Ocean Heart - First Three Chapters

Chapter 1

Wriggling my way under the fence on my elbows, I breathed in the rich scent of soil. It warmed my heart and reminded me of a lifetime of sneaking through this gap, into the garden of my best friend and neighbour.
I barely made it to my feet before I was soaked in an icy, cold shower. I shrieked in surprise and turned to find Jace laughing, holding the garden hose in his hand.
I narrowed my eyes. "Jace!"
With a mischievous glint in his eye, he lifted the hose and soaked me again.
"Cut that out!" I ran at him to pull the hose out of his hand.
He dodged out of my way and ran past me. As I chased after him around the garden, he kept spraying me over his shoulder. I welcomed the cool relief in the heat of the summer sun.
Finally, trapping him by the shed, I grabbed the hose. He still wouldn't let go and, as we wrestled over it, he kept managing to spray my face. Using my fingers, I changed the direction of the water and sprayed him back. He made a funny gurgling noise and shook the water from his blond mop of hair.
"That doesn't sound like my plants getting watered!" Denny yelled from the kitchen window.
"Sorry, Mum," Jace yelled back. His lip curled on one side as he tried in earnest to appear sincere. "You need to let go so I can continue with my chores."
"No way," I giggled, knowing as soon as I let go, he'd spray me. "We'll just have to do it together."
We started watering the plants together, both refusing to let go of the hose.
"This is stupid, Mariah. Let go. I promise I won't squirt you." His blue eyes twinkled.
I grinned and shook my head. "I know you too well, Jace. Why don't you let me do it?"
"I couldn't shirk my responsibilities like that," Jace countered.
"I don't mind."
I felt him attempt to tip the hose towards me but I managed to stop him and the water ran up the fence instead.
"Cut it out, Jace!"
"Oops!" he mocked.
We finally finished the watering and stretched out on the grass, eating ice cream whilst our cold drinks sweated in the heat.
"Summer's almost over," Jace said, sounding oddly sad. He'd taken his t-shirt off and I could see he'd become less boy and more physically grown up.
"Then back to school," I groaned. "I hope we're in the same classes."
"You'd miss me if I wasn't."
"Careful, big head! You'd miss me, too."
"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't," he teased.
I shook my head. "You can't fool me, Jace Walker." "I fooled you into watering the garden, didn't I?
And what about when I told you that if you eat enough lettuce it starts to taste like chocolate? Or the time I tricked you into swapping your little pound coins for my big fifty pences?"
"Wow, you are a shitty friend. Maybe I won't miss you at all."
"Fine, we'll miss each other. And summer. Summer is great," Jace sighed, leaning back on the grass.
"It really is," I agreed.
"Be even better if I didn't have a little, whiney voice chittering in my ear."
I gave him a playful shove. He squinted one eye as he tried to look at me but caught the sun. My stomach flipped in a new way as I realised, for the first time, that Jace had changed over the summer holidays. He had got hot! I shook the stupid thought away. He was Jace Walker, my best friend forever.

💛

Denny came over to see Mum. It was odd Jace hadn't come over with her, as we always found excuses to hang out together.
Jace's mum had delicate features and high cheekbones framed by her dark, pixie cut. She was quite young and followed current trends. Whereas my mum was that strange woman with dark, flowing hair who tells fortunes at spiritual fairs. She wore hippy-looking, loose, flowing clothes and was a tad overweight. You wouldn't expect them to be best friends, but they were.
I hovered around the kitchen. Denny's eyes stared down into a mug of tea, slowly stirring her sugar spoon, her gaze lost in a deep spin of thought.
"Are you going to drink that or spit out what's on your mind?" Mum asked.
Denny sighed, "I was hoping you already knew."
I stood on my tiptoes to reach the cake tin, helping myself to one of the buttercream cupcakes; a product of Mum and Denny's 'Sparkle Cake' bakery business. Even though they had the use of a proper kitchen and cafe now, Mum still liked experimenting at home.
"Don't make me dig out my crystal ball...," Mum threatened Denny. Her tone made me think I was caught with my sugary delight. For a moment I paused, wincing as I waited for 'don't spoil your dinner' or 'stop eating our profits', but she was too focused on Denny to notice me.
Denny took a deep breath like she was conjuring up the courage to speak. With an awkward smile on her face, she said, "Dave and I found somewhere to live together, a home of our own." Her blue eyes shone, brimming with tears.
"That's great news." Mum cheered.
"But...," her face crumpled.
"What is it, Denny?"
"It's been a tough decision. It's perfect, except we'll
no longer be neighbours and it's all the way over on the other side of town. I'm gonna miss you guys."
Her words were like the icy blast from the hose but without the warm relief of the sun or uplifting sound of Jace's laughter.
"You can't!" I snapped. Jace was my life! I needed him close! I needed him next door! I no longer wanted the cake; it was too sweet and I cast it aside on the counter.
"The cakes!" Denny gasped.
Mum frowned. "Mariah, go get the washing off the line!"
I stormed out of the kitchen through the back door of our small terrace house, slamming it shut behind me. Without bothering to unpeg the clothes from the line, I yanked them free and dumped them into the laundry basket. The haphazard approach completed the task too fast and I wasn't ready to go back inside.
I tugged at the loose panel of the fence, but it wouldn't move. I spotted the evil glint of a new nail, hammered in to keep the plank in place, keeping me out. I kicked at it, succeeding only in injuring my foot. Holding it, I collapsed onto the grass and pressed my back against the fence. As I gazed up towards Jace's bedroom window, my heart felt like a rock; unpleasant and heavy in my chest. A sinking feeling consumed me as I realised, he was really going and there was nothing I could do about it.
The beautiful, blue sky darkened. Heavy, rapid rain soaked through my t-shirt as I raced inside. I didn't stop in the kitchen with Mum and Denny but ran straight up to my room. Dropping onto my bed, I stared out the window at the raging storm. It spoke to my soul, mirroring my anger.

