Dedicated to Tanner_ because I was speaking to him like 2 minutes ago and I'm too tired to think of who else I can give a dedication to.

-------------------------

            Had it not been for her balloon-sized stomach, Nora probably would’ve skipped all the way down the street.

            Realising this actually made me kind of thankful for the eight-pound baby growing inside her – if nothing else, it saved me from being embarrassed by my sister’s immaturity. Still, I couldn’t deny that the prospect of ice cream was growing more appealing by the second; it’d only just occurred to me that I’d skipped lunch, and it had only been the excitement – ha – of my arrival in Walden that had distracted me from thoughts of food.

            I let her drag me the street, dodging the oncoming stream of people with a slightly embarrassing lack of agility and dignity. Passers-by tended to make way for Nora, for obvious reasons, but without the advantage of an obstacle-repelling balloon for a stomach, I had it significantly harder.

            True to her word, at the end of the row of seafront shops sat a miniature ice cream parlour. Its outer walls shone a sunny yellow, setting it well apart from its pastel neighbours. To call it small would be a major understatement; ducking under the striped awning and pushing through the door, I almost went face-first into Nora’s back. She’d come to an abrupt halt, pulling up the rear in a queue of tourists that wound all the way up to the counter and took up almost all of the shop’s available floor space.

            “So what do you think I should get?”

            I’d barely adjusted to the dimmer light of the shop’s interior, but Nora was already scanning the menu eagerly, her eyes glued to a large blackboard that covered the entire back wall.. On it was a long list of flavours, scrawled messily in chalk, but in a way that made the hurried scrawl seem intentional. Cartoon ice creams constituted the border, but my inner perfectionist was quick to pick up on how their cones were slightly too large to be proportionate, the hatched markings lacking the elements of a proper texture.

            “What do you reckon – chocolate fudge brownie or mango swirl?”

            “Um…” I blinked, momentarily struggling to find my sister’s whereabouts on the menu we were reading from. “Well, I guess mango sounds—”

            “Chocolate, yeah,” she interjected, robbing me of the chance to finish my sentence. Leaning forward, she continued squinting at the board, while I hoped in doing so her bump wouldn’t touch the back of the people in front of us. Said group was a family of four, their tourist status made obvious by their cheap beach shop flip-flops, huge bags and inflatable shark the dad had tucked under his armpit. “You can’t go wrong with chocolate.”

            “Whatever you want,” I told her, as the queue shifted forward a few paces. “Go wild.”

            She threw her arms up in the air. “See, but then there’s caramel. And I like that too.”

            By now, she’d begun shaking her head, submerged in thought inside her ice cream centred world. Had Nora not been eight months pregnant, her indecisiveness might’ve been irritating, but I’d grown used to it. The thing was, my sister liked anything as long as her hormones told her to, and I knew firsthand how bi-polar those things could be, One moment she’d have a hankering for peanut butter; the next she’d be gagging, claiming the taste made her feel sick.

            Needless to say, we hadn’t eaten a normal meal in months.

            Leaving her to it, my eyes began to wander around the shop, losing myself in its small details, the things I always seemed to pick up on. The walls, contrary to their exterior counterparts, were painted sky blue, while the tiles beneath our feet gleamed with fresh polish. Behind the counter was a little less organised; there seemed to be about ten different things happening simultaneously, unhindered by the fact there was only one member of staff in sight.

            And when my eyes landed on him, my heart did a somersault.

            Call me shallow, but he was cute, and that’s all I noticed from a distance. The customer at the front of the queue appeared to crack a joke, because he laughed – and genuinely, too. A warm grin stretched the length of his face as he dug his scoop into the tub below him, slopping two hearty scoops of raspberry ripple onto a cone and passing it over. A uniform blue apron was tied around his front, a name badge I couldn’t quite read fastened on the left breast. If only I were just a little bit closer, maybe I’d be able to…

            “Flo!” The abrupt version of my name yanked me from my thoughts.

            “Huh?”

            “It’s our turn,” Nora informed me from her spot at the counter, looking amusedly between me and the grinning cashier. Not only was he playing spectator to our conversation, he seemed to be enjoying it too.

