The next day, I woke up feeling refreshed and happy. It didn't take me long to realise why as my mobile phone buzzed with a text message.
'Morning baby, I hope you slept well. See you later. I love you x'
He never actually called me baby out loud, and every time I read that one word, I felt all warm and fuzzy. He always finished by telling me he loved me. That was still going to take some getting used to. Only my family ever told me they loved me. I still felt awkward saying it. I expected him to laugh in my face and tell me it was all some big joke. Just the mere thought of that made me feel like my heart was being squeezed hard.
Before the feeling got the better of me, I quickly hit reply and typed out a message.
'Morning. Have fun at practice. I love you too. See you later x'
I still felt awkward giving him a pet name, and thought if I put I loved him, somewhere in the middle, then that would be okay.
This morning Sean was off to football practice and was going to come over afterwards.
Slowly, I climbed out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. After I'd finished washing my face, I stopped to look at my reflection. It hadn't even been a week and you could see a significant difference in my birthmark. It looked smoother, somehow smaller.
Sean had told me that when I controlled the fire in me, then my birthmark would fade. Only one thing confused me. If Sean's great grandmother had had the same powers, then why did she still have the birthmark in the picture I'd seen? It was something I would need to ask him.
I felt happiness at the thought of my birthmark disappearing, but if it was a case where it would come back, I wasn't sure if I could handle that.
Walking back to my bedroom, I ran into Kasey-Ray on the landing as she headed towards her room.
"You been for a run?"
My sister was sporty, but she rarely went running. It was mainly on the treadmill at the gym, in our home town. I don't think she'd actually been to Sean's family gym yet.
"Yeah." She breathed heavily. "There's something about this place that feels so exhilarating." I laughed at the use of her big word. "You should try it." She told me seriously.
"I don't think so." I scoffed. I was allergic to any type of exercise.
"I'm sure you would if Sean asked you." She winked as she followed me into my room.
"Definitely not." I shook my head. The idea of getting all hot, sweaty and out of breath was not my idea of exhilaration.
"You two are such opposites." This hurt! I knew this already and often doubted why he was interested in me. "That's not a bad thing." She quickly added. "They say opposites attract." She walked over to sit on my window seat, whilst watching my reaction. I said nothing as I went to look for something to wear.
She continued to sit there, turning to look out of the window.
"I will say one thing though." I raised an eyebrow waiting for another kick in the stomach. I just had to tell myself not to get angry. I wasn't ready to tell her about these powers, or whatever they were, especially when I didn't understand them myself.
"He looks at you like you are..." She paused as she tried to find the right words, "like you are the most important and most beautiful person alive. He looks at you with complete adoration." She sighed and at first I took it as though she was disgusted or she couldn't understand why. "I'm jealous." She finally said, stopping my anger dead in its tracks.
"Why?" I turned to her in confusion. I was always jealous of my sister; she could have any boy she wanted. Everyone wanted to be her friend.
"You're so happy and have someone who loves you for you." She sighed and turned back to look out of the window. "I've never had that. I wish I could find someone who looked at me like Jacko... I mean Sean, looks at you."
"What are you talking about?" I'd seen the way all the boys looked at her, like they wished she was theirs. "Most lads would give their right arms to be with you."
"It's not the same."
"What about Matt?" I'd seen the way he looked at her and to me it seemed like there was only one person for him.
"Ah, Matt." She grimaced at the mere mention of his name. "I was more of a trophy." She rolled her eyes. "When people were around he was very attentive. Opening doors, arms around me, kissing me, but as soon as we were alone it was like a whole different person. He went quiet, gave me one word answers and the only time he got excited was when the subject was about him." She laughed, but not a full hearty laugh that normally reached her eyes.
She shrugged and stood up. I didn't really know what to say. I'd always seen Kasey-Ray as my happy little sister, who could have anything she wanted.
"You look really happy and I am happy that you are. I am also happy that someone else has seen how beautiful you are, rather than judging you on your birthmark." She smiled as she started towards my bedroom door, leaving me standing there, open-mouthed. "You know I've always wished I was like you."
"Me?" This comment floored me.
"You've always been happy with who you are on the inside." She nodded.
"But you're beautiful and everyone wants to be like you." I scoffed.