💛

The August sun blazed down on us, making me hot and sticky. Jace and I sat side by side on my front doorstep looking at the gravel. Neither of us wished to face what was going on next-door at his house. We were both wearing shorts, my freckled left knee pressed against his tanned right knee. My head hung heavy, red curls falling around my face.
The short picket fence acted like a protective shield from all that was happening. For weeks, I hadn't dared to think about the move, as if by not thinking about it I could prevent it from happening. But, now, the removal men were carrying cardboard boxes marked 'Jace's Room' to load onto the lorry. I scrunched up my eyes to push back the image of him being taken from me.
"Are you okay?" I asked, seeing his jaw twitch. "Fine," he huffed.
"Are you going to cry?"
"Only pansies cry," Jace said. He fiddled with the
bracelet on his wrist and lowered his voice. "You know, I could live anywhere in the world as long as you lived next door."
With Mum's help, I'd made him the bracelet he was wearing as a goodbye gift. I'd used fifteen silver and blue beads to represent each year of our friendship. I'd intended to tell him that I'd chosen blue, not because of his favourite colour but because the colour represents friendship; Mum and I had soaked it in white wine and crushed basil leaves. She said it would encourage him to visit more. Now, those facts seemed pointless and the words remained unspoken.
I wore a bracelet, but mine wasn't one of friendship. I'd begun wearing it shortly after our holiday in Spain when my skin had a bad reaction to the salt water. It makes people aware of my unusual allergy. Mum had done a good job of finding one that was pretty. It had a metal plate with the six-point cross and the snake down the middle, with a background of engraved waves, and the band was made with small aquamarine beads.
My thoughts were interrupted by the loud clang of the lorry door slamming shut. The sound rang with injustice, like a gavel on a silent courtroom when the wrong sentence was served.
I flung my arms around Jace, desperate to hold onto him a little longer. I breathed in his smell: a mix of boy and the great outdoors. It brought back memories of splashing in puddles wearing bright, yellow wellies, climbing trees, and scraping our knees, racing along the seafront, and camping in the backyard sharing spooky tales by torchlight. All those memories that had once made me blissfully happy began crashing into my mind and caused an aching hollowness in my heart. It felt so final. A solitary tear ran down my cheek.
"Don't cry, Freckles," he whispered as his thumb wiped my tear away.
I took a deep breath and exhaled to try and calm myself down. A frown creased Jace's forehead and his eyes were heavy with sadness.
"I'm sorry," I croaked.
"Chin up," he smiled. "We'll make it work." Denny lent over the fence. "Come on, you two, it's
not like you'll never see each other again." In her hands were the basil plant and new broom that Mum had given her as a housewarming present.
"Are you all packed up?" Mum asked.
Dave stood next to his car, keys in hand and a smug grin plastered on his face. "Yep."
My blood began to boil... except the bubbling felt more like a tingling. Didn't he have any compassion for what he was doing to Jace and I? The angry current coursed through my veins. So charged, I felt a need to defuse. I threw my hands in the air and screamed.
"Mariah-," Mum began but stopped.
Dramatically, the sky lit up like a stormy backdrop to my anger. Lightning pitched down from the sky and hit the lorry, cutting the engine out. The black cloud moved in to darken the before clear sky. The first plop of rain sent a chill through my cotton t-shirt. In no time, the sky was emptying buckets of rain.
"Temper, temper," Jace teased.
"Quick!" Mum yelled over the rumbling sky as it began to chuck it down, "Everyone inside."
We ran in. Denny invited the removal men to take shelter in our home with the promise of sampling their famous Sparkle Cakes and a brew.
As Jace and I were about to run up the stairs, Mum pulled me to one side.
"Are you okay, Mariah?"
"What do you think?" I snapped at her stupid question.
She tugged on my sleeve. "You must stay in control of your emotions."
I shrugged her off me and hurried up the stairs with Jace. In my room, we revelled in the storm's blessing of extra time together. I grinned, as pleased with myself as if I had caused the storm.