After Eden (3 page)

“I know.”

“And you’re sixteen.”

He grinned. “I know that too.”

I hesitated. But the night was cold and the next bus a twenty-minute wait.

Ryan opened the passenger-side door. “Jump in.”

Wondering if I would live to regret this, I climbed inside.

He turned the ignition and pulled onto the road. The car lurched and jerked until it gained speed. He turned the heater up high, and warm air blew over me. What a sudden change in circumstance, I thought. One moment I was cold, on my own, and a little anxious, and now I was warm, with Ryan, and very anxious.

“So the rumors are true,” I said.

“Which rumors would they be?”

“The ones about you driving around town.”

Ryan frowned. “People have noticed? That’s not good.”

Of course they’d noticed. Every girl in the school had him on their radar. Perran was a small town.

“Is that a problem?” I asked.

“Like you said, I’m not old enough for a license. I don’t really want to attract too much attention.”

“So how come you drive?”

He looked away from the road and met my eyes. “I don’t like walking in the dark on cold nights.” He turned back to the road. “What are you doing walking in the dark on your own anyway?”

“I hung out with my friends in town after school,” I said. “And there’s no bus for ages, so I decided to walk.”

He smiled but, mercifully, kept his eyes on the road.

“Did you go to astronomy club?”

“Yeah. It was fun.”

“Was Connor there?”

Ryan nodded. “I had no idea astronomy was so popular over