            “Oh.” I could already feel my cheeks flaming under his gaze; I wondered if I’d be a melting hazard to the ice cream if I got too close. “Right.”

            Against my instincts I stepped closer, moving into the spot beside my sister. “Now let’s get an expert’s opinion,” she was saying, leaning casually on the glass display as if the guy was one of her closest friends. “Tell me. Which one do I go for: mango, chocolate or caramel?”

            My movement had brought me close enough to read the nametag pinned to the cashier’s apron: Daniel. For some strange reason, it seemed to suit him – even if my assumption was based on approximately thirty seconds of knowing he existed. A few strands of wavy brunette hair fell over his forehead and he shook them away, shifting his eyes toward Nora. “Well,” he said, in a mock-serious tone, “that’s a tough decision. From an ice cream maker’s point of view, there could be no right answer.” Then, he lowered his voice, leaning in closer. “But personally, I’d recommend the chocolate. You can’t go wrong with chocolate, you know.”

            “That’s exactly what I said!” Nora exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Though her loud voice and outspoken manner had probably attracted the attention of the entire shop by now, she seemed unconcerned as always. “Go for it, then. And make it a double scoop, please, love.”

            “You got it,” Daniel responded easily, the scoop already in hand. “And for you, miss?”

            It took longer than it should’ve for me to realise he was looking at – and talking to – me, which, of course, was the cue for me to have a mini heart attack.

            “Um,” I said, cringing internally at my stuttering tone, “just vanilla’s fine, thanks.”

            “Just vanilla?” Daniel shook his head solemnly. “You shouldn’t underestimate the simplicity of vanilla, you know. Some might say it’s the ultimate ice cream flavour.”

            I laughed, although its slight shakiness was hard to overlook. “Right.”

            I watched as he dug his scoop into the tub of pale yellow ice cream, transferring each dollop onto the cone in his other hand. Then he moved onto Nora’s, embellishing the two creations with a Flake in the side of each. Honestly, I was surprised my sister hadn’t started drooling beside me. I let my eyes follow closely the movement of his hands, deciding this was a significantly less awkward place to keep them, as opposed to his ridiculously well-formed face.

            “I haven’t seen you guys around before,” he commented offhandedly, as he rang up our order on the till. “Are you here just for the day?”

            “Oh, no,” Nora cut in, “we’re not tourists. We’re from London, but Flo here’s moving down to live with our gran. I’m moving in with my boyfriend, you see, before the little one arrives.” She gestured downward to her stomach, as if it wasn’t obvious she was ready to pop out a baby at any moment.

            I looked over at her. “Nora, he really doesn’t need to know our life story.”

            But, to my surprise, Daniel didn’t look bored, or seeking a convenient escape from the conversation – instead, he was looking curiously between the pair of us, his expression conveying genuine interest. “Really?” he asked, his eyes zoning in on me. I became suddenly aware of how bare my face felt – the commotion of moving day hadn’t left make-up one of my top priorities – and how I’d carelessly pulled my dark hair up into a topknot to hide its frizz. “That’ll be great,” he said. “There are hardly kids our age in town, so it’s pretty boring sometimes. It’s nice to have new faces. Ones that stick around, I mean.”

            “See!” Nora looked at me pointedly, handing Daniel a ten pound note. “You’ve got friends already. You’ll be fine.”

            Praying my cheeks wouldn’t flush, and smiling politely, I took the cone being held out to me. Though I couldn’t deny its visual appeal, cool ice cream glistening beneath the shop lights, I forced myself to resist the compulsion to take a first lick. Experience had made me aware of my inelegance, and I was likely to end up with ice cream dribbled all down my chin if I made so much as an attempt. Instead, I kept it in my hand and remained quiet as Nora and Daniel said their goodbyes, like friends who’d known each other for five years instead of five minutes.

            “He was nice,” she commented, as we left the shop and started up the street again. Just off to her left sat the beach, waves creeping up the shingle on the shore, clusters of small children splashing in the water. This dull babble, combined with the squawking of seagulls overhead, seemed to make up the soundtrack of Walden-on-Sea. “See, this place isn’t as bad as you think.”

