After Eden

Chapter 12

Dust motes floated in a shaft of sunlight. Outside, the sun blazed. The invigilators had opened the windows as far as they could, but the room was still stifling.

Physics. The last exam. The clock at the front of the hall read ten minutes to twelve. Ten minutes. Ten minutes until we were all told to put our pens down. Ten minutes until the end of exams. I should have been checking through my answers to make sure I hadn’t made any silly errors, but I couldn’t concentrate any longer.

All around me, heads were bent over the question papers. Ryan’s seat remained empty. Although he had gone through the motions of sitting the exams over the past three weeks, he had decided to skip this one so he could help Ben and Cassie prepare for their departure in two days’ time, after the leavers’ ball. I wondered what sort of preparations you had to make for travelling through time. Was it complicated or dangerous like the old shuttle missions to the International Space Station or was it a more mundane journey, like a train ride to Plymouth?

‘Pens down,’ said the invigilator.

The sun beat down on us as we ambled towards the gate. Matt and Connor removed their ties and began whipping each other with them, laughing and saying that they would never ever wear a tie again for the rest of their lives.

Ryan was leaning against the gate, dressed in a white T-shirt and khaki shorts, a pair of very dark sunglasses hiding his eyes.

‘Did I miss anything interesting?’

‘Hell yeah,’ said Matt. ‘That was officially the most fun I’ve ever had in school.’

Students were spilling out of the school gates, laughing and yelling, tying their ties around their foreheads like thin bandannas.

‘Everyone’s going to the park,’ said Chloe Mason, walking over to Ryan.

She had unbuttoned her school shirt halfway, exposing just the edge of her hot-pink bra. ‘I hope you’re coming. I have a going-away present for you.’ She swaggered back to her group of friends, laughing and spiralling her tie above her head like a lasso.

‘What’s the plan then?’ asked Ryan.

‘Looks like we’re going to the park,’ said Connor.

Ryan groaned. ‘Really?’

‘What’s the matter, Westland?’ asked Connor. ‘Scared?’

Ryan laughed. ‘Terrified.’

Ryan’s car was discreetly parked a couple of streets away from school. He opened the passenger door for me and told the others to squeeze in together in the back.

Connor pulled a face. ‘Why don’t we walk? It’s not far.’

‘I picked up the booze you wanted,’ said Ryan. ‘It’s in the boot. It’ll be easier if we take the car.’

‘Come on, Connor,’ said Megan. ‘It’s only a five-minute drive.’

Connor said nothing, but he got in the back of the car.

Ryan pulled away from the kerb and on to the street that led across town to Perran Park. I turned around. Amy was half sitting on Matt’s lap, his hands resting on her thighs. With four of them in the back seat, it was inevitable that they would be squashed together. But Connor’s arm was resting along the back of the seat, behind Megan’s shoulders, and his body was angled close towards hers. He was laughing at something she had just said. Ryan took a corner sharply and Megan rolled against Connor, resting her head on his shoulder.

‘Sorry,’ she giggled.

‘Don’t be,’ he said with a smile.

I turned away, whatever it was I’d been about to say forgotten. Until now I’d assumed that Connor had asked Megan to the ball because I’d said no, or even as a way to try and make me jealous. Could it be that he really did like her?

Even before we entered the gates to the park, we could hear squeals and laughter and the babble of voices. Over in the bandstand, two boys and a girl were drumming on overturned buckets while another boy strummed on his guitar. The whole park had the feel of an impromptu party.

‘Let’s sit by the fountain,’ I said, imagining the cool spray on my hot, sticky skin.

We found a shady spot beneath a thicket of trees, close to the fountain. I lay back on the grass, my face in the shade of a gnarled apple tree, my legs and body in the warmth of the sun. I kicked off my school shoes. The lightest spray from the fountain reached my shins and feet.

Ryan lay beside me. ‘I think apple trees are my favourite tree in the whole world,’ he said.

‘Why’s that?’

‘I like their shape. The blossom in the spring. The apples in the autumn. The smell of their fruit. They’re perfect.’

‘You’re really into trees and plants,’ I said with a laugh.

‘You know why.’

‘What are you drinking, Eden?’ Megan asked.

‘Raspberry Juiska.’

She passed me an open bottle and I propped myself up on my elbow. I didn’t usually drink, but this was the last day of exams. I swigged from the bottle. A mouthful of slightly warm, sweet liquid left a trail of fire as it ran down my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and winced.

Megan took a cherry-flavoured bottle and clinked hers against mine. ‘Cheers!’

‘Beer or cider, Ryan?’ asked Matt.

Ryan shook his head. ‘Not for me. I’m driving.’