"All superficial." She waved as though brushing my comment away. "You know who you can and can't trust." She pointed out. This was true, in a way. I could trust my family, as I'd never gotten close enough to trust anyone else, and I was now slowly trusting Sean, even though most of the time I felt like I kept a ten foot wall up around me.
"What about Claire?" She seemed to have a good friendship with her, even though I didn't like her.
"Hmmm..." She leant on my door frame. "Before we moved here, Claire wasn't popular. Don't get me wrong, she hasn't done anything wrong, but sometimes I feel that if I wasn't popular then she wouldn't give me the time of day."
To be honest, I actually agreed with Kasey-Ray, but it wasn't something I would have voiced.
"Anyway." She sighed, "I'm off to get a shower." She waved, leaving me reeling from our conversation.
After a couple of minutes I shook my head then continued to get dressed. I pulled on a knee length beige skirt with a white vest and slipped on a pair of corked sandals.
Standing in front of the mirror, I played about with my hair, trying to decide how to wear it. I still wasn't brave enough to have it all tied back, but I decided to compromise and put the top part of my hair back off my face into a clasp at the back of my head.
Smiling at my reflection, I turned to head downstairs to find something for breakfast.
The house seemed empty, apart from the sound of music blasting from Kasey-Ray's bedroom. I walked into the kitchen and decided to settle for a bowl of cereal. Half way through eating, my Mum appeared from outside.
"Hi." I Mumbled with a mouthful of cereal.
"Hey." My Mum cheerily sang as she put the empty washing basket in the cupboard. "Where you off to today?" She asked as she busied in the already pristine kitchen.
"No idea." I shrugged.
"You are seeing Sean today aren't you?" She looked up from the worktop she was wiping for the third time.
My Mum was a bit of a clean freak. My Dad always joked that she had OCD. The house was always immaculate and if someone so much as moved a grain of salt, she would know, even if we thought it was back in the exact same place.
It was understandable that she cleaned people's homes for a living. She often told us that why would she work in an office when she could do a job she really enjoyed.
"Uh-huh. He's playing football this morning." I finished my cereal and walked over and put my empty bowl in the sink.
"Well, whilst you are waiting, can you go make sure your bedroom is tidy please." I nodded and did as I was told, even though I knew that she would be in my room later cleaning it herself.
Luckily I only had my bed to make, which took less than a minute to sort.
When I'd finished I did another check in the mirror, just in case one thing was out of place, and then I headed downstairs, bumping into Kasey-Ray on the way.
"What are you up to today?" I asked her as we walked side by side down the stairs.
"I haven't decided yet, I may give Claire a call." She shrugged. "You?"
"Not sure yet. Sean said he was coming for me after football. I don't know if he's going home first or not."
I didn't even think to ask him what we were doing. I was just happy that he wanted to spend time with me.
We were about to sit down on the sofa when we noticed our Mum had pulled the hoover out.
"Why don't you girls go outside and enjoy the sunshine." She told us with a smile, which translated as, 'Get out of my way, I'm cleaning.' I almost laughed at this translation as I followed my sister out the back.
We lay down on the grass, not bothering with blankets.
"What do you want in a boyfriend?" I asked my sister thoughtfully, as I started picking daisies to make a daisy chain.
"Mmmm..." She propped her head up on one arm to look at me. "Obviously he has to be good looking." She laughed. "Errrr, he needs to want to be with me for me, not how I look." I laughed this time, as it was similar to what I looked for but we were on different levels. Whereas she wanted people to see past her good looks, I wanted people to see past my birthmark.
"He has to make me laugh, and be the same with me no matter if we are alone or there's a million people around us." She sighed. "It feels like I'm asking for a miracle at times."
"I don't think you are." I said, as I leaned forward to put the daisy chain around her neck. "I never thought it would happen to me, and I still feel like I'm dreaming."
Just then I squealed in pain as Kasey-Ray punched me.
"What was that for?"
"If you were dreaming then you'd have woken up by now." She smiled with a laugh. "It's all real. Sean is real. The way he wants to be with you is real."
"But I'm scared!" I almost cried, making my sister quickly sit up and look at me, as she reached over to touch my arm.
"Why? What are you scared of?"
