Getaway

Chapter 20

I left my room the next morning fully intending on talking to Fletcher and sorting this whole thing out. A full night of sleep combined with a long period of thinking in the shower had convinced me that I did not want to part from Fletcher on a bitter note. I’d rather view this summer as a once in a lifetime experience than have it marred by a stupid fight from lack of communication.

That wasn’t to say that I was sure that everything would return to normal between the two of us, my flight was leaving almost first thing tomorrow and I could not see any way to repair whatever we had in that short space of time.

Dad noticed my change in mood and sent me a small smile when I met him in the corridor before the three of us headed down to breakfast.

Unlike previous days - where breakfast had been rushed in a bid to get down to the pool as soon as possible – breakfast was a tranquil affair, perhaps because we realised it was the last real day and we wanted to drag it on and make it as good as it could possibly be.

And so I did not reach the swimming pool and the sun-loungers until slightly later than usual. And they looked so tantalisingly comfy – and for some reason I was still tired – but I reminded myself that I might as well get the awkward conversation with Fletcher over and done with, I had a feeling that I was going to be even more in need of a lie down after that.

I stood still for a few moments, deliberating over where to check first. I didn’t know where Fletcher might be, hell he might have been on a trip for all I knew but I decided to do a quick lap of the pool to see if I could spot him.

My search for him was fruitless but just as I was about to let out a scream of annoyance I spotted his parents sat talking on their sun loungers.

“Hi Mr and Mrs Sullivan,” I greeted.

“Oh hello Eleanor, can we help you?” Mr Sullivan asked.

“Uhm, I was kind of wondering if you know where Fletcher is?” I told them nervously.

“Fletcher?” Mrs Sullivan repeated confused, “he said he was going down to the beach to meet you.”

Oh. It seemed that Fletcher wasn’t exactly telling everyone the truth either.

“Oh...yeah, of course,” I said, “silly me, we agreed to meet there and I forgot.”

“Well have fun!”

“I will do, thanks.”

“It’s no problem, just make sure that Fletcher is actually back in time for tea today, he was late back because of you,” Mr Sullivan said jokingly.

I nodded and laughed but left very confused. Fletcher had not been spending time with me yesterday so who on earth had made him late for his tea? I presumed that he had been spending time with Leah or Paul, I suppose I could always ask him – or Leah if the conversation between us didn’t go well – if it really started to bother me that much.

Heading down to the beach I was still unsure whether Fletcher would actually be there, sure, he had told his parents he would be but he had also told them that he was meeting up with me so I couldn’t really take anything he had said as law.

The beach was busy when I arrived, or it might just have seemed that way because I was alone and people seemed to be accidentally walking into me or cutting off my path all the time, that and I really had absolutely no idea where I was going. Fletcher could be anywhere. Was he sunbathing or in the sea? Was he alone or with Leah and Paul?

I really had no idea what to keep my eyes peeled for.

The beach had a surprising amount of rocks on it – rocks that I hadn’t noticed during the beach party a few nights back - and so I stumbled along the sand, my gaze flickering everywhere looking for Fletcher. I seemed to have spent a worrying amount of time this holiday looking for the boy.