Page 59 of Plot Twist

‘I was awkward as anything as a child,’ he chuckled. ‘I had big thick glasses, probably from reading too many books.’

‘When did you decide you wanted to write?’ I asked.

‘Oh, I always knew that. As soon as I could think, it felt like I was writing. I was always people-watching and making up imaginary stories. I used to hide at the side of my bed writing stories and drawing pictures of characters. What about you?’

‘Well, I’m obviously not as advanced as you with the whole writing thing. I remember my English teacher reading Seamus Heaney to us when I was in first year and I loved it. Then I did a creative writing exercise when I was doing my teacher training. I just loved hearing everything that the kids came up with. I loved all their stories and helping their imaginations to come to life. Then I realised if I wrote stories that might help spark their imaginations too.’

‘Did you always want to be a teacher though?’

‘Yep, for as long as I can remember,’ I confirmed. ‘It’s the only thing I’ve ever known.’

I stretched out my hands in front of me. My fingers were getting wrinkly. The sun was hiding behind a large cloud in the sky but I could feel it on my skin.

‘I should really have sun cream on,’ I said. ‘Bloody Scottish skin.’

I stood up to get out of the hot tub and Riley groaned.

‘Nooo, I’ve been enjoying chatting,’ he said. ‘If we get out we have to write.’

‘I thought that’s all you ever wanted to do,’ I teased.

‘It is, but not right now,’ he said. ‘This is the most relaxed I’ve felt in a long time.’

I grabbed the sun cream from my bag and wrapped a towel around myself.

‘That’s great,’ I said, throwing a towel in his direction. ‘Now, tell it to the reader. We need words on the page, my friend.’

‘Slave driver,’ he mumbled with a grin.

I turned my back to avoid catching him emerging from the hot tub like an Irish mythical god again. Focus, Becca.

The writers’ retreat and hot tub turned out to be a winning combination, for Riley at least. As soon as he dried off and dressed again, he started tapping away on his keyboard with a determined look on his face. His tongue was sticking out a bit at the side while he sat at the desk area in the living room.

Cute.

I shook my head. Concentrate, Becca.

‘Shall we try a sprint?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘Sure,’ I agreed. ‘Bet I can beat you.’

‘Not if I beat you first,’ he quipped.

Riley set the timer and I blew the imaginary whistle. I looked down at the blank page in front of me. My story wasn’t flowing at all. The writer’s dysfunction had well and truly set in. I was propped up on the couch trying to write the pivotal scene, where Anna and Rosie are at drama camp and agree they’d be better as friends than enemies. All girls wanted at that age was to have a solid friendship, someone they could really rely on. I remembered that feeling so well. Yet, I couldn’t seem to form the words together to convey this on the page. Anna was coming across as a mouthy brat in my previous scene, while Rosie was being too passive. I frowned, wondering how to continue the upbeat pace of my opening chapters when I felt so exhausted all the time.

I draped a cover over me and picked up my laptop. The words jumbled in front of me and I closed my heavy eyes. There was something comforting about the tapping of the keyboard in the distance. Knowing that Riley felt inspired to write felt like a weight off my mind.

The rhythm continued as a backdrop and I pulled a blanket over me, with heavier eyes. I yawned. It was so peaceful here. And relaxing. And even though Rae was on my mind, as she always was, I wasn’t panicking when I thought about her. Instead, I closed my eyes and let myself think of her face. The freckles that dusted the edge of her nose. Her loose curls that she worked so hard to maintain. Her tanned skin. Her wicked laugh, the dirtiest I’d ever heard.

I smiled at the memory. I didn’t know how to bottle it up and send it to Adam to show him the real Rae; the one that I knew before all the bullshit happened. The confident, self-assured queen who was my very best friend in the whole world.

26

TEN YEARS AGO

I’d never seen Rae so drunk. She swung around the dance floor as ‘Party Rock Anthem’ blasted out of the speakers. It was following us around everywhere we went and she would go wild every time she heard it.

‘Let’s dance! Let’s do another shot! Come on, Becca!’