Page 24 of A Secret Cornish Wish
I shook my head.
‘Should I do it again then?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please,’ I said, already leaning forward.
And that moment, standing on the sand of Morvoren Cove, as the sun began to set, was where Rob and I shared our very first kiss.
Sadly, the rest of our week had to be split between school, homework and rehearsals. But now it was finally showtime, then shortly after that the end of the school year, so I was looking forward to six weeks of summer holiday, hopefully filled with lots of Rob.
‘You go!’ I say, waving my hand at him, confident he’d be quite safe with Mandy. Mandy is my friend and even though she likes a handsome face, I know I can trust her. ‘I’ll see you in a bit.’
‘Sure?’ Rob asks, still hesitating.
‘Sure.’ I nod.
Rob smiles then he continues up the ladder behind Mandy.
I turn to Claire. ‘Shall we go back to the drama studio?’
Claire shrugs. ‘I don’t think we have a lot of options dressed like this, do we?’
We begin to walk – or waddle might be a better description – back towards the drama studio.
‘Is everything all right with you and Rob?’ Claire asks as we wander slowly down the school corridor together.
‘Why – do you know something?’ I ask a bit too quickly.
‘No? I just meant how’s things going, that’s all.’ Claire looks puzzled.
‘Ah, I see. Yes, it’s all good . . . I think.’
‘What do you mean “you think”?’
‘I’m just not sure there is a me and Rob. Not yet, anyway. We’ve only had a few dates. That doesn’t exactly make us a couple . . . or does it?’
‘You’re asking the wrong person,’ Claire says calmly. ‘I’ve never even been on a date with a boy.’
‘None of us apart from Mandy had until Monday,’ I tell her. ‘That’s why I’m a bit confused. He seems keen enough and everything, and we get on well when we’re together. But what if I mess it all up?’
‘Why are you going to mess it up?’
‘I don’t know. What if I’m not interesting enough? What if he goes off me and decides he likes someone else better? He seems to enjoy being a part of our group as much as anything. Maybe that’s what he really wants, and I’m just a way in.’
Claire pauses at the door of the drama studio. ‘We’ve all seen the way he looks at you, Frankie. I think he really like you. But maybe he likes being a part of our gang as well.’
I think about this. ‘You might be right. He did say he was quite jealous of our relationship before he got to know us.’
‘There you go then. He likes you and he likes us – nothing wrong in that. I really think you’re over thinking everything.’ Claire stands back a little to let another girl come past us into the drama studio.
‘Thank you, Claire,’ the girl says. She turns and smiles at me as she passes. ‘Hi, Frankie,’ she says in a soft Irish lilt.
I smile politely back. She’s tall and slim, and dressed in long white trousers with wide bottoms, a white short-sleeved blouse and a pale-blue knitted tank top. Holding back her long blonde hair is a matching blue scarf tied elegantly at the bottom of her head, so it hangs down with the rest of her hair. She looks like a 1930s movie star as she wafts elegantly into the room.
‘Who’s that?’ I whisper.
‘That’s Marnie,’ Claire says. ‘She’s Rob’s replacement in Jenny’s orchestra.’
‘Jenny got a replacement? I didn’t know that. Does she go to this school? I don’t remember seeing her before.’