"It seems too good to be true. Why would he want me? He could have anyone he wanted. I keep expecting him to say he's with me for a bet." Tears were now starting to fall from my eyes, as Kasey-Ray pulled me into her arms.
"You're beautiful."
"And you're biased. I'm a hideous freak!"
"Hey!" Kasey-Ray held me firmly at arm's length. "Don't you dare say that. Yes, you have a birthmark on your face, but so what? You are beautiful both inside and out." She lightly shook me as I tried to control my tears. "Look, if I thought for one second that Sean was doing this for a stupid bet, then I wouldn't let him anywhere near you." She spat. "You may be my big sister, but I feel it's my job to look out for you and if anyone was to hurt you, then I'd kill them." She sighed as she pulled me back into her arms. "You know what's funny?" She quickly moved back to look at my face.
"What?" I sniffed.
"I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks, but..." Her voice trailed off as she tilted her head to one side.
"But?"
"But, it looks like it's changing." She pointed to my birthmark. "I can't decide if it's shrinking or fading or if I need glasses." She laughed. I laughed too, I didn't want to tell her it was both and why. "Have you not noticed?"
"I can't say that I have." I lied. I hated lying, especially to my sister, who I thought of as my best friend.
"Must be my eyes then." She laughed, but she didn't look convinced.
"Hey." The sound of someone else's voice broke her stare.
"Oh hi Jac.... Sean." She quickly looked back to me with an apologetic smile.
"Hi." I beamed as I stood up and went to walk towards him.
"Your Mum let me in." He pointed back into the house, and then turned to pull me into his arms.
He was sweaty and still wearing his football kit, which I had to say was making my heart go crazy. He looked so, well so sexy.
He was about to kiss me when he paused to look at me quizzically.
"Are you okay?" He asked concerned. I quickly nodded "You look like you've been crying." He stroked my face, like he was searching for traces of tears.
"Hay-fever." Kasey-Ray piped, to my relief.
"Oh, okay." His face relaxed as he finally leaned down to kiss me. "I missed you." He smiled as we came up for air. Then he quickly stepped away, making me wonder if I'd done something wrong. "Sorry." He quickly looked down at my clothes. I followed his gaze and realised my clothes were wet. "I forgot how sweaty I am."
"No, it's okay." I felt embarrassed on his behalf. I hadn't even noticed I was wet. "I'll quickly go get changed." I reached up and kissed him again. If I was already wet I may as well do it in style.
It was Kasey-Ray's coughing that made me realise we weren't alone.
"Sorry." It was my turn to apologise, as my face turned a deep shade of red. "Be back in a mo." I ran off, leaving Sean with my sister, jumping over the hoover wire as I went.
Before I'd gotten to my room, I'd managed to take off my clothes. I had no idea what I was going to wear as I threw my clothes into the washing basket and went to rummage through my drawers.
After five minutes I still hadn't found anything to wear, so I decided to go into Kasey-Ray's room. She was more fashion conscious than me, and had a lot more clothes, and of course it didn't take me long to find a purple, strappy, ankle length dress.
I quickly put it on and checked myself in Kasey-Ray's mirror. Before I left, I could hear voices coming from the back garden, so I decided to eavesdrop through my sisters opened bedroom window.
"I'm just warning you." I heard Kasey-Ray's stern voice. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." I could hear the faint laugh from Sean in response. "It's not funny. She's never had a boyfriend or gotten close to anyone before, and I don't want you treating her like a toy that you can throw away when you're bored."
My heart was in my mouth. I felt sick. I had no idea how or why she was speaking to him like this. Had he said or done something when I'd left?
"Kasey-Ray?" Sean's calm voice spoke.
"Yes?" She huffed.
"I actually really love your sister and would never dream of hurting her."
"You better not." She cut in.
"Look, I've never felt like this about anyone before. If anyone is going to get hurt it would be me."
There was silence then. I had no idea what was going on. Why would he get hurt? My sister must have had the same confusion on her face as Sean spoke again.
"I worry that Erin will get bored of me and won't want me. I worry that she'll never feel for me the way I feel for her."
I crouched down low on the floor, unsure if I'd heard what I'd just heard.
