imagine. I shuddered at the thought and took the other route.
Images of him kept appearing in my head. His leather jacket slung on top of his school uniform. His messy brown hair. The picture he drew of me in art class. And then I could hear the sound of his voice, his unusual accent. I began to run across the cliff top. I turned up the music on my iPod and picked up the pace. I needed to push myself so hard that all I would be able to think about was breathing. I would not be a lemming. I would not, like almost every other girl in Year Eleven, spend my time daydreaming about Ryan Westland. It was pointless. Ryan Westland was gorgeous. He had about a hundred girls throwing themselves at him. And there was nothing especially interesting about me.
I pushed all thoughts from my mind. Breathe in, two three. Breathe out, two three. Just breathe. My thighs ached. My stomach grumbled. As I approached my house, I could feel myself reaching for those hidden reserves of energy, the sudden burst you get when the end is in sight. Breakfast.
By half one, I had tried on hundreds of different outfits. Finally, frustrated and irritable, I decided to wear my favourite jeans with the thin green sweater that Miranda said matched my eyes. I straightened my hair, applied some mascara and lipgloss and went downstairs to wait for Ryan.
A red car pulled up outside at one forty-five exactly. I fetched the cool bag from the kitchen and opened the door. Ryan was standing on the doorstep about to knock. He was dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt with a red flannel shirt on top and his black jacket and boots. He looked older than he did in his school uniform.
‘Hi,’ he said, smiling.
I felt myself blush. Why the hell couldn’t I be cool? ‘Hi.’
Ryan took the bag from me and put it in the boot while I locked the door.
‘Cassie, this is Eden,’ he said as I climbed into the back.
Cassie turned to look at me. She had long blonde ringlets that coiled over her shoulders and chest like a nest of albino snakes. ‘So you’re the girl from astronomy club?’
‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. She had me confused with someone else. Everything suddenly made sense. Ryan had told her that he was going to the beach to see a girl from astronomy club. That was why he had agreed to go with me. I wondered which of the girls he was interested in.
A slight frown formed between her eyebrows and she turned to Ryan. ‘You said . . .’
‘I know,’ Ryan interrupted. ‘Eden is a good friend of Connor.’
‘I see,’ she said. She turned the ignition, flipped on the radio and pulled on to the road to Perran. ‘And how long have you known Connor?’ The question sounded more like an interrogation than polite chit-chat.
‘Since we were both four. He’s one of my best friends.’
This seemed to satisfy her. I saw her check me out in the rear-view mirror and then she gave Ryan a look and turned the music up loud. I got the uncomfortable feeling that I was the object of a bet or a dare.
Cassie and Ryan didn’t speak to each other or to me until the car stopped in the car park at Perran Towans.
‘Behave yourself,’ she said to Ryan, as she switched off the engine.
He laughed. ‘Not a chance.’
She put a hand on his knee. ‘Call me when you want me to pick you up, OK?’
He put his hand on top of hers and removed it firmly. ‘Thanks, Cassie.’
Ryan opened the car door and climbed out. As I reached over to open my door, Cassie turned to look me up and down. I knew what she was thinking.
‘Nice to meet you, Eden,’ she said, without smiling.
I stared back at her. ‘Thanks for the lift.’
Ryan had already got the cool bag out of the boot. We said nothing as Cassie turned the car around and pulled away.
‘I’m really sorry about her,’ Ryan said.
‘She doesn’t like me.’
‘It’s not that. She’s just not good with people.’
I shrugged and reached for my bag. ‘I’ll carry it,’ Ryan said, throwing it over his shoulder.
We looked down over the beach from the cliff-top car park. Although it was only two in the afternoon, the sun had begun its descent, casting a deep bronze glow over the sand. It was easy to spot Amy and her friends at one end of the beach. There were about thirty of them gathered around a huge pile of wood. The rest of the beach was deserted. The sea was flat, so even the hardcore surfers had stayed away today.
As we walked across the sand, I could see them one by one turn and stare.
Amy spoke first. ‘Hi, Eden. You brought Ryan.’
‘Happy birthday. I hope you don’t mind me coming along,’ Ryan said. ‘Eden invited me.’
‘Did she?’ Amy said, the surprise clear in her voice. She glanced at me. ‘The more the merrier.’
I looked around. Connor and Megan were stretched out on a big, red blanket. Matt was bending over a cool box filled with bottles. Amy’s friends from drama were milling around the unlit bonfire, swigging from bottles and laughing. As though watching a slow-motion film sequence, I saw Amy’s girlfriends checking out Ryan. They whispered to each other and I could tell they were trying to work out why Ryan and I had arrived at the same time. Finally, one of them, a girl called Scarlett, made her way over to us.
‘Come and get a drink,’ she said, linking arms with Ryan and steering him towards Matt and the cool box.
I walked over to Connor and Megan and plonked myself on their blanket.
‘What’s going on?’ Megan whispered. ‘How the hell did you end up coming to Amy’s party with Ryan Westland?’
‘I’m not sure myself,’ I said. ‘Ryan gave me a lift home last night and I mentioned Amy’s party. He asked if he could come along.’
‘He gave you a lift home?’ Megan asked. ‘Explain that?’
I shrugged. ‘It would seem those rumours about him driving around town are true. He drove past me last night and he gave me a lift.’
‘Why would you, of all people, get in a car with an under-age driver?’ Connor asked, locking eyes with me.
I met his gaze. ‘Because I was cold and alone and the road was dark.’
‘Why didn’t you get the bus?’
‘Because I had to wait thirty minutes for the bus.’
He turned to Megan. ‘You left her alone at the bus stop?’
Megan looked at me uncomfortably. ‘Eden said she was OK.’
‘I
Connor shrugged. ‘No worries. You want to get in a car with an under-age driver from another country, you go ahead. It’s none of my business.’
I looked at Megan and she rolled her eyes. ‘Connor was just telling me about astronomy club,’ she said, clearly attempting to move the conversation on to safer ground.
‘Was it a good night?’ I asked.
Connor pushed his hair out of his eyes. ‘Different. Usually it’s just five of us and Mr Chinn. Yesterday, Westland showed up and eight Year Eleven girls also decided to join. Quite the coincidence.’
‘So what did you do?’ I asked.
‘We looked at Venus and Jupiter.’
‘That sounds good,’ I said. ‘I’d love to do that.’
Connor smirked. ‘Yeah, right.’
‘I would.’
‘That’s why you’ve always shown such an interest in the past.’ Connor lay back on his elbows. ‘To be fair, Westland was mostly interested in the telescope and talking to Mr Chinn. He more or less ignored his groupies. Chloe Mason was throwing herself at him all evening. He didn’t seem to notice. I think he paid more attention to me than any of the girls.’
‘Maybe he’s gay,’ said Megan.
