew she needed to eat something to avoid getting completely drunk on an empty stomach.

  Graeme was good company and buoyed up by misery, alcohol and perhaps a desire to make a point to Mr Walker she flirted with him a bit. He was the kind of guy you could flirt with without it meaning much. Besides she knew he preferred Jules. She also noticed that Mr Walker’s gaze was frequently on her and he didn’t look happy about her flirting with Graeme. Or she hoped that was why he looked annoyed.

  As the beer went down the revelry increased and someone accidentally knocked a glass full of beer over Alice. It went all over her top.

  Feeling as though nothing much more could go wrong with the day she found her way to the kitchen and tried to sponge out the worst at the sink. If the beer dried on it, it would smell awful and probably stain the fabric. Hopefully even though she was getting her top even more wet it would dry quickly in the sun.

  As she was finishing getting the worst off someone else came into the kitchen. She knew even before she turned that it was Mr Walker. He looked angry.

  "Did you come here deliberately?" he asked.

  She faced him. "I came here with Becky. I didn't know you'd be here. Or care," she added.

  "What have you done to your shirt?"

  "Someone spilt beer on it. I was washing it off."

  "You can't go back out like that. You look like a wet t-shirt competition," he told her.

  Alice looked down and went red. The wet fabric had gone transparent and soaked through her bra too.

  Without a word Mr Walker pulled off his own shirt and handed it to her. He wore nothing under it. Alice was transfixed by his physique. His arms rippled with muscle and his flat, hard chest was tanned a deep gold. He was far fitter than she expected a cricketer to be, really powerful looking.

  "Put this on."

  The shirt was white cotton and warm from his body. She held it. It smelt of him. She wanted to envelop herself in it but she didn't follow his order.

  "You want me to walk out of here wearing your shirt with you following me, topless?" she asked him.

  He was silent for a moment, glaring at her. She was right, it would have exactly the opposite effect he intended. The situation was bad enough as it was.

  "I don't want them gawping at you."

  Alice's stomach gave a secret flip. Possessive and protective. He clearly didn't feel as neutrally towards her as he wanted to.

  ''The sun will dry it. I'll cross my arms." As she said this, she deliberately left her arms uncrossed and put her shoulders back slightly.

  It had the desired effect. He was momentarily transfixed.

  "Jesus Christ."

  Alice took charge of the situation. "You should put this back on." Instead of just handing it to him she went to put it over his head meaning her arms were raised and her body was nearly against his. He was still for a second before taking a step backwards. A muscle clenched in his jaw.

  "Just give me the shirt." She did so and he put it back on.

  Then they both stood there. The tension was unbearable. She knew he wanted her and was fighting against it with every fibre of his being.

  She broke the ice. "I am sorry you know. We were all just having fun the other night and I just didn't think about the implications."

  "You were just messing around with me because I'm employed at your school?"

  "God no, that wasn't why." Alice couldn't believe he thought this. Surely he'd realised how much she also wanted him to kiss her that night?

  "So even if I hadn't been, you would have still put on your little act?" he asked.

  What act? "I wasn't acting, I genuinely..."

  "You wanted it too?"

  "Yes." It
was barely a whisper.

  For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. He was wavering. Then he stood straighter. "I'm way too old for you, Alice, and I work at your school. Get back outside."

  * * *

  Alice felt half dejected, half victorious when she walked back out into the garden. At least she knew he liked her. He had revealed far more than he had intended. She just needed to break down his defences a bit more.

  Becky hadn't even noticed her absence. Graeme had, and gave her a sly grin.

  "You were inside a while with Stewie. Took a shower together did you?" he said noticing her wet shirt.

  "Nothing is happening. He's still mad."

  "He's too old for you anyway."

  Fed up with hearing this and wanting to change the subject, Alice asked Graeme if he'd been to school in the area.

  "Yeah, Northlands Hall. Over Stroud way."

  It was where Kate went. "I know it. Jules's sister goes there. I doubt you'd know her though."

  "It's six years since I left, so probably not."