Matt passed him a bottle. ‘You can have one beer.’

Ryan passed it back. ‘Maybe later.’

I swigged again from my bottle, trying not to screw up my eyes as the liquid burned my throat. Ryan was sitting next to me, propped up against the tree trunk. I looked around. It was as if we were all paired up. Connor and Megan were sitting next to each other, tasting each other’s drinks. Amy was sitting in the shade, ensuring her milk-white skin didn’t curdle, while Matt ran his fingers through her blue-black hair.

‘I’m so glad it’s all over,’ said Connor.

‘This is only the beginning,’ Megan sighed. ‘It is going to be the best summer ever.’

The first bottle of Juiska was sweet, sour and sickly. The second one was sweet and sour. By the time I had reached the bottom of the third bottle, it was just sweet and I realised I liked the taste.

I stood up and wobbled. I could sense the edge of a headache floating in from somewhere in the distance. ‘The strange thing is,’ I said, ‘it doesn’t matter how much I drink, I’m still thirsty.’

‘Sit down and drink this,’ said Ryan. He twisted the top off a bottle of sparkling water.

‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘I think I’ve acquired a taste for it.’

I stretched across for another bottle, but Ryan moved the bag out of reach.

‘You need to slow down.’ He put one hand on the back of my head. ‘Open your mouth.’ Gently, he spilled water on to my tongue.

Although afternoon was blending into evening, the air felt ever hotter and thicker. I padded across the soft cool grass to the fountain, a concrete construction of Poseidon holding a trident. I sat on the edge and swung my legs over. Dangling my legs in the pool, I shut my eyes, letting the spray shower over my face and body.

‘Come over here!’ I yelled to the others. ‘This feels so good.’

Ryan joined me at the edge of the fountain.

‘I’ve always liked the way you look in your school uniform,’ he said, a light smirk on his face. ‘But it’s never looked as great as it does right now.’

Looking down, I saw the hem of my skirt was soaked, and my white school shirt soaked through and transparent. I waited for my habitual blush, but it never came.

Megan and Amy jumped in next to me, closing their eyes against the spray.

‘Make a wish! Make a wish!’ Megan yelled.

‘It’s not a wishing well,’ said Amy, giggling.

‘I don’t care. I feel lucky. Make a wish.’

Connor climbed the fountain and straddled Poseidon’s shoulders and grabbed the trident with one hand while the other held a bottle of beer in a triumphant salute.

‘Here’s to the best days of our lives!’ he yelled. ‘Make a wish!’

‘I wish for a summer of hot, sunny days at the beach,’ said Megan.

‘I wish I had a cooler summer job than washing dishes at the Fisherman’s Arms,’ said Amy.

‘I wish I could lose ten pounds without dieting,’ said Megan.

‘I wish I hadn’t dyed my hair black,’ said Amy. She hiccupped.

‘I wish that Megan would . . . oh shit!’ Connor yelled with a nervous laugh, as he swayed dangerously atop Poseidon’s shoulders.

I squeezed my eyes shut and wished that Connor would get down from the statue before he fell and hurt himself. I wished that time would stand still and Ryan could stay with us for ever. And I wished that the world would stop spinning.

Ryan drove me back to the farmhouse with the windows down all the way. I rested my head on the door frame, gulping lungfuls of fresh air. Ryan had insisted that I go back to his house and sober up before heading home to Miranda.

We left town and drove along the coastal road, passing the sand dunes that lay between the road and Perran Towans, the golf course, and the fields of cauliflowers and potatoes. Overhead, the moon was a ghostly crescent in the bright blue sky.

‘It must be strange having three moons,’ I said.

‘Not when you’ve grown up with them,’ said Ryan ‘None of Eden’s moons are as big as Earth’s moon, but when all the moons are up, it is beautiful. And then there are the three suns. From Eden, the universe seems less lonely somehow.’

As we pulled into Ryan’s place, I noticed that Ben and Cassie’s cars were parked in the driveway.

‘I think I need to splash some cold water over my face,’ I said. ‘I’m burning up.’

Ryan smiled and ran one finger across my nose. ‘You’ve caught the sun. Your nose is all pink.’

‘Fantastic. That will look great in all the ball photographs.’

Ryan opened the door and ushered me inside. ‘I’ll make some strong coffee. The bathroom is the second door at the top of the stairs. I’ll meet you in the living room.’

I gripped the banister and dragged myself up the stairs. The fresh air had helped me feel better and I no longer felt sick, just hot and dehydrated. Just as I reached the door to the bathroom, it swung open and Cassie came out. She was dressed in green combats and a white T-shirt, her long blonde hair tumbling over her chest. Just below the sleeve of her T-shirt I could see the edge of a tattoo. It looked like the same tattoo I’d seen on Ryan a few weeks earlier at the beach.

