Three boys and a girl

Chapter 3

The cement wore the tell-tale signs of salt erosion, a battle sadly lost, and the crumbling footpathmade weird rumbling sounds beneath my feet. The sun shone its happy head and everything was lit up with life; from the ice cream van with the four foot long queue to an old couple strolling on the beach, everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Myself included.

There comes a time when you stop being upset about sharing a house with three hot guys and start to appreciate the good things in life.

Such as living with three hot guys.

Lunch was an eye opener, to say the least. Nathan morphed into weirdly affectionate new guy to big teddy bear Nathan; tough on the outside but soft where it really counts. Alex totally shattered the prude-tight-arse thing he had going on to some dirtier version of young Remus Lupin. And Shaun? I hadn’t figured out yet. He was hazy smog in the window.

Presently, as I transport you back to this very moment, I was dawdling in front of them, letting the sun kiss my face and the sounds of the ocean carry me into serenity. “You mean that cheese you made last night? That was crap, man. Shit personified.” Inwardly, I laughed. Nathan and Shaun had been carrying on about the cheese Nathan ‘cooked’ last night since we left the restaurant. It was quiet funny to hear them argue about it. “It was a cheese fit for a king!” I heard a chorus of snorts. Obviously someone’s a liar. My shades gave everything a purple hue, the blue ocean looking darker than then it actually was. “It would never have got to the king because when the food taster guy checked it for cyanide or whatever, he would have DIED.” Their conversation dimmed into the background as I walked further ahead, the sea breeze tickling my legs. I had only been to the beach once before in my life and that was to clean up after a massacre shooting (Shadowens with guns, a fad luckily forgotten). I hadn’t realised the beauty of the beach at the time, not surprising since I was preoccupied with scrubbing blood of a rock and bagging brain tissue. This beach was blood-free, the white sand spotless bar the shadow of footprints peppering the surface. I turned a soft corner and as palm trees and tourist shops gave way to my new street I left my company behind. I could see the tan wood house near the middle, the hazy heat lines distorting the image as if a giant hand had smothered it. The cool breeze, blown in from the ocean, created the illusion of coolness although the underlying humidity still brought people rushing to the sanctuary of the ocean. “Hey.” I looked up, stopping at the same time. A guy, who looked around my age, was standing in front of me. He had hair that was blond and wavy and eyes that looked like they had a battle between blue and green and tied. He had an athlete’s build, emphasised by his tight white shirt and red board shorts that hung off his legs. I levelled out his stare, hoping he could see the hostility that was written all over my face. “Hi.” I replied evenly, smoothing out my voice so it didn’t sound too suspicious. His eye’s sparked. “You’re new, right?” Dude, what’s it to you? I made sure I kept my voice neutral, masking the fact that my stalker instincts were going on red alert. “Yeah.” My hands were at my sides, my stance casual but ready to change to defensive if the situation demanded it. “What’s your name?” Blunt, much? I looked at him, raising an eyebrow sceptically. That didn’t seem to faze him though, if anything his smile grew wider.  “Don’t worry, I already know, I was just being polite. Rosalie. Hi.” I made sure I didn’t show a reaction. News travels fast. At least, I hoped it did.

“Can you please move?” He smiled, big, wide and fake.

“Why? Do you want to get home?” I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes. The tone of his voice was meant to be threatening but the words that came out ruined the affect. “That and you’re being incredibly weird, so if you feel the urge to get out of my frikkin way I won’t be mad. Promise.” I added a smile at the end, sweet as sugar, hoping he would get the message. He didn’t. He moved closer to me, so close I could see the light freckles that dusted his nose. “Really? Because I would really love to see you get mad.” Anger bubbled in my stomach and pressure built up in my nose. His hand, which was grabbing my wrist, felt hot and sweaty. This guy, whoever he was crossed an invisible line. “Looks like you’re going to get your wish.” His smile widened and as his hand that wasn’t on my wrist climbed up to my waist, I prepared to kick him in the stomach. Before I could, however, there was a shadow crossing his face and suddenly I was torn away from him, landing in the warm cradle of some ones arms. The sudden turn of actions made the sun seemed too bright and the crash of the ocean too loud. Confusion spun my brain around and for a second I couldn’t make sense of what was happening. Then the world snapped back to place and I felt the full weight of whoevers arms I had been flung into. I was planning to tell them to get the hell off of me but I was momentarily distracted by the scene going on in front of me. Creepy guy was pinned to someone’s fence the blurry outline of a figure leaning over him. I recognised the stance of the blurred person. It was Shaun. And that means the person holding me was…

“That dude is such a weirdo.” At the sound of Nathan’s voice, I relaxed, the constricting hold morphing into more of a hug. I turned in his arms and lengthened the space between us by extending mine, keeping my hands on his shoulder to grab his attention. His dark eyes were narrowed; watching whatever Shaun was doing with freaky stranger. And that sounded very wrong. “Hello. Nice of you to catch up.” My voice acted like a rope, pulling his head down to look at me. His eye’s softened when he looked at me and a smile spread across his face. “Hi. Nice of you to get caught up in the very creepy arms of Liam.” I frowned.

“You know him?”

“Unfortunately.” He sighed. “Come on. We better go stop Shaun from smashing him.” He stared to walk over to where Shaun and Liam were fighting, or more like where Shaun was totally owning Liam. I followed him and I could hear Alex’s light footsteps following me. In two seconds we were there, under the shady patch of grass where Liam was being shoved up against the fence. Although his actions were violent, I could tell Shaun was just messing around. Or at least I hoped he was otherwise he was a really crappy fighter. “Dude, wrap it up.” Nathan told him. Shaun pushed himself of the white fence and started walking towards us. “Don’t forget what I said.” He said casually to Liam, who was sauntering off in the other direction.  He reached us, a self-satisfied smile plastered onto his face. “What did you say?” I inquired as we started back towards the house. His smile crooked up at one corner and there was a glint in his sky blue eyes. Nathan and Alex were walking behind us, their voices carrying across the busy street. “Oh, nothing.” His voice told me that it was more than nothing that he had told him. “Bull shit, what did you say?” His blond hair was blowing in his eyes and his smile cheekier than ever. “That you had a boyfriend.” I stopped in my tracks.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”  He stopped now too, turning back to face me.

“You do now.” My mind was slow, like I was thinking through fog.

“Who?” This time, the smile that was hovering below his skin broke out, a blood soaked edge to the show of teeth.

“Hello, Sweetie”