"Erin? What are you doing in your sister's room?" My Mum's loud voice boomed, making me cringe as I put my finger to my lips. I was sure Sean and Kasey-Ray had heard her.
"I was looking for something to wear." I barely gasped.
God, how was I supposed to go down stairs and face him now? Surely they must know I was eavesdropping.
My Mum looked confused as I pointed to the open window and the realisation quickly covered her face.
"Sorry." She whispered. "But you shouldn't listen in on other peoples conversations anyway." She said as an afterthought, but grabbing my arm as I tried to walk past. "Everything okay though?" She asked concerned.
"Yeah, just Kasey-Ray warning Sean not to hurt me." My Mum laughed as I did too.
"He better watch out then." She joked, as she released my arm.
I forced a smile as I walked away and slowly headed down the stairs. Before heading outside, I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself, a fake smile plastered on my face.
"I hope you don't mind?" I smiled apologetically to my sister, as I pulled at the dress. "I couldn't find anything to wear."
"No, no, that's fine." She quickly and nervously told me, "It looks good on you." She gave me a once over. "I'm going to go phone Claire. See ya later." She quickly told me as she hurried past, leaving me timidly standing there.
"You look good." Sean warmly smiled. "I won't hug you 'til I've showered." He laughed. "Don't want your Mum giving you another row for raiding your sister's drawers." I blushed. He had heard. I hoped he hadn't realised I was eavesdropping. "Shall we?"
He pointed towards the back door and I nodded as I led the way back into the house, towards the front door.
"Mum?" I called. "I'm going out."
My Mum appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Will you be back for dinner?"
"No, she's having dinner at mine with my family." Sean told her. This was news to me.
"Okay, be back by ten." She turned back to where she'd come from.
"I hope you don't mind." Sean said as he opened the front door for me.
"No." I forced another smile. I was nervous as I walked towards his car.
"My Dad's promised to be on his best behaviour." Even though he said this, he didn't look like he actually believed it.
We sat in silence for the ten minute journey. Every so often he would reach over and stroke my leg, sending tingles up and down my body.
When we pulled up outside his house, we sat there for a few minutes, still neither of us saying a word. It was Sean who finally broke the silence, when he turned to look at me.
"You heard what I said, didn't you?" I froze in my seat, not wanting to look at him or speak. I finally nodded. "I meant every word of it." He sat there staring as I finally turned to look at him. He sighed as he realised I didn't really believe him.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted to believe him, I really did, but I could never see how I could ever hurt him. Surely it was the other way round.
"You know I love you though, right?"
This I did believe, even though I didn't know why he did.
"Yes." I nodded. "I love you too."
This made him look relieved.
"I can live with that." He reached over to stroke my face. Then he gently leaned forward to kiss me. "Come on, let's get inside." He quickly got out of the car, and walked by my side as we went into the house. "I'm just going to take a shower. Make yourself at home."
Before I could respond, he was gone, leaving me standing there, in the living room. I wasn't alone though, as I spotted Kelly, Paul and James. They seemed to be glued at the hips.
"Hi Erin." Kelly smiled as she waved me over. "Come join us." I slowly walked over to sit down next to James, or was it Paul?
"Hi." I shyly spoke, as whomever I was sat next to me smiled.
The three of them were sat around a coffee table, with what looked like a giant map.
"What's that?" I asked as I leaned closer to get a better look.
"We're looking for Wally!" One of the twins laughed, not looking up from the map.
"Do you want to try and find him?" The twin sitting next to me asked with a playful smile.
"Sure." I kneeled down to get a closer look.
It wasn't a map, it was a giant cartoon picture of the seaside, with hundreds of people dressed in brightly coloured clothes.
"We're looking for this guy." Kelly pointed to a picture of a man wearing a red and white striped top, red hat and black glasses. I nodded, as I looked back down to the bigger picture. This was going to be hard, as nearly everyone was wearing similar clothing and glasses.
It took me about five minutes, when I spotted him Kelly cheered.
"We've been at this for nearly an hour." One of the twins laughed.
"You want to try another?" Kelly asked, as she rolled up the picture and pulled out another, this one was of a pirate ship.
"Sure." I smiled, happy to be part of a group who didn't seem to judge me, and seemed happy to be in my company.
This time it took me a little longer, but still I was the first to find Wally.
