ME: You always hated Marvel!
PRIYA: Still do. But I love that boy
ME: Cuteness overload. Talk later xxx
I locked my screen and held my phone to my chest for a second, smiling at the exchange with Priya. It felt so good to have her back. Sort of back, anyway. I stood up to look in the mirror.
I leaned towards it and studied my face. I looked different here. Even though it had just been a couple of days, I didn’t feel like I needed foundation. The light tan made my blue eyes stand out even more, my hair looked lighter, and the salt air had made my curls look more defined than they ever had.
So I just put on some mascara, some highlighter and myfavourite perfume before pulling on a white summer dress that sat high on my thighs and had little spaghetti straps. I had no idea where we were going, so I grabbed a cardigan to take with me and put on my leather sandals, giving my sliders a break.
‘Are you going somewhere now?’ Dad asked when I emerged from my bedroom. ‘We were going to play some boules tonight, and we could use your expertise.’ Dad raised his eyebrows.
I laughed. I used to love boules, and on holiday when I was Rue’s age we’d play every day with the multicolour boules set that Mum and Dad bought from the supermarket. ‘Sorry, I can’t. I’m going out with a friend,’ I said simply, looking at Mum, who smiled knowingly.
‘What friend?’ Dad looked at Mum, confused.
‘I’ll fill you in,’ she said, patting his hand.
‘Her friend is a boy,’ Rue said, and she burst out laughing.
‘The plot thickens,’ Dad said. ‘In all seriousness, though, be careful, and keep your phone on.’
‘I will.’ I nodded before disappearing out the door and on to the deck.
When I went outside, Wren was sitting at the table with a bottle of Orangina and her iPad. She looked at me in shock from under a pink baseball cap.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked her.
‘You look beautiful,’ she said. Then her cheeks turned pink.
‘Aw, Wren, thank you.’ I smiled, the warmth of her words a plaster over the pinprick scratches.
‘Why is your dress so short? It looks like it would fit Wren,’Rue said from behind me, laughing. She was standing in the doorway, holding on to the door frame and swinging forward before pulling herself back.
‘It’s notthatshort.’ I tried to pull it down a bit. I looked at the time on my phone.
‘I need to go,’ I said, sliding my phone into my cardigan pocket. My stomach flipped. I grabbed a piece of pizza from the table to eat while I walked.
The Brasserie was busy when I got there. Families getting ready to eat dinner. I’d finished my slice of pizza, but I was still hungry, and hoped Felix had factored food into our date.
He saw me before I saw him.
‘Margot,’ he called from behind the bar. Delphine was there too, with her usual look of contempt for me. I walked over and Felix finished pouring a drink.
‘Et voilà!’ he said. ‘I am finished. We shall go?’ His smile was wide and open, and he seemed genuinely excited. ‘Just let me get changed,’ he said, and disappeared round the corner of the bar as I stood there with an awkward silence hanging in the air between me and Delphine.
Felix emerged wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
‘Have you ever been on a Vespa before?’ Felix asked as he came over. I shook my head as a rush of excitement rolled through my body.
‘Nope.’
We walked to the car park at the entrance to the campsite and he led me to a silver Vespa in the corner. He handed me a helmet, and I pulled it down over my head.
‘You are OK?’ he asked, looking through the visor at me.
‘I’m OK,’ I replied. Then he put on his own helmet. He stepped on to the Vespa then turned and offered me his hand. I took it. And as I did, any nerves about getting on the back of a Vespa dissolved into the hot air.
