chapter 12

"Hiya, Lo!"

Dad's enthusiastic voice played out of the speakers on my laptop. His voice, although recognisable, had a slightly tinny quality that served as a reminder that he was more than ten thousand miles away.

"Hey Dad," I said, letting a smile spread onto my lips at the sight of his familiar face. It was currently eight in the morning for me on my day off. On any other day, I would have been under the covers until noon at the earliest, but with the time zones it was the only reasonable time to call him. Dad was sitting in a very comfortable looking hotel room in Sydney, where the local time was seven in the evening. "How's Down Under treating you?" I asked.

"It's treating us very well! You'd love it here, it's beautiful." Dad said. I smiled, trying to ignore the slight pang in my chest that I wasn't there, exploring Australia with him.

"Nice weather?" I asked.

"Actually, no," he replied, shaking his head. "I knew before booking that it would be during the Australian winter, but I didn't expect it to be so cold! All we packed were shorts and t-shirts- we both had to buy a whole new wardrobe when we arrived."

I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't stop a small smile from escaping onto my lips. Dad had never been the best at planning- he was very spontaneous. That was where Mum's extreme precision and forward-thinking had balanced him out. I felt a small pang in my chest as I thought about my parents; they were the strongest couple I had ever seen, completely perfect for each other. It wasn't as if they never fought, but their love had always seemed so strong. Everyone knew they were meant for each other.

That was until Mum was cruelly ripped away from us.

"That's a shame." I managed to choke out, trying to drag my thoughts away from Mum.

Dad shrugged. "We're making the most of it! Anyways, how are things with you?"

I thought for a minute before formulating my response. Truth be told, my few weeks in Charleston had passed in an absolute blur. So much had happened in the time that I found it had to distinguish. But between Kate and Beverly taking me under their wing, to Miles and Tyler instantly making me feel at home, it had been quite successful.

"Good!" I said, "I've been busy, but it's been fun. Auntie Julie has been amazing."

"I'm glad." He said with a large smile. "Make sure you enjoy yourself. Relax, make some friends. Lord knows you deserve it."

"Oh, is it Lois? Hi sweetie!" A voice came from the other end, and Sandra popped into view. "Wow, you looked tanned! I bet all of the boys there are after you!"

"Thanks," I said, thankfully distracted from the conversation by a notification popping up on my phone.

Noah Thompson (8:10): we'll be round in five

I had traded phone numbers with him last night after finally accepting the offer to go out on the speedboat. Glancing quickly back at my laptop, I realised that Dad and Sandra hadn't noticed my lack of attention, and were instead in an intense discussion about what type of food they wanted for dinner.

"Hey, so I need to go." I said loudly, trying to catch their attention. Dad turned, a worried look on his face.

"Are you sure sweetheart? I barely got the chance to speak to you."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. A couple of friends are picking me up in a minute." Upon seeing Dad's crestfallen look, I added, "I'll call you again very soon though."

"You better," he said sternly. A small smile crept to his mouth. "Anyways, enjoy today. Talk to me soon, squirt."

"Love you, dad." 

"Love you, Lo." He said. My eyes flickered over to Sandra at the corner of the screen and I felt an intense burst of annoyance. Sending my dad a last wave, I clicked the red button to end the call.

As I hurried to get ready for the trip, I tried to unpick why there felt like there was a fire in my stomach. My mind kept wandering back to Dad's pixelated face, sitting next to Sandra. He just seemed so happy. Happy in a way that I hadn't seen him since he was with Mum.

The doorbell rang and I ran downstairs to answer it. I swung it open to see Noah standing on the doorstep.

"Wow, I didn't realise you knew how to use the doorbell." I remarked cheekily, thinking back to all of the times that Noah had appeared unannounced in my room.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Do you want to come or not?"

I sent him a sickly sweet smile before bounding towards the shiny black four by four that I could see Miles behind the wheel of. Spotting that Tyler was already in the passenger seat, I slid into the back, saying hello to the two boys as I clambered in. Noah followed, and then Miles pulled out of the car park and onto the main road.