"Have you done this before?" The twin sitting next to me raised an eyebrow.
"No never." I never had, well not giant pictures like this. I had taken a 'Where's Wally?' book from the library when I was younger and ended up taking it back, without even looking at it.
He sat there looking serious, then sensing my unease, smiled and raised his hand for a high five, which I responded to.
"Third time lucky?" His brother asked. I nodded as Kelly pulled out another picture.
"Wow! You have a lot of these don't you?" I laughed.
"James's thing." Kelly pointed to the twin sitting next to me, which made me smile. I had been right. Maybe Kelly wasn't the only one who could tell them apart. But saying that, she never seemed to think about it. Telling them apart came naturally to her.
By the time I'd found Wally, for the third time, Sean appeared.
"Hey." he came and sat next to me, with a kiss.
"Hey." I smiled, as I leaned into him.
"Your girlfriend has sharp eyes." Paul winked at me. I smiled happily, more at the fact at hearing the word girlfriend. "Either that or she's cheating." he laughed.
"I found Wally three times." I boasted, proud of myself. "And no cheating involved." I put my tongue out at Paul.
"Well done." Sean kissed me again, and for a moment, I forgot we weren't alone.
"I think I'll have to go buy some more." I heard one of the twins say, as I pulled away from Sean. It was James and he actually looked excited at the prospect of buying more of these pictures.
"Make sure you get hard ones next time." I teased, making everyone laugh and James act offended.
"I'm going to see how my Mum's getting on in the kitchen." Sean whispered in my ear. "You coming?" I smiled and nodded, as Sean helped me up.
"Hey, where are you taking Erin?" Kelly asked in an unhappy tone.
"To the kitchen. Is that okay with you?" Sean teased.
Kelly laughed and nodded.
"Bring her back when you're done though." She ordered, as Sean walked backwards, with me in his arms.
"She's all mine." He told his sister, as he held me tightly and kissed my neck.
"You can't keep her to yourself ya know." Kelly scolded "Erin's my little sister now."
I slowly turned around, as Sean playfully held me tight, to see Kelly sticking her tongue out at Sean.
"You can share me." I laughed, as Sean playfully blew a raspberry on my neck, making me laugh.
"Nope, you're all mine." he turned me around, as he continued to walk backwards into the kitchen, as I waved bye.
"Oh, hi Erin." I heard Sean's Mum say, making me turn in the direction of her voice.
"Hi Ruth." I smiled, still in the tight hold of Sean. "Do you need any help?" I politely asked, but she shook her head.
"No. I'm pretty much done in here. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours."
She seemed to have everything organised, as I looked around the kitchen to see pots of vegetables, sitting on the stove, ready to be switched on.
"How long have you been here?" She asked, as she looked at the clock on the wall.
"I'm not sure." I laughed, looking to Sean for an answer.
"About an hour. She's been playing 'Where's Wally?' with Kelly and the twins." He pointed towards the living room, as he released me and walked towards the cupboard to pull out two glasses and raised them towards me.
"Yes please."
"I hope they went easy on you." His Mum said as she turned to wipe down the sides.
"She showed them a thing or two." Sean laughed as he pulled out a carton of fresh orange juice and held it up as I nodded.
"Three to be exact." I laughed.
"I hope you don't mind." His Mum looked back towards the clock. "But I need to pop back to the gym and collect Sean's Dad."
"No, that's fine." I smiled, as she walked towards the kitchen door, patting my shoulder on the way out.
"Here." Sean handed me a glass of orange juice, as he walked past me and into the conservatory, where I followed.
Stepping into the conservatory, I gasped when I took in the full view of the back garden. I thought it was big the last time I was here, but seeing it from here was so surreal. I don't think I'd ever seen a garden this big.
Along one side was a high hedge, about 7 feet high, separating their garden and next. At the far end of the garden, there seemed to be a tennis court.
"Wow!" I gasped, as I went to sit down next to Sean on a two-seater wicker sofa with floral cushioned seats.
Sean followed my gaze, as he took my glass from my hands and placed it on a small table. Without a word, he stood up and took my hand and led me out of the conservatories side door.
