Page 32 of My Kind of Trouble
Ryan:
I fear that was a dig aimed at me.
Noa:
Great, it landed!
Noa’s first day in Koh Tao had been a happy surprise. She and Alex had done a 180 when it came to their relationship, and she had actually enjoyed his company. She could see them being real friends again, and not just because they had her brother in common. She just hoped it continued. She’d always felt like he’d truly seen her when growing up and last night, despite all the time that had passed, she felt that again.
It was almost enough to make her want to reconsider her plan to torment him.
Almost.
Their current hostel was right on the beach and, as she walked down the steps towards the breakfast area she was greeted by Alex’s smiling face. Teeth bared and all. Odd.
‘What have you done?’ she asked, sceptically eyeing him.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re smiling.’
‘And?’
‘It’s scary and suspicious,’ she grumbled. ‘Stopit.’
‘Charming. Remind me never to catch you before coffee again.’
‘Alex…’
‘Noa…’
‘Out with it.’
‘So, about that list,’ he began. ‘Well, there’s no time like the present right? We are ticking off number ten and we are doing it today.’
After showing Alex her ‘30 before 30’ list, they’d moved on quite quickly. She assumed he had just forgotten about it. She’d had to bury the hurt she’d felt at his lacklustre response, his reaction feeling too similar to Lucas’s often disinterested ones.
She blinked rapidly at him, now, her mouth dropping open and closing again as she tried to figure out the appropriate response.
‘Sorry, come again?’ was all she could come up with.
Maybe she really did need that coffee because, not only had he remembered, but this felt an awful lot like him helping her.
‘I’ve booked us a full day diving course at Shark Bay. Come on. Chop, chop. I need you ready and right back down here in the next twenty minutes.’
‘I… I…’ she didn’t finish the sentence, just stood there slack-jawed for a minute.
He really was helping her. And in such a thoughtful way. She’d done her research, and Shark Bay was where people went to swim with turtles and that was something she was dying to do. She’d never told him that was where she’d been longing to go, he just knew.
So, before he could change his mind, she let out an undignified squeal of excitement, turned on her heels, andhurried back where she came from to get ready for what was going to be one of the most epic days of her life. And she had Alex Fletcher to thank for it.
They sat side by side with their legs dangling over the edge of the wooden boat, bobbing up and down as it floated over gentle waves. After a long briefing and a short practice run in the shallow waters of the beach, they were now gearing up to finally take their first dive.
Noa couldn’t help the nervous shaking of her leg as she thought about being so far below water, relying only on the oxygen tank that now felt heavy on her back. She focused on her breathing to quell the overwhelming urge to panic and overthink everything that could go wrong. She felt her heart beating too fast in her chest, her vision starting to blur in the corners, a telltale sign that she was about to be pulled into a panic attack. It felt like she was drowning before she had even touched the water and she just stared into the waves, trying to focus. To remember why she was here.
She had come to do things that excited her, that would push her out of her comfort zone. This would achieve both. She just had to force herself to take the plunge.
Literally.
