Never Forget (Memories #1)(4)
Author: Emma Hart

"Yeah, I’m meeting Jen in about five minutes on the Bay." I walk over to her and kiss her cheek.

"Will you be back for dinner?"

"I’m not sure. I’ll text mum and let her know, okay?" I open the front door.

"Okay, love. Have fun!"

"Bye, Grammy!"

I walk outside and shut the door behind me. The sun glares at me and I push my glasses down onto my eyes. I can feel the heat on my arms as I walk down the street, and I smile to myself knowing I’ll have the beginning of a tan by the end of the day.

The bay comes into view a few minutes later and the beach is deserted except for a few surfers in the sea and one lone figure sitting on the sand. The blonde hair lets me know it’s Jen, and I feel excitement rising up at the prospect of seeing my childhood summer friend again.

Every summer since I was five, I’d play with Jen whenever we were here. The friendship started that year we were both five, and she stole my crab from my net when I was rock pooling. She gave me her fish in return, and we’ve been friends since.

"Lexy!" she cries and gets up when she sees me approaching.

She looks the same as she always has. Bouncy blonde hair – which now contains a pink shadow under her fringe – and big, blue eyes. She smiles and we hug excitedly.

"You look good!" she says as I set my towel down on the sand.

"So do you." I smile at her and sit down. "I can’t believe how long it’s been."

"I know, seems like yesterday we were climbing over the rocks," Jen muses. I laugh and shake my hair out, looking out at the sea.

"Tell me about it," I agree. "So, which one of the surfer kids is yours?"

Jen stretches her arm out and points to the guy furthest to the right. "That’s Carl, he’s got the red board. And next to him on the blue board is his best mate, Alec. Oh my god, Lexy, seriously, that guy is hot. He works for your grandma, have you met him yet?"

She’s looking out to sea so doesn’t realise I’ve frozen. Alec’s here?

"Yeah, yeah, we met last night. At dinner," I manage to say.

Jen glances at me and smiles knowingly. "He’s hot, hmm?"

"He’s not bad." I shrug one shoulder.

"Not bad?" She raises her eyebrows. "What’s up with your eyesight? I think you need to go to Specsavers, hun. Oh oh! I know! Boyfriend back in London?"

"No." I laugh slightly. "No boyfriend. I’m just not looking for that right now."

"If I didn’t have Carl, I’d be all over Alec." Jen pulls her dress off revealing her bikini. I follow suit.

"Does Carl know that?" I ask playfully.

"Oh, yeah." She giggles. "I mean, c’mon, Carl has a good body but Alec looks like he should be in a magazine or something. Problem is, he knows he’s hot, and he’s a terrible flirt."

I think back to the night before. Yeah, he was polite, charming even. But the sneaky glances he gave me, the winks thrown in and those dimples when he smiled at me..

I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. Oh, yeah.

Alec is most definitely the kind of guy I need to stay away from.

Him, and his dimples.

~

The sun beats down on us as we catch up. Jen tells me about being accepted to a London University, and we squeal when it turns out it’s the same one I’m headed to. We’re still laughing about it when Alec and her boyfriend, Carl approach us.

"Girls," Carl sighs. "So giggly. We could hear you squealing halfway down the beach."

Jen reaches over and swats his chest with her bare hand. "You’re such an ass sometimes, Carl. This is Lexy, my childhood summer friend. Remember I told you she was here for the summer this year?"

"Of course I remember, Jen. I remember everything you tell me," he says innocently.

"Yeah, right. And I’m the Queen," Jen scoffs playfully in return.

Carl looks at me and shakes his head like it’s such a hardship, but I can see his fondness for her in his eyes.

Jen wasn’t lying when she said he had a good body. I can see the muscles, clearly defined against his lightly tanned skin. His dark hair and dark eyes are a perfect contrast against Jen’s lighter colouring.

"Nice to meet you, Lexy. I’ve heard all your stories." He waggles his eyebrows and I laugh.

"I can well believe it, but has she told you about the time she got stuck rock climbing?" I motion to the rocks behind us. "We were twelve and she got stuck.."

"He really doesn’t need to know that!" Jen shrieks and launches herself at me. I jump up and skirt around our little group.

"Carry on," Carl encourages me.

"Anyway, she was wearing this little string bikini thing, and the guy she happened to fancy was climbing with us."

"I think I know where this is going." Carl smirks.

"Lexy, Lexy don’t you dare!" Jen warns as I carry on dancing around her.

"Her top got caught between the rocks as she tried to get down, the stringy bit, and bang. It came undone and her top fell down. She flashed to the whole beach."

Carl howls with laughter and Alec smirks at us as Jen slaps her hand over my mouth.

"Don’t say another word!" she hisses at me. "Promise?"

I nod my head, my eyes wide and innocent. She releases me and we sit back down.

Carl eyes me. "There’s more?"

I nod again. "Yep, but I promised not to tell you that the guy she fancied thought she was fourteen so she had chicken fillets down her bikini top."

Jen’s face flames a bright red and I grin. She buries her face in her hands and Carl hugs her, swaying her side to side dramatically.

"Oh, baby. Poor baby," he teases. Jen shoves him and glares at me but I can see the small curve of her lips. I grin again and watch the banter play out between the two.

It’s clear they love each other – they’re playful but gentle. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

"Not saying hi then, Lexy?" Alec flicks my shoulder.

"Hi, Alec." I turn back and smile at him.

"Hi, Lexy." He winks at me and I roll my eyes. "What was the eye roll for?"

I raise my eyebrows at him. "Jen’s already told me about your.. Reputation, so that flirty, dimply smile flirty thing you got going on isn’t gonna work on me."

"Who said I was flirting?" He asks innocently, but the gleam in his eye tells me he knows I’ve called him out.

And he likes it.

"Your eyes say it," I reply, "it’s glaringly obvious."

He leans back on his elbows and I get a good view of his body.

I try not to look, but when faced with such beauty it’s hard not to look, right?