‘Of course Antoine is here.Le flic de la plage.’ Sébastian, unfazed by my question, nudged me and I stumbled. ‘Margot, I am sorry! We will walk like this instead.’ Sébastian threw one arm round my shoulders and pulled me close to him.
I laughed. ‘What’sle flic?’ I asked.
‘The cops. Police! Antoine thinks he is beach police,’ he explained.
‘Is that why he’s so strict about not going into the water during first lessons?’
‘Yes. But Antoine is boring. I am much moreintéressant,’ Sébastian said.
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Yes!’
We were so close to the bonfire that I could feel the heat of it on my face. The guy with the guitar was singing as well as playing. Something in French. Sébastian took my hand and made me spin in the sand.
‘Dance with me, Margot!’ he said, and I hated dancing but couldn’t help but laugh as he gave me a big goofy smile.
‘Arrêtez de traumatiser la nouvelle!’ Lili appeared beside meand grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Sébastian. ‘Are you OK, Margot? He is like a little puppy. Too much excitement.Le surexcité.’ Lili smiled at Sébastian, who laughed back.
‘C’est pas ma faute. Je suis irrésistible!’ he called.
‘He is not irresistible,’ Lili whispered in my ear. ‘And it is always his fault!’ she shouted back at him.
Lili took my hand and led me towards a little group of teenagers. One that contained Delphine.
‘Laissez-moi vous présenter Margot!’ Lili said. I hadn’t noticed earlier because it had been wet, but her hair was even curlier than mine and sat in dark ringlets on her shoulders. She was wearing denim shorts and a T-shirt with the surf school logo.
A few of the group gave me a nod and Delphine whispered something to the boy she was standing beside. He laughed.
‘Bon!’ Lili said. She reached down to a cool box at her feet and handed me a can of beer. I opened it, thankful for something to concentrate on.
‘Tu es canon dans cette robe.’ Lili flicked the lacey part at the bottom of my dress.
‘Canon?’ I asked.
‘Hot,’ said a voice behind me. A familiar voice that sent a shiver up my spine. ‘She said that you look hot in that dress,Princesse.’
I turned to see Antoine looking at me, words stuck in my throat and butterflies from nowhere filling my stomach. White shirt wide open, board shorts, dark hair sticking up like it had just dried after being in the sea.
Lili leaned up and whispered something in Antoine’s ear, but he didn’t take his eyes off me as she did.
‘C’est pas mon problème,’ Antoine said as Lili walked back towards Delphine, whose group had moved to the other side of the bonfire.
‘Alors, Princesse.Welcome to your first beach fire party. I hope you have a good time.’
And he did something to me. Scrambled the thoughts in my head, and I couldn’t get any words out.
And with that Antoine walked away towards the beach hut, leaving me standing there, alone, with my beer.
14
I took my drink and looked for Sébastian. It wasn’t hard to find him because he was so tall. He was standing with a group of kids I hadn’t met, so I walked round the outside and poked him gently on the arm.
‘Ah, Margot! You are OK?’ His face lit up when he saw me.
I nodded and gave him a smile.
‘Margot apprend le surf avec Antoine.’ Sébastian put his hands on my shoulders, and I sipped my beer as the group stared at me. Four pairs of French-boy eyes.
