Lime and Soda ✓

thirty-one - begin

The sun rises over the little Dorset town, warming the bricks of the old stone buildings. It casts its rays down the cobbled lanes, past the bakery, the greengrocer's, past the cafe, where a tall figure with dark, curly hair is setting up the tables outside. He pauses for a moment, a stack of folded chairs leaning against his thigh, and fumbles in his jacket pocket, collar up against the wind. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes and stares at it intently. There seems to be some sort of conflict going on inside his head. Finally he leans the stack of chairs against one of the tables, crosses the street to the bin outside the cafe, and tosses the packet in. Inside the cafe, an old woman watches him through the steamy window. When he throws the packet into the bin, her wrinkled face breaks into a smile.

The sun continues on its way, throwing its light over the local pub, still and silent at this time of day, the mossy steps leading down to the beach, and finally illuminates the sea, the iron grey of the water turning to a deep blue as soon as the light touches it, glittering and dancing in the sun as the soft waves lap against the shore.

Finally, the light reaches the cliffs, and a boy standing high up on an outcrop of rock has to suddenly shield his eyes against the glare. He stares out over the shimmering water, a frown furrowing his brow, the longing in his eyes clear to see, and thinks of his own little town, miles from the sea. This thought casts a shadow over his face and he kicks at a loose pebble, sending it hurtling over the edge of the cliff and down to the rocks below, before he turns his back on the rising sun and begins to make his way down the cliff path.

-

I'm woken by a crash as the bedroom door bangs open. Everything is too bright and there's a dull pounding in my head. I roll over and bury my face in my pillow, groaning.

'Wha' time's it?' I say, to no one in particular.

Jay answers me. 'Half past six.'

I sit up in horror. 'You're joking.'

He's sitting on the edge of my bed, fully dressed, looking wide awake. 'Sorry. I went for a walk. Didn't mean to be so noisy when I got back.'

'Well, I'm going back to sleep,' I say crossly, burrowing back under the duvet. 'Wake me up when breakfast is ready.'

But he snuggles in with me instead, and I fall asleep again with his breath tickling my cheek and his arms wrapped around my waist.

-

I wake again later feeling much better, my head clearer, my eyes less groggy. I grab the glass of water on the bedside table and drain it, and the remnants of my headache disappears. Jay is curled up next to me, his boots still on, a soft smile on his lips. I shake him awake.

'Time to go, sleepyhead.'

He groans and sits up slowly, his hair looking like a bird's nest. 'What time is it?'

I check my phone. 'Eight. Mum wants to leave at nine, so we'd better hurry.' I ignore the stone sinking in my stomach at the thought of leaving.

Right on cue, I hear my mother's voice. 'Violet! Jay! Time to wake up!' She crashes through the door and deposits two huge mugs of tea on the bedside table before Jay has time to leap out of my bed and into his, which is probably for the best because upon closer inspection I can see a telltale mop of curly hair on his pillow that suggests Astrid decided to stay the night as well.

Mum raises her eyebrows and purses her lips at the sight of Jay and I in bed together, but says nothing. I can feel my ears burning.

'Hurry up and drink those,' she orders, as though tea is the most important part of getting ready, 'And make sure you're all packed. Breakfast will be ready in ten. Oh, good morning, Astrid.'

Astrid raises her head blearily from the pillow. 'Who invited me to stay the night?'

'None of us,' says Mum, but she's smiling. 'I'll tell Bea to set an extra place at the table.'

Astrid gives her a groggy thumbs up and slumps back onto her pillow, falling asleep again immediately and only waking up when Jay and I heave our suitcases down the little wooden stairs, shaking the whole house.

All too soon, we're ready to go. We've all checked every single room for our possessions at least five times, but even so I know one of us will have forgotten something. When there's nothing left to do and our bags have been loaded into the campervan, we stand in the doorway, fidgeting awkwardly, not wanting to leave yet but having nothing left to do.

Bea steps forward and enfolds Jay in a hug. 'It was lovely to have you to stay this summer, sweetheart. I do hope you'll be back.'

Jay grins. 'Thank you so much for having me. I'm sure I will be.'

Bea nods, releases him and reaches for Mum. The two sisters stand there swaying from side to side for at least two minutes, each not wanting to let the other go.

Then it's my turn. Bea sweeps me in and, like the first day I arrived, I am well and truly crushed against her well-padded chest. 'Oh, Violet,' she says, squeezing me even tighter. 'I'll miss you. You take care, now.' When she releases me I see that she's crying. Then I realise I am too.

There's a lump in my throat too big for me to say anything, so I just nod.

'Bye, Violet,' says Jules, giving me a much briefer hug.

Elliot's is far more satisfactory. 'Nice to see you, Vi,' he says. 'We're all coming down to see you at Christmas, so don't get too sad.'

I nod again, then see Astrid and Ross, standing a little way behind everyone else. Astrid is crying silently, the tears splashing down her face onto the ratty old dressing-gown she must have found in the spare room. Ross is trying to smile but just looks like he's got toothache.

The four of us move as one, me reaching for Astrid and Jay stepping forward towards Ross. The two separate hugs end up becoming one big tangle of limbs as we all hold each other, not wanting this moment to end, never wanting to leave. Then Mum steps forward, placing her hands on my shoulders, and Jules, Elliot, Bea, until we're all holding each other, rocking backwards and forwards in the little doorway.

Finally Mum breaks apart and wipes her eyes. 'Time to go,' she says briskly. 'We'll see you all soon. You two,' she points at Astrid and Ross, 'Come and stay whenever you want. Same goes for all of you. And we'll see you at Christmas.'

We all nod, and stand there for another minute or so, until there's no delaying it any longer.

The sun has fully risen now and it's a glorious day, the sky a deep, corn-flower blue, dotted with tiny white clouds. I can just see the sea sparkling through a gap in the hedge. I take one last long, yearning look towards it, then turn away. Time to go.

We climb into the campervan, side by side. I smile at him, he smiles back, a glorious ray of sunshine. He takes my hand, squeezes it, as Mum starts the engine and we drive away. I crane my neck around at the last minute and spot Bea, standing in the drive. She's waving, smiling too, but I can see the tears on her cheeks. I hope Ross takes care of her.

I know that one day I will have to face these problems again. Jay will not be able to stay with me forever, and my eczema will come back, probably my insecurities too. But that could be a day or a month or a year from now, and who knows what the future may hold? Right now, I am happy. Right now, the sun is shining. It falls through the window, softly, illuminating his face, his blue eyes, locked on mine. Right now, I have everything that I need: I have him, and he has me, and for the moment, that's enough.