  Six years. That made him around twenty-four. Alice found herself wondering again how old Mr Walker was. If only he'd been an England player she could have looked him up in Jules' father's Cricketers' Who's Who. Was there an Australian version? Maybe Brett would know how old he was. He must be about the same age as Chris and that would be easier to find out.

  She realised she had fallen for him. She also realised it would be wisest to stay away. She hardly needed this kind of distraction in her A-level term. She had to do well or she'd be letting Jules down if the backpacking got cancelled.

  7. Basic Instinct

  Jules was wearing a pair of tie-dye harem pants when they caught up with her that evening outside the cinema.

  "What the hell are those?" Alice asked.

  "I got them at the festival, they’re really comfy."

  "They’re lurid. And they smell of weed. And patchouli. Or you do, anyway."

  Jules shrugged. "I didn’t have time to shower."

  "More like you didn’t dare go home smelling like that." They were staying at Becky’s house tonight. Jules’ parents might be more laid back than average but they weren’t that tolerant.

  "Where’s Kate?" Becky asked. "Didn’t she want to come?"

  "She’s staying with friends around Cirencester somewhere."

  "Was it good?"

  "It was amazing. Thousands of people. It was in this quarry and they put up a big top. It cost to get in but it was worth it. We stayed up dancing all night and in the morning it was really beautiful, all misty over the lake," Jules said.

  Alice felt envious. "Let us know when the next one is, if Kate gets a tip off. Graeme said some of the players want to go."

  They went in to see the film which had caused such a sensation in the US and came out arguing about the ending.

  "It was definitely her, she had the ice pick under her bed," Alice said.

  "I think that was a twist. Another bluff."

  "I thought it was horrible," Becky said. "She was so awful and there was all that sex and death."

  "That was kind of the point of it, Becky. It was an erotic thriller," Jules told her.

  Becky was glad she hadn’t seen the film with Brett as she would have been incredibly embarrassed. He wasn’t able to meet her that night because there was some kind of team event on. So the three of them were going for pizza and possibly a pub and then back to Becky’s house.

  "We’ll never get into anywhere nice with your hippy trousers," Alice said.

  "Let’s just go and eat then. I’m hungry and quite tired and Becky’s only going to be mooning about her cricketer."

  "Alice too. Mr Walker was there today."

  Jules turned on Alice. "You never told me that."

  "I didn’t get a chance," Alice said. "Besides it wasn’t relevant. I didn’t even know he would be there."

  "So nothing happened?"

  Alice hesitated. Nothing had really happened, and she didn’t want another lecture from Jules.

  But it was too late of for that. "So something did happen?"

  "We got into a bit of a row."

  "The lads have all been calling him Headmaster," Becky told Jules. "It’s really funny, he got so annoyed."

  They had reached a pizza chain restaurant and went inside to get a table. It was busy inside despite being a Sunday night, but Jules simply went up to a table by the window and took off the reserved sign. They always did this and they always got away with it. It wasn’t as though there were any VIPs or celebrities in town.

  "What was the row about?" Jules asked Alice.

  Alice explained as briefly as she could. Jules started laughing. "OK I give up. Do what you will. The pair of you are idiots."

  "Nothing happened, we didn’t do anything idiotic or not."

  "For God’s sake, Alice, he’s a grown man ripping his shirt off and playing Mr Chivalry, and then blowing you off right afterwards. He obviously likes you. And he’s obviously got minimal self-control. Just go for it if you’re that into him," Jules said.

  "So I’ve got your green light?"

  "Yes. Anyway given what I got up to I’m hardly in a position to play Senior Mistress." The Senior Mistress at Fairmount was a Mrs Paddington, a dour widow in her late fifties who was responsible for behaviour and discipline.

  "That’s good because you were starting to remind me of the Padlock. So spill the beans on your weekend."

  They bickered as usual over the pizza toppings and what kind of crust to get. Becky hated anchovies, Alice hated pineapple and Jules usually hated everything except pepperoni. Tonight Jules was so hungry she gave way and they ended up with ham and mushroom.