It was all so breathtaking. There was a paved area, when I first stepped out, decorated with statues and a small fountain in the middle. To one side there was a path that led to the bottom of the garden, with brightly coloured flowers on either side.
We stopped for a while to look at the tennis court, which I reckoned was used frequently.
"Do you play?" I asked, without looking at him.
"Yep. My Mum is really good at it and often teaches people at weekends."
"Wow!"
Every day I felt like I learnt something knew about Sean and his family. No matter how much I tried to prepare myself, he always surprised me.
One thing I really liked was the fact he never shoved it in my face. He was very modest, and until I came to his house, I would never have guessed that his family had so much money.
"I want to show you something."
He led me back the way we came to another path that I'd seen half way down, which was lined with tall blossom trees. After about 50 metres, we came to what I thought was a small wooden house, about the size of an average bungalow.
Sean pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.
"This is the summer house." Sean told me as he opened the door and we stepped into a room which held a large plasma TV on the wall, with every type of games console neatly placed in a stand underneath.
Next to this were stands full of console games. In one corner stood a stereo system, and next to it stood two old arcade machines, Pac man and Street Fighter.
In the middle was a large three-seater sofa, which looked more like a four seater. On the floor were five beanbags that were scattered about the room.
Whilst I looked around the room, Sean started opening the windows. I noticed there were several doors leading from this room.
"May I?" I pointed to the two doors at the back of the room.
"Sure." Sean nodded, as he followed me into a small room, which held a fridge, microwave, and a couple of cupboards.
He walked past me to open the window as I went to look in the next, which was a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, shower and a bathroom cabinet.
As I closed the door behind me, I saw Sean entering another room, to the right of the bathroom. It was an average sized bedroom, with a double bed, wardrobe, TV and a two chest of drawers.
"This is my room, or whoever's if we have guests." He laughed. "And this." He led me to the next room. He laughed again when he saw my reaction. "This is the Jacuzzi room."
"Wow!"
There stood in the middle of the room was a large circular Jacuzzi that could probably fit about ten people.
"Do you use it?" I asked when I noticed it was empty.
"Yeah, we've just not used it in a couple of weeks." He walked over to open the windows. "You'll have to bring a swimsuit over next time." I blushed without answering him. "Let me show you the other two rooms."
He led me across the main room, to the two doors on the other side. The first door was another bedroom, set up the same way as the other bedroom.
"Kelly's." He nodded, closing the door behind him, and then walking through the next door, into the last room. This room held a pool table in the middle and a darts boards on one wall. "Fancy a quick game?"
He pointed at the pool table. I nodded with a smile. I wasn't very sporty, but one thing I knew I was good at, was pool.
"You can break." I smiled as I went to get a cue and apply some chalk. "And don't go easy on me 'cos I'm a girl." I joked with a wink.
"Oooooh, are you a pool shark?" He laughed, as he walked round to take the break shot.
"No, but I know how to play." I gave him an innocent smile, and it didn't take me long to show him how good I was.
"Oh, I'm going to have some fun with the others." He laughed as I looked at him, confused for a moment. "Justin is a bit of a pool shark, and Paul's pretty good too, but I don't think they have anything on you." I laughed as I went to put the cue back. "Let's keep this a secret for now. I want to see the look on their faces when you destroy them." I was nervous at this idea.
"I'm not that good."
"I beg to differ." He leant against the pool table and pulled me close. "Any other hidden talents I should know about?"
"Not that I am aware." I smiled.
"I bet you have." He winked as he pulled me closer for a kiss. "Let's head back and get our drinks." He said, standing up and taking my hand.
"Don't you need to close the windows?"
"Nah, Kelly and the twins will be down after dinner."
"Okay." I followed him out as he locked the door behind us before turning to take my hand.
"After we've gotten Dr Hammersmith out of the way tomorrow, we can come back here if you like?" I nodded nervously, as I remembered about Dr Hammersmith. I had no idea what tests he wanted to do, and I felt too sick and nervous to ask if Sean knew. I just nodded as he continued to talk.
"My Poppa and Gran would like to meet you. Are you okay with that?" He watched my face for a reaction.
"I would love to." I smiled, and I meant it. "I have a few questions I would like to ask them."
"Poppa would love that." He gently squeezed my hand, and with a smile he leant across to kiss my cheek.