            “I never said it was bad,” I pointed out. It was then that I deemed us far away enough from the shop to take a delicate lick of my ice cream. My tongue got one taste of the creamy vanilla, and I was already a goner. “I’m just not crazy about the place, okay? He said himself there aren’t many teenagers in town. It’s not exactly London, is it?”

            “That doesn’t have to be a bad thing.” Extracting the Flake from her sticky cone, she crammed it into her mouth in one go. “I’m telling you, by the end of the summer, you’ll have changed your tune. You’ll wonder why you ever thought twice about moving here.”

            I didn’t want to dishearten her, but the thing was, she couldn’t have been further from the truth. I could tell from the off I wasn’t going to like it here; however much I tried to pretend otherwise, it was never going to be home. Maybe if Nora was coming with me, it’d be easier. But she wasn’t. She was staying behind, leaving me to fend for myself in this unfamiliar, close-knit town.

            It was as this thought crossed my mind that I became aware of a noise somewhere behind us. It was a kind of faint yet persistent calling, a voice getting carried away by the wind before it had a chance to reach us properly.

            I turned around in time to get the shock.

            Daniel was bounding towards us, wavy hair flying wildly in the sea breeze. The knot in his apron strings had become untied, leaving the sides flapping open. “Wait up!” he called. A few seconds later, skidding to an abrupt halt right in front of us, he heaved a deep sigh and flashed me a smile that made my heart melt like the ice cream in my hand. “Hey.”

            “Um… hey,” I said awkwardly.

            He held out his hand, to which at first I frowned. But then my gaze trailed downwards, landing on the small collection of coins lying in his palm. “You, uh, forgot your change.”

            “Oh.” I blinked. “Thanks.”

            “That’s okay,” he told me earnestly. “I don’t like to short-change my customers.”

            I didn’t think putting us a couple of quid out of pocket merited sprinting halfway down the street, but my mouth remained shut, as it often did. It wasn’t like I was complaining; here I was, having my second conversation with what had to be the cutest guy in Walden, and I had yet to embarrass myself. At the periphery of my vision I could see Nora grinning like an idiot, struggling to contain her glee.

            “Oh, and by the way,” he said, reaching into his apron pocket. He pulled out something I couldn’t quite see, but when he pressed it into my palm alongside the coins, I realised it was a slightly crumpled slip of paper. “There’s a party tomorrow night. A start of summer, beach party sort of thing. It should be pretty fun. You should come along.”

            At first, all I could bring myself to do was stare back at him. Was he really inviting me – me – to a party? I mean, sure, it was obvious there was a lack of teens in town, but I hadn’t realised that automatically rendered me invite-worthy of cool beach parties. This wasn’t what usually happened when I met people for the first time, much less unnervingly attractive guys.

            “Um,” was all I managed to force out, leaving the passing wind, ruffling both of our hair, to make up the rest of the conversation.

            “She’d love to,” Nora cut in suddenly. The look I shot her was caught somewhere between embarrassment an relief; I only hoped she’d be able to decipher it herself.

            “Great,” Daniel said, looking back at me. “It’ll probably start around seven, down on the beach. My number’s on that piece of paper if you need it.” He glanced over his shoulder, where the yellow building sat, abandoned. A few customers were milling around outside, seemingly bemused by the momentary lack of management. “I better get back. I’ll see you around, Flo.”

            The smile he flashed made my breath catch in my throat, but before I could even begin to form a goodbye, he’d set off jogging up the street. My gaze subconsciously followed his retreating figure, it becoming increasingly smaller before disappearing completely through the door of the shop. Only when it had closed behind him did the unnatural pace of my heart become apparent, and I released the breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding.

            It was also then that I felt a cold sensation on my hand, and I looked down to find that my ice cream cone had since been melting in the afternoon sun, leaving my hand covered in a sticky vanilla mess.

---------------------

I didn't proof read this properly (shock horror). But it was just sat on my documents, waiting to be uploaded so I figured I'd do it anyway. Drop me a comment to let me know what you thought! In the meantime, I'm going to bed.