As the boys started to chatter about the day ahead, I turned my attention out of the window. It was another bright, sunny day and it showed- the streets were choc-a-block with cars already.

"Are we just going to the beach down the road?" I asked, imagining it would be full of people enjoying the nice weather.

The boys all laughed. "On a day like today? You'd be mad." Noah said, rolling his eyes at me.

"Miles has a private beach about twenty minutes away where he keeps the speedboat." Tyler informed me. "It will be completely empty."

Of course Miles has a private beach, I thought, remembering the sheer size of his house.

"Have you ever been on a speedboat, Lois?" Miles asked. I had been on my fair share of holidays when I was younger, always to beachside locations. Mum's childhood spent here had meant that she had a lifelong yearning to be by the ocean, and nothing and no one could stop her from spending all day in the sea.

"No, I haven't." I answered, biting my lip.

"It's sick," Noah said, turning to look at me. "You'll love it."

The song on the radio changed, and the opening notes of Justin Bieber's 'Baby' came through the speakers. Noah let out a chuckle beside me.

"Lois made me dance to this shit yesterday," he said, turning to me with a grin.

"I seem to remember that it was you that picked the song," I retorted, rolling my eyes at him. I tried to ignore the small feeling of happiness within my stomach when I realised that he had voluntarily brought up the fact that we had hung out together in front of his friends.

Miles laughed, "I would pay good money to see Noah dancing to Justin Bieber."

"Do you know what that reminds me of?" Tyler said, turning around to look at Noah with a glint in his eye.

"What?" I said eagerly.

Noah seemed to know exactly what Tyler was talking about. "I swear to god, if you tell the story..."

"What? You'll sing some Justin Bieber in my ear?" Tyler laughed. Noah scowled and folded his arms, but allowed Tyler to continue to talk.

"We must have been in what- year six?" Tyler looked to Miles, who gave him a quick nod, keeping his eyes on the road. "Yeah, year six. Noah was going through his rockstar phase..."

"Rockstar phase?" I asked Noah, raising my eyebrows.

He shrugged. "The chicks dig a musician."

"What instrument did you play?" I asked, curiously. I couldn't really see Noah as the musical type.

"The triangle," he admitted.

I snorted. "Wow, I bet all the girls loved that."

"I'll have you know-"

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" Tyler interrupted, glaring at the pair of us.

"Not particularly," Noah grumbled, slumping back into his seat.

Tyler ignored him and continued on. "Noah had managed to bag the lead part of the Beast in Beauty and the Beast in the school musical. He had a massive crush on the girl who was playing Belle, and so was especially excited about his role."

I snuck a look at Noah, who had sunk further down his seat.

"It was all very last minute and low budget, and so the first time we did a full run through in costumes was on performance night. The play was going well, and then all of a sudden it was Noah's time to come on stage. He makes his entrance, proud as anything, until he realises that everyone is laughing at him. Noah, why don't you tell us why everyone was laughing at you."

Noah scowled at Tyler, who was looking to him expectantly.

"I was wearing a pink leotard and tutu."

I burst out laughing, the image of an eleven year old Noah in a pink leotard floating around in my mind. "What? Why?"

"My stupid bitch of a teacher had left out the wrong clothes for me." Noah said, still sulking.

"Imagine, the whole audience is sitting in silence, waiting for the Beast to make his grand entrance, when the spotlight pans to Noah, who is standing there in a tiny pink leotard and tutu." Miles said, almost crying of laughter. "I'm sure my mum still has the video, somewhere."

Tyler, who too was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes, added, "and that's not even the best part."

"No!" I said, wondering what could possibly make this story any better.

"You see, Noah got a bit of stage fright with all of those people laughing at him. He had a little accident." Tyler revealed, before howling with laughter once again.

I turned to Noah. "You wet yourself?"

