Page 33 of Ask Another Day

‘Yeah, it is,’ he agreed.

‘Not much longer until you’ll be back,’ she said as she sunk down to sit beside him on the shale scar he’d settled himself on. Grateful for the thick towel he’d set down on the slippery slab of grey shale, Holly tried to calm her racing heart when their thighs touched.

‘I’m counting down the days,’ he replied turning a little to face her and pushing the point with his wide obsidian eyes. ‘Here, I wanted to give you your birthday present early.’ He held out a box, wrapped in Fraggle Rock paper. ‘Didn’t want it getting mixed in with all the others tomorrow.’

‘Where did you find this paper?’ she gasped, running her fingers over Red - her favourite Fraggle.

‘A little shop in The Shambles.’

‘I need to go there. I love the Fraggles.’

‘I know,’ he laughed to himself. ‘You can open it early, if you want.’

She did want. She really did. But as she turned it over to reach the sellotape on the other side, a gush of freezing, foul smelling water assaulted her from behind, covering her head and back.

‘What the f–’ she started to scream. But Sloane’s laughter exploded around her, cutting her off.

‘Oh, that was so good!’

‘What the hell, Sloane?’ Seb shouted.

He jumped up and when he looked back at Holly and took in her drenched frame, he pulled off his hoodie and held it out towards her. But she backed away, horrified at what Sloane had done to her.

‘It was just a bit of fun. Lighten up,’ she said to Holly and Seb, as if they were being the unreasonable ones. Gripping Seb’s present to her chest with one arm, she pushed herself up from the rocks and ran back to the pub; tears streaming down her face. Holly wasn’t a runner. In fact, she actively avoided running - she’d been late for school in her teens, frequently, because she’d refused to run for the bus. But today, dripping with stale sea water, she ran home.

Relief slammed into her when she stepped into a silent pub. The clock on the wall told her if she’d arrived ten minutes later she would likely have faced a couple of the early morning regulars instead of this welcoming emptiness. Her parents’ voices drifted out from the office, giving their location away. Carefully, so as not to make a sound, she slipped upstairs unnoticed.

Inside the solace her bedroom offered, Holly stripped off her sodden clothes and swaddled herself in her duvet. Seb’s birthday present sat on the floor next to her discarded clothes; forgotten for now in her humiliation.

Her phone buzzed from under the pile of clothes. She fished it out and checked her messages.

Seb:

You OK?

Sloane:

You seriously need to lighten up. It was a joke.

Sloane’s lack of apology was the final straw. Switching off her phone, she turned away from it as she tucked herself up in the duvet. If she blocked everything out, maybe the humiliation that coursed through her would switch off too.

Chapter 11

Expect Disappointment

Rose:

Good luck on your lunch date today

I want real time updates

Holly:

Thanks

No to the updates

You’ll have to wait until I’m back at the pub