Someday The Waves ✔ *Wattys15 Winner*

Chapter Seven

Thursday, early June

The weekend passed by in a non-surprising, uneventful blur, with the memories of Friday night figments of my static imagination.

Late Saturday evening, when the appeal of sleep had worn thin, I thought about calling Noah, if only to hear a familiar and encouraging voice to lift me from the covers of my room, but I knew that it was too soon and a little too desperate.

When Poppy informed me late Wednesday evening that my phone had been ringing, whilst I took a shower, I knew that my decision to wait had been the right.

Racing out the bathroom, swaddled in towels and dripping water across the tiled kitchen floor, I checked for the missed call on my phone that I'd left unguarded on the counter and felt my chest rise when I saw I had been left a voicemail.

Noah's voice was exactly as I had remembered it; my memory had retained it perfectly.

"Hey Scarlett, I hope you're well and you enjoyed the scorching hot weekend - didn't get too burnt I hope! I wanted to call to see if you're still up for hitting the beach tomorrow - around midday. We usually take a spot just past the diner and move down to the coves later in the day. Let me know if you'll meet us there." Noah said through the tiny speakerphone, his voice timid.

There was a slight pause before he ended the message to say he really hoped I could make it and to ask if I liked turkey and mustard sandwiches, which luckily, I did.

Carrying in her empty glass of wine, Poppy skimmed past me, and gave me an inquisitive look.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked, sneaking one last sip from her glass, before dumping it in the sink. "That thing rang like three times whilst you were in the shower, was it Mom?"

Holding it close to my chest, I perched on the stool and spun round to address her. "No, just a friend."

"Well that's one persistent friend you have there, whoever he is." Poppy smirked.

"Please tell me you didn't look at the caller ID." I groaned, hating how nothing was private, not least when it came to Poppy - she sure loved a good snoop.

With a wry smile, she brushed back past me and into the living room.

"Jeez, is nothing sacred here, do you have to know everything?" I protested, although I knew it was futile trying to make Poppy understand how invasive she could be.

Sitting down and propping her feet up on the coffee table, she titled her head round and laughed. "Are you and bicycle boy a thing now?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." I declared, hoping I sounded cool and calm, so that she didn't know it had actually made me flustered.

Hoisting up the towel covering my body, and adjusting the one that held my hair up in place like a turban, I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath, my true feelings towards her.

Back in my room, I sunk down onto the bed and sent Noah a message back to accept his much anticipated invitation, the one I'd been waiting and hoping to receive.

Staring up at the ceiling, tracing the white plastered swirls with my eyes I pulled the towels tighter and kicked out my feet. Happy at the thought of having actual plans, to do something new, like normal people did.

It was exciting and good to feel as if I could get back to normal again and that it was still within reach and possible.

That's what I'd spent so long searching for and I wasn't about to let go of that feeling anytime soon.