"Right in the middle of the stage," confirmed Miles.

Noah turned to face the window, crossing his arms. "I hate all of you," he growled, only causing us to laugh harder.

***

As we pulled off the main road and into a small beachside car park I felt a small spark of excitement in my chest. The beach was small and pebbly but completely deserted, as promised. The bright sun reflected off of the small waves.

The car pulled to a stop and I opened my door, sliding out. Already the boys were heading to a small shed at the edge of the car park, which I assumed contained the boat.

"Why don't you unload the stuff from the boot? We'll get the boat out." Miles shouted.

I had made two trips down to the shore with supplies and was by the car, picking up the stuff for my final run, by the time the boys had the boat ready in the water.

"Hurry up, little legs." Noah yelled, knee deep in the water beside the boat, which was bobbing in the waves. He had taken his shirt off, revealing his sculpted chest and strong arms. The slight sea breeze was running through his dark hair, causing it to look effortlessly windswept. The boy was gorgeous, I couldn't deny that.

"My legs aren't short." I said when I made it down to the shore. "You are all just freakishly tall."

Miles laughed from his perch on the boat. He reached a hand out for me to pass him the carrier bag I was holding.

"Climb up on your own, then," Miles challenged. I gulped. The sides of the boat had to be at least a meter and a half above the water, which itself came up to my waist.

Not one to back down from a challenge, I stretched my arms up to grab onto the side of the boat, noticing that my fingertips barely reached when my arms were completely extended.

Here goes nothing. I thought, before taking a large jump to try to propel myself onto the boat.

Needless to say, my attempt failed.

The boys snickered at my pitiful attempt.

"Well, are you going to help me up then?" I asked, turning around to shoot Noah a glare.

He rolled his eyes at me, before moving up behind me. His hands grabbed on to my bare waist.

"On the count of three," he said into my ear. "One, two, three."

He propelled me up out of the water. Miles and Tyler caught my hands from onboard and pulled me over. I rolled ungraciously into the boat, ending up lying on the floor, the hum of the engine loud in my ear.

"Welcome aboard, m'lady." Miles said, offering me a hand.

"Thanks," I grumbled. I took his hand and stood up, trying to ignore the flesh on my waist burning where Noah had touched me.

"How will Noah get onboard?" I asked, confused.

Tyler grinned. "There's a ladder round the back."

"What!" I shrieked, glaring at Miles and Tyler, who were both shaking with laughter at my outrage. "Why didn't you say?"

Tyler shrugged. "It was funnier to watch you try to get in on your own."

"Dickheads," I mumbled, glancing down at my legs. I could already feel bruises forming from where I had hit the deck, and I knew it wouldn't be long until they appeared through my pale skin.

"Hey, Lo, could you check that the lifejackets are in that compartment?" Miles asked. He had moved to the back of the boat, where there was a small cockpit that could seat two people.

I opened up the compartment he was pointing at, and frowned when I saw the contents. "There are only three in here."

"That's alright, Lo, I'll share with you," Tyler said cheekily from where he was sitting, near the propellor at the back of the boat. Noah, who had joined us on the boat and was crouched beside him, gave him a sharp punch that resulted in him letting out an "ouch".

Miles rolled his eyes at their antics. "Don't worry, there's another one in the cockpit."

Noah stood up and dried his hands on his board shorts. "We're all set, Miles,"

Tyler took the place next to Miles in the cockpit, while Noah stretched out on the leather seats beside where I was standing.

"You might want to sit down," Noah said, eyes flickering to the space next to him.

Before I could open my mouth to reply, the sound of the engine changed from a quiet hum to a deafening roar, and we accelerated away with so much speed that I was flung backwards, into Noah. I felt a quiet chuckle as his large hands wrapped around my waist for the second time that day.

"See," Noah said into my ear to be heard over the loud noise of the engine and the wind as we bounced across the waves. "I knew you would fall for me."

Shit.