  "I thought you couldn’t stand mushrooms?" Becky said.

  "I can’t usually. But I’m giving them another chance. I had some mushroom tea earlier and it was lovely."

  "That’s not all you had, judging by the smell," Alice said.

  "My parents will think it’s woodsmoke. Or I’ll just wash my clothes out."

  * * *

  Becky’s house was always immaculately neat and tidy, including her bedroom which put the others to shame. The whole family were medically inclined: as well as her doctor-nurse parents she had an older sister in her final year of nursing and a brother who had just started pharmacology.

  Jules washed her clothes with shampoo in the basin and hung them over the radiator to dry. "I'll tell your mum I spilt coke on them," she told Becky.

  "What happened to your own clothes?" Becky asked.

  "No idea."

  Something more was going on with Jules, Alice thought. Given how strait-laced she'd been so far this term, this sudden descent into hedonism on the cusp of their exams had to have some other reason. Jules was not the sort of person to get high all day in the middle of final classes and revision. Either she was having some kind of a crisis or there was a guy involved. Alice thought the latter was most likely.

  "So did you meet anyone there?" she asked.

  "Maybe."

  Becky was instantly excited. "Who? What's he like?"

  "There was this guy, he's a tree surgeon. And an environmentalist."

  "You mean an eco-warrior?" Alice asked.

  "No, not really. I mean he wouldn't want it described like that."

  "So what's his name? Twig or Moss or something?" Jules looked embarrassed. "Oh god it is, isn't it? He's got one of those crusty tree hugging names."

  "His name's Ben."

  "But he's not called that, is he? You'd better tell us or if we meet him we're going to laugh."

  "Some of the people call him Leafy."

  This was pure gold. "So you're going to be a high profile corporate lawyer with a crusty boyfriend called Leafy?"

  "No. I don't even know if I want to do that any more."

  "You mean not do law? Your father would kill you," Alice said.

  "I mean not that kind of law," Jules said. "I don't know."

  "It seems pretty
sudden, changing your mind in just one day."

  "It wasn't just one day, I've been thinking about it for a while." Jules looked unhappy.

  Alice felt a pang of alarm. If Jules suddenly went off the rails and failed her exams it could disrupt their travel plans. Jules’ trip was partly dependent on some money her father had promised her if she got top grades. Alice had saved up enough from her vet job to pay for her own side.

  Becky's bedroom had twin beds with frilly valances and a white dressing table with gilded handles. It was the kind of room Alice longed for as a child but had grown out of now. They always flipped a coin to decide whether she or Jules got the mattress on the floor or the other bed. Alice had won that night.

  Pillows and sheets and duvets were sorted out and they got ready for bed. Jules was grumbling about ending up with the blow-up mattress.

  "You’ll have to get used to that with Leafy," Alice said. "He probably sleeps on the ground."

  "They have vans. With proper beds."

  "A caravan isn’t my idea of a proper bed. We went caravanning once and it was awful," Becky said. "Really narrow and cramped. But it’s the lavatories that are the worst."

  "How does that happen?" Alice asked.

  "They bury it. It’s all very clean," Jules told her. Alice imagined trying to dig a trench with a shovel by moonlight. She hoped their backpacking trip wouldn’t involve too much of that.

  "Do they sleep in pyjamas?" Becky asked.

  "No, I don’t know, maybe." Jules was getting exasperated. "We were up all night so I didn’t really pay much attention to the sleeping arrangements."

  "Tie dye pyjamas."

  "Crack pipe and slippers."

  Jules was getting annoyed now so Alice thought she had better change the subject. "Do you realise it’s just six weeks?"

  "Six weeks what?"

  "Six weeks until we’re done with Fairmount. Forever."

  "It’ll be a bit sad, don’t you think?" Becky said.

  "It will be amazing. No more Padlock. No more school food. No more Maddy Pullen." Maddy, Jules’ sworn enemy, was one of the in crowd at school. All the boys liked her, and she her friends were usually bitchy to everyone else.