The Boy With the Cigarettes in his Pocket

2: He Throws Stones at my Bedroom Window

"I better go," I announce.

"That's cool, see you soon," he replies.

And nothing more is said. 

~*~

The one time it's impossible for me to escape my family is at night. We are all cramped into a small caravan, my sister and I both stuffed into an even smaller bedroom. I'm last to bed, as usual. Spending my time eating food from the fridge. When I get tired of that, I go to bed.

Charlotte is fast asleep when I walk in. As predicted. Nothing ever changes in my family, certainly not on holiday. I slip off my shorts and shoes and get into bed. My top is dirty and needs washed anyway, so I just decide to sleep in it. I pick up my book, with the intention to read for an hour or two. I have six others to read on this holiday, so I don't need to pace myself.

Halfway through a chapter I hear a tap. It sounds like something hitting against glass. I ignore it. I'm used to hearing things that aren't actually there.

Tap, tap.

This could not be my imagination, it's too loud.

Tap, tap.

I get out of bed and try to locate the sound, but the further from my bed I go the quieter it gets. I return to my bed, and it's as loud as ever. I glance up at the small, rectangular window on the wall beside me. It couldn't be.

Could it?

I stand on my bed and yank open the stale curtains that conceal the outside world. Standing, right outside my window, is Jamie.

I pull the window open. "What are you doing here?" I hiss at him.

"I told you I'd see you soon," he replies, suppressing a roll of his eyes.

"Not like this!" 

"Just come on,"

"Come where?"

This time he really does roll his eyes. "Come out, obviously."

I stare at him. Is he serious? "I can't leave, my parents have the keys to the door."

Jamie folds his arms impatiently. "Climb out the window, you idiot."

He's mad. He has to be mad. There's absolutely no way!

So why am I considering it?

I pick my shorts and shoes up from the ground and tug them on. Then - as quietly as I can muster - I begin to hoist myself out of the window. I didn't think much about how I was going to get down, so I found myself in some trouble when I was hanging out of the window. The caravan is reasonably high off the ground, considering it's built on a patio.  As I prepare myself for the jump I feel a pair of hands grip around my waist. 

"Let go," Jamie calls up to me.

I release my grip on the hard window ledge and feel myself drop into his arms. They're warm, but not as muscular as I thought they'd be. Before I know it, he lets me go, and my thought is shattered.

Jamie reaches up and slides the window across, so it's only open a tiny bit. Then he turns around and smiles at me. 

"Let's bounce," he says.

If anyone else had told me to 'bounce' I would have walked away. But this was Jamie. His husky voice made something that's so queer sound so... Sexy. I begin to wonder where we could be going, or where he could be taking me. I don't question him, Jamie doesn't seem to like being questioned.

It doesn't take us long to reach a caravan. I guess it's his, considering we headed in the direction he said his caravan was earlier. It looks very dead, maybe everyone's asleep. I begin to wonder if we'll be going in the back window. Then he unlocks the door, proving my suspicions wrong.