Switching Sides | A Jamie Johnson FanFiction

• Part 11

At half five, I turned off the TV. Getting up, I put weight on my left leg first and immediately sat back down as a sharp pain shot through my knee. I pulled up the leg of my jeans to reveal a huge bruise from where I'd tripped earlier. Swearing under my breath, I limped over to my bag and shoved my phone and some other necessities inside before yelling a quick goodbye to Indira and slamming the front door behind me.

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I was so delusional.

That was all I thought as I got closer and closer to the beach. My knee was still killing me but I still carried on. But my mind was swimming with what I was going to tell Ruby tomorrow. Or when we got back to school. Or whenever I saw her again. If I ever saw her again. No doubt she'd be avoiding me from now on.

I stopped in my tracks. Was I really doing this? Ditching my friend for a boy?

"Oh so you came?" A voice said from behind me, and I jumped at how close they sounded. Alex had obviously been behind me for a while.

"Uh huh." was all I could think to reply. We had reached the car park adjacent to the beach, and the sound of music reached my ears mixed with the sound of crashing waves.

"Just thought I should warn you, Jethro's parties can get a little bit...crazy."

"And I'm sure you have nothing to do with that."

"Did I ever deny it?" He smirked. I couldn't help liking Alex. He was just so...casual.

We made our way down the sand dune and onto the dry sand which was still warm from the hot sun from earlier in the day. The sea was creeping up the beach and there was only about 10 meters of dry land left.

From Alex's description of the party earlier, I was expecting something a bit more...exciting. Instead, it was just Jethro's friends and a few others, maybe ten or fifteen in total, sat around, drinks in hand as one of them managed to get a fire going. There were a few girls, but it was mostly boys.

"C'mon then." Alex smirked, and I realised I had stopped short of the 'party', gazing out onto them as I was lost in thought. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to find Jethro." he grabbed a drink and wandered towards the edge of the beach. Beyond the rock pools and the undercuts of the cliff, it looked peaceful and tranquil, but I knew from my previous experiences of running through the rocks with Indira when I was younger that there was a very abrupt drop on the other side. And it you got caught that side of the rocks whilst the tide was coming in you were stuck on the pebble beach until it went back out again.

I took a seat around the fire, alone, and suddenly regretted my decision to not invite Ruby or Callum. A party wasn't much of a party when you didn't know anyone.

The light kept dimming as the evening crept in, and I found myself having more and more fun as it went on. At one point there was a game of truth and dare, which was hilarious to watch (but not so much to join in), and I began chatting to a girl, Alice who seemed nice, and it took me a while to realise she was Alex's sister. When I found out I couldn't un-see the family resemblance: they had the same tanned complexion, deep hazel eyes and chestnut hair that framed Alice's face and emphasised Alex's features.

Later on into the evening, I realised Jethro and Alex still hadn't turned up, and being as curious as I am (or maybe it was just because it was Jethro), me and Alice ventured off in their direction. It was slightly strange that Jethro seemed to be avoiding his own party, and it suddenly came into my mind that something might have happened. But I pushed it away. He wasn't stupid enough to get stuck on the pebble beach, surely.

The tide was coming up fast, however, as me and Alice scrambled up the rocks which were damp from the where low tide had drowned them in water.

"Wait." she put her hand out to stop me. "I can hear them. Listen."

I listened and tried to block out the sound of the waves in the background; just about making out the sound of voices, we tiptoed precariously along the jagged edges of the rocks until I glimpsed the two boys a few metres away: Jethro had his arms crossed, whilst Alex looked like he was smirking, a wry grin plastered upon his face.

"Hey guys." Alice said, raising an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"Go away, Alice." Alex quickly snapped, making her recoil a little in surprise. It was obvious this sort of tone wasn't natural.

"No, why don't you go to your party?" she retorted.

"We're busy! Just go hang out with your own friends for once."

"None of them are here, because you told me they were losers."

"They are, one of them goes to freaking chess club!" He responded, then his eyes caught on Jethro and he trailed off. "I'm coming anyway now." he said, eyeing Jethro before turning and walking in the opposite direction with Alice.

I glanced at Jethro who shrugged, before I swivelled around to follow the other two, but a sharp voice stopped me.

"Wait." he said, his tone cold. "Give a message to Alex for me."

"What is it?" I said, walking over, careful not to embarrass myself by falling on the slippery stone.

"Tell him..." he started, but he was cut off as he grabbed my arm, causing him to lose balance. He teetered precariously on the edge before the two of us went hurtling into the sea below.