Typical || l.h

7.

I hadn't been in heat like this for ages. The sun was at its highest point of the day which meant the hottest time of day too. There was no shade the way me and Luke had picked to go and the shops were coming to an end. We'd been in all the gift shops we'd passed and hadn't brought a single thing.

We'd stopped at the end of the road by a small gift shop which looked different to all the others. The outside was covered with purple flowers climbing up the walls and hanging baskets of white flowers by the door.

"Hey Luke, can we go in this shop it looks cute?"

"How can a shop look cute?" Luke was clearly being affected by the heat and seemed to take everything that I'd said seriously.

"Don't worry, shall we go back after we've been in here? I'm getting really hot and bothered now"

"Finally you see some sense Tina, it's fuking boiling"

I sighed and dragged Luke into the shop. I made my way over to the back of the shop where the rack of bracelets were and picked up one. It was a blue fabric one that couldn't come off once you put it on. It reminded me of Luke's eyes.

"Hey Luke, get your ass over here" He rolled his eyes at my command and I don't think he realised I could see as his glasses were resting on his head.

"Yes Tina"

I picked up another blue bracelet off the rack and handed it to him.

"I think we should get matching bracelets, you know, as a symbol of our friendship"

Luke smiled at me and nodded his head in agreement "Yeah, I'd like that".

I reached into my bra and got out €10 which Luke still found rather funny. He handed back the bracelet as I walked over to the fridge. I picked up a bottle of water and a sharing bag of crisps.

The old lady behind the counter smiled at me as she typed the prices into the till, most likely trying to rip me off.

€3.50

I handed her the €10 as she placed the items into a bag. She counted out the change and gave it back to me but I placed it into her donation box by the till. I smiled at her and left the shop looking for Luke outside. He wasn't anywhere near the shop, and I started to panic when I couldn't see him.

Luke appeared from a small gap behind the shop, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down the small alley next to the shop where he'd just come from.

"Luke, where are we going?"

"I want to show you something I've just found when you were dilly dallying in that shop"

The short alley had come to an end and we were now on some sort of shingle beach. There were no other people on this small beach, just big boulders of rocks. Luke's grip tightened round my hand as we walked closer to the sea.

"Careful Tina, the rocks are really loose here"

We clambered over the rocks and sat down at the waters edge. I got out the water from the plastic bag and placed it between us. I also got out the crisps and placed them between us leaving the 2 matching bracelets at the bottom of the bag. Luke picked up the water and took a big gulp.

"Its beautiful right? The sound of the sea and the sight of the sea. I bet nobody knows about this rocky hideaway apart from us"

"It's pretty amazing but I'm sure the shop owners know they basically live on a shingle beach Luke"

Still looking into the distance a laugh escaped his lips.

"Oh yeah"

There was a silence between us and all that could be heard was the crashing of the waves near our feet. I grabbed the plastic bag and got out the 2 bracelets.