Page 47 of Somewhere Only We Know

He pushed his way around to the broken side of the bed, saying something in his own language which I guessed was not polite.

‘Sorry, everyone,’ said the tall boy, rubbing his head. ‘Did I miss anything?’

‘No,’ said Jackson, offering his hand to help him up. ‘Unfortunately not.’

Everyone trooped out quietly, some biting their lips to keep in their laughter, but I hung back.

‘Utt, can I stay and help you mend the turtle bed?’ I asked.

‘No, no.’ He waved me away but then a corner of his mouth lifted. ‘But thank you, miss.’

‘Call me Maggie.’

Unwilling to leave until I’d convinced him that we weren’t all bad, I watched him for a moment rescuing the eggs that had dropped to the floor.

‘Rich kids. Come to Bali for a holiday. Not interested in preserving our wildlife, only want to party,’ he muttered.

‘I’m sorry. I’m not a rich kid.’ I’d saved up for this trip, waitressed and worked the night shift at a supermarket twice a week all through this year at uni while my friends went out clubbing.

He laughed, shaking his head. ‘You fly on aeroplane, you a rich kid.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said again, although this time I wasn’t sure what I was sorry for. I didn’t feel rich, but it was all relative, I guessed. All Utt saw was a young adult who had the time and means to play at looking after turtles. He wasn’t to know how much effort it had taken for me to get here. I said goodbye and left him to it.

Outside on the beach the other volunteers were making plans to go to a bar. In the last few minutes, the sun had vanished, and the evening had turned to night.

‘Are you coming?’ Hannah asked me.

I nodded. A beer sounded great. I hadn’t showered or done my hair and I was still in the bikini and shorts I’d worn all day. But it didn’t matter here. Nobody cared.

‘See you around,’ said Jackson, touching my arm.

‘Are you not joining us?’ I said, disappointed.

He shook his head. ‘Got stuff to do.’

In the next second, huge raindrops started to fall from the sky. Slow at first and then torrential. Everyone started to yell and scream.

‘My hair!’ yelled Hannah, racing for cover.

‘Run!’

‘See you at the bar.’

‘First one there grab a table.’

But Jackson and I didn’t move. The rain was warm and soothing to my salty skin. I could feel raindrops on my eyelashes, and I blinked them away.

‘How is that even possible?’ I held my hands out. ‘The sky was perfect a few minutes ago.’

‘It’s still perfect,’ said Jackson, tilting his face upwards.

‘For the fish maybe,’ I scoffed.

‘For me.’ He looked me in the eye. ‘Because now I’ve got you to myself.’

The compliment took me unawares and I felt a pulse of excitement. ‘Looks that way. What about your stuff?’

‘So, do you like puppies?’