Page 21 of Now and Again

‘Like…’ Juliet started, looking suddenly nervous.

‘Fine, OK, I’ll try to be more specific. Tell me about…’ She searched for a good question and found the perfect one. ‘…your first kiss.’

Juliet’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Oh. God. No. Not that.’

Riley was delighted. ‘Right. Now you’redefinitelytelling me.’

Juliet rolled her eyes. ‘Oh god. Fine. OK. So, I was twelve. I went on holiday to Butlin’s. That’s a holiday park with caravans, by the way.’

Riley tutted, mildly offended. ‘Iknowwhat Butlin’s is.’

‘I don’t know, you might not. Like India said, your dad is the president of the Bank of England.’

Riley gave a dramatic sigh. ‘She was exaggerating. He’s just a money manager.’

‘Oh,justa money manager?’

Riley was quite enjoying the mockery; it was somehow intimate. ‘He’s a prick if it’s any consolation.’

Juliet looked a bit shocked, and Riley realised maybe Juliet wasn’t used to people talking about their parents like that. Maybe hers were ordinary parents who just loved and cared for her and all that usual crap.

‘How is he a prick?’ Juliet wanted to know.

Riley considered sliding right around the question but thought it quicker to summarise. ‘He works all the time, and he’s made it clear that’s all he cares about. Now finish your story. First kiss. Butlin’s. Go.’

Juliet looked like she was thinking about probing about her dad, but Riley was thrilled when she continued her tale. ‘Well, alright, we go to Butlin’s for a week in July, like we always do, and I meet this boy named Kevin, his family has the caravan next door. He was… not the best if I’m honest. All he wanted to do was talk about Pokémon and eat jawbreakers. But I could tell he liked me and,’ Juliet paused, pink-cheeked. ‘I wasn’t exactly swimming in suitors.’

Riley chuckled. ‘We all have an awkward phase.’

Juliet gave Riley a very dubious look. ‘Yeah, surewedo.’

Riley didn’t know what to say to that. Was it a compliment? Maybe even a flirtatious one? Before she had time to decide, the story resumed. ‘So we’re in the arcade - we’ve both been given some change and told to bugger off so the adults can get drunk - and we’re playing this Pokémon arcade game. I hate it, but he can’t get enough. He’s eating jawbreakers – as usual - and he just smashes them down, one after the other. It would take me an hour to break one down. But him? He eats them like crisps. Crunch, crunch, crunch. And then he wins a level. And he’s so excited that he turns to me and kisses me, boom. And I think…’ Juliet paused.

‘What do you think?’ Riley asked, wanting every last scrap of detail.

‘I think… what’s that pain?’

‘Pain?’

‘Yeah. In my mouth. So I pull away from him and I can see blood on his mouth.’

‘He wasbleeding?’ Riley asked, boggling.

‘He wasn’t.Iwas. It was my blood on his mouth. Because he had braces and broke one of the wires with a jawbreaker without realising. Poked me right in the gum with the broken wire, tore it open.’

Riley gasped, almost able to feel the pain. ‘Fuck! That must havehurt.’

‘I had to get a stitch. An actual stitch in my gum. That hurt even worse than the kiss.’

Riley laughed. ‘That’s a banger of a story for your first kiss. Wounded in battle! Love it.’ She kept chuckling. ‘Way better than a romantic story.’

Juliet smiled, but her eyes flitted away in a way that Riley found quite interesting. ‘So… do you have a boyfriend now?’ Riley asked; the question of the night.

Juliet’s eyes widened. ‘Who, me? No, no, no…’

Riley decided to roll the dice. ‘How about a girlfriend?’

For a second, Juliet looked too shocked to answer. Riley thought she’d made a massive fuck up. But then Juliet asked in a quiet, intrigued way, ‘Do I seem gay?’

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