‘Oh,’ she said, apparently surprised. ‘It’s you again.’

I said nothing. I refused to show how much she intimidated me.

Her eyes slid down to my school shoes and slowly back up to my eyes. ‘Apparently some guys like that look,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t have thought it was Ry’s thing.’

‘Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think,’ I said.

‘I think I know him pretty well.’ She raised her chin as if averting her face from a bad smell.

A surge of anger coursed through me. ‘What’s your problem with me?’

‘I don’t have a problem with you.’

‘You obviously don’t like me.’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t get why Ryan spends so much time with you.’

I leant against the door frame, wishing the squishy churning in my stomach would stop. ‘He likes me. And I like him.’

Cassie clutched her heart and batted her eyelashes at me. ‘That’s so touching. You like each other. Did you spend the afternoon at the beach making out? Has Ryan convinced you to sleep with him yet? Are you in love with him?’

‘It’s not like that with us,’ I said. ‘We’re just good friends.’

‘I’m sure you’re a fascinating person,’ she said, her tone serious again. ‘But I doubt he’s interested in you for your mind.’

I had a sudden moment of clarity.

‘We weren’t alone. We spent the afternoon with Connor and our other friends in the park. You see, Connor is my best friend. If it wasn’t for me, Ryan and Connor wouldn’t even be friends at all.’

Cassie nodded slowly. She opened her mouth as if to speak and then snapped it shut again. I smiled to myself. She had no comeback for that one.

‘So you see,’ I said. ‘He’s not wasting his time with me. I’m helping him.’

‘I understand,’ she said quietly.

I smiled smugly.

Cassie galloped down the stairs, leaving me free to freshen up in the bathroom.

Like the rest of the house, the bathroom was a peculiar mixture of old-fashioned floral wallpaper and simple functionality. As well as pink flowers blooming all over the walls, there was a neat pile of white towels stacked on a stool.

I filled the basin with water and dunked my face into it. The water was cold against my burning skin. Gasping for breath, I pulled my head out of the water. Cold droplets ran down my face and on to my neck. Blinking, I grabbed a clean white towel and gently dabbed my face dry. My skin felt raw. I opened the medicine cabinet to see if Cassie had some moisturiser and foundation I could use to soothe my skin and cover up the redness. But there was nothing more than a tube of toothpaste, a comb and a couple of bottles of cologne. Of course. Cassie was a natural beauty. No need for make-up or straighteners or hair serum or any of the other items I relied on. I dragged the comb through my tangled hair until it was smooth, rubbed some toothpaste across my teeth and headed back downstairs.

Ryan was at the bottom of the stairs, a mug of steaming black coffee in each hand. He nudged the door to the living room open with his shoulder.

‘You’re looking better,’ he said.

‘I feel better.’

We sat on the sofa, close, but with several centimetres separating us. I longed to close the gap, to feel the brush of his skin against mine.

‘That was a bad combination of too much alcohol and too much sun,’ he said, passing me one of the mugs.

I bit my lip. ‘Did I make a complete idiot out of myself?’

He smiled. ‘No. You danced around in the fountain, which was kind of cute. And you stumbled around a bit on the way to my car, which gave me an excuse to put my arm around you.’

I sipped my coffee. It was scalding hot and I felt it burn the roof of my mouth. ‘You don’t need an excuse to put your arm around me.’

Ryan leant closer to me and gently placed an arm around my shoulders. I lay my head on his chest.

‘I was thinking,’ said Ryan. ‘We’ve only got two days left. Connor will be at the ball on Saturday and we’ll be there to keep tabs on him. Why don’t we spend the day together tomorrow? Just you and me.’

I nodded, unable to trust myself to speak without choking up. We had just two days left before he returned to his time.

‘How would you like to spend the day?’ he asked.

‘I don’t mind.’

‘Come here to the farmhouse tomorrow morning. There’s something I want to give you.’

I lifted my head and raised both my eyebrows.

Ryan laughed. ‘Not the sort of going-away gift Chloe was talking about. I’m not that much of a creep.’

‘You’re not even remotely a creep,’ I said softly, the words falling out of my mouth with more courage than I felt. ‘You’re perfect.’

‘That’s the alcohol talking,’ he said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

The door to the living room swung open, hitting the wall. Cassie stood in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest.

‘Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds,’ she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘But Ben and I need to talk to you.’

‘Both of us?’ said Ryan, frowning.

‘Both of you,’ she repeated.