Angel Kiss - Laura Jane Cassidy [4]
‘So how are you finding Avarna so far?’
‘Yeah it’s … it’s cool.’ Avarna was a lot of things, but cool certainly was not one of them. Why did I have to say cool? Any other word would have done. Any one at all.
‘That’s good,’ said Nick. He smiled at me. I could feel my cheeks warming. The thought that they were undoubtedly bright red made me cringe.
‘OK, I better be off,’ I said. I wanted to get out of there before I said something else embarrassing.
‘See you around,’ he said.
And then it came. Whatever possessed me to wave at someone whose handsome face was a mere metre away from me I will never know. But I did. I gave him a big giant wave. He looked at me a little strangely as I turned away, embarrassed, and rushed out of the shop, my cheeks burning so brightly I could almost feel my new social life going up in flames.
Chapter 2
The next morning I got up early. I put on my purple skinny jeans and Led Zeppelin T-shirt, ran my fingers through my hair and swept some black mascara on to my eyelashes. I slipped a couple of bracelets on my wrist and checked my reflection in the mirror before heading outside. Work on the site had stopped as the builders were having their morning tea break. Mum was standing beside the empty cement mixer talking to Des, our electrician. She was nearly forty but could easily have passed for younger in her cream top and denims, and with straight blonde hair like mine that rested just above her shoulders. I had a feeling from the way he’d been hanging around lately that Des fancied my mum, but there was no way that was going to happen. She hadn’t so much as looked at another man since my dad died. The sooner Des realized that and stopped trying to flirt with her the better. As I walked towards them, avoiding the muddy areas and the builders’ mess, I caught some of their conversation.
‘Did you get your hair done, Rachel?’ said Des.
‘Just a trim,’ said Mum. ‘Can’t believe you noticed.’
How creepy, I thought. Poor Mum, she was way too polite for her own good.
‘It’s very nice … very … shiny,’ said Des with an elaborate hand movement that I presumed was supposed to convey shine. Then he went slightly red and started to mumble something under his breath. Unable to watch his cringeworthy antics any longer, I turned and headed for the road, saying I was just going to get something from the shop. We were running low on bread, but I was really just hoping to see Nick again.
As I wandered towards the village, I thought about how it can take seconds to create an obsession, and years to get over it. Within minutes of meeting Nick I’d allowed myself to slip into that familiarly dangerous territory. That place where you think about a person constantly, where you rehearse future conversations in your head, where you plan your day around the blissful possibility of bumping into them. I’d only been in love once before. It had ended when I’d discovered my now ex-boyfriend, Cian, wrapped round my former best friend.
I still wasn’t used to walking on the country roads but I loved picking the tall grass and the wildflowers along the way. Mum had told me to walk facing the oncoming traffic so I could be seen, but sometimes it felt like I was staring straight into certain death. I nearly stepped right into the ditch whenever I heard a car coming.
I plucked the petals off a yellow flower as I walked along, thinking about how you put everything into your first love, because you really believe it’s going to last forever. That is its triumph and its tragedy, the reason you will never forget it, and the reason it is so difficult to let go. I’d spent my first couple of weeks in Avarna missing Cian in spite of everything that had happened. But then along came Nick. He was handsome and charming and loved music. Basically, he was perfect.
When I arrived at the shop I caught a glimpse of Nick through the window and felt a flutter of excitement. He was wearing a white T-shirt and was talking to a customer. The door made a little ding as I