A Walk On The Beach

Chapter 18

Boy

I’M TYING MY shoelaces together when I see her. I have a clear view of her sitting on the window ledge. I think she is sleeping. I spend a few minutes looking for a moment, and then I realise I’m staring. I hurry down to the gym to complete my morning routine.

An hour later, I come back.

She’s not there anymore.

“She’s lives in that hotel?” Evelyn asks, chewing on a strawberry lace as we take the underground to explore other parts of Hong Kong.

I nod. “Yep.”

Her eyes shine. “See, I told you you’ll be as excited as me.”

“Evelyn, she’s just a girl. And even if I do get to speak to her or whatever, there’s a slim chance she’ll like me back,” I murmur, just in case the other members (plus Stephanie) might hear our conversation.

My little sister giggles. “You admitted it!”

I frown. “Admitted what?”

“That you like her!”

“C’mon, Miss Genius, time to get off.”

Three days pass with me rushing to the gym every morning. I’ll pass the living room window every day and every day I see her either pacing down the hall or sitting there staring down onto the road.

One day, I see her walking up the stairs. I watch her appear on the floor above. Then she walks back down again. I leave the house as she goes back into her hotel room.

Another day, I see her brother talking to her on the landing. He is a head taller than her. She smiles but then he dismisses himself and jogs down the stairs...until he’s out of the hotel. I watch him catch a taxi from my living room.

Something is odd about that family.

It’s funny how much you can learn just by watching.

“Talking to her will help her. I bet she’s lonely,” Evelyn says as she sips her glass of coke.

“Why would you say that?” I ask.

Evelyn looks at me like I’m stupid; and I suddenly feel rather dumb. My sister has that effect on people. “All she does all day is pace in and out of her hotel room, staring out that window. I really think there’s something on her mind. She looks like she’s trapped.”

We both glance simultaneously in the direction of the hotel window. She’s reading today.

We look away.

“What do you think we should do?” I ask.

“You have to talk to her.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, but how do I do that without looking like a stalker?”

She shrugs and finishes her coke. She licks her lips. “You’re smart, Jordan. Surely you can think of something.” She looks at the window again. “She’s gone.”

I look too. She is gone.

“We know little of her, Jordan. She can actually be gone by tomorrow,” my little sister says. “If you wanna act, act fast.”

“You have been watching far too many movies.”

“That’s beside the point, Jordan! This is real life.” She looks at me sternly with her blue eyes. She’s serious.

“Right.”