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He was charming. Attentive. He never once gave me pause or worry that he wasn’t interested or regretted anything that happened in the summer.
He enveloped me into every part of his life at school, which is the opposite of what I had expected from watching him for so long. The closeness we forged in Cornwall could have relaxed now we weren’t the only people in our spheres of existence, but we bled into every aspect of each other’s lives.
He waited for me at the end of school, took me home, and picked me up every morning, and, after some convincing, Mum even agreed to sleepovers on the weekend, but only at our house.
As the weeks passed, Sammy and I also found our own time and rhythm. We weren’t as close as before, but I made sure not to exclude her. She still came around for film nights, but Jeremy was there most of the time, too. And we both pushed hard on the study front — we had to if we still wanted to get into university. The final school year was short. And it was the perfect year — almost — if it weren’t for the end-of-school exams.
But we had Jeremy’s eighteenth to celebrate before then.
“Please, Sammy? There’s so much to do, and I want it to be perfect,” I plead for help because there’s no way that I have time to finish the decorations and get everything ready before the party. My car is filled with balloons, streamers, and everything else I can think of to turn his house into a party venue. His parents have hired catering and have covered the booze, but I wanted to do something, too.
“Anna, seriously?”
“Come on, Sammy. An hour. You don’t have to stay.”
“Oh great, thanks. Come and help with my boyfriend’s party, but don’t bother staying.”
“No, that’s not it. Not at all. I just know you don’t like his friends.”
“Neither do you. Or has that changed, too?”
“Don’t be like that.” I roll my eyes, glad this is a conversation over the phone and not face-to-face.
“Like what, Anna? You’ve been like this since the summer. You blew me off then, and now I only see you with Jeremy because you seem to have lost the ability to function without him.”
“It’s his birthday, Anna.”
“Yeah. And did we celebrate mine? No. When you come to your senses, then give me a call.” She hangs up on me.
Her words hurt — more than hurt — because guilt gushes from the wounds her tongue inflicted. How could I forget my best friend’s birthday? And I realise that while I might have been including her, it’s only been in a peripheral position because Jeremy’s where she used to be.
Tears sting in my eyes, and a big part of me wants to do nothing but run over to her and apologise — promise to make it up to her and mean it. But it’s Jeremy’s birthday. There’s nothing I can do for Sammy right now. I’ll start making it up to her tomorrow.
I turn the key in the ignition but don’t drive off right away, wondering about going to see Sammy. Jeremy would understand.
Turn left or drive straight at the end of the road? I put the car into gear and set off.
A few minutes later, I pull up at Jeremy’s house and start unloading all the decorations. “Hello?” I call as I enter. I’d expected the place to be a hive of people getting ready, but it’s deserted.
I start in the kitchen and see all the trays of food out and the stack of bottles, cans, and mixers on the counters. I thought it was meant to be a small party, with only school friends, but it looks like his parents have catered as if it’s one of their housewarmings.
Pulling the balloons apart from the nest of strings, I start to place them around the rooms downstairs. Next, I wrap a set of fairy lights around the wooden balustrade, starting in the hall and all the way up to the landing.
“Anna?”
“Oh, gosh! Mr Archer, you made me jump. I didn’t think anyone was here.”
“Well, Penelope will be back late,” he starts, swooshing the liquid in the glass tumbler in his hand around. “This isn’t the type of party she’d be excited about. And, well, Jeremy will be here when he gets here.” He takes a swig of his drink as he finishes his answer.
His eyes look glassy, which is unusual. Typically, Mr Archer only has one or two drinks, happy to keep to what most would call an acceptable level.
“I have more decorations. If you don’t mind giving me a hand.” I force a smile and grip the rest of the string of lights in my hand.
He knocks back the last of his drink and takes a step forward. “Show me.”
I hang the lights, go back into the kitchen, and head to the counter where I left the banners, with Mr Archer following. “If you could hang one of these. Oh—” I turn back to hand them to him, but he’s crowding me, blocking me in against the side. “Mr Archer?” I scowl as my body starts to shake with intimidation. This isn’t right.
“You’re very beautiful, Anna. You’ve certainly made an impression on Jeremy. You’re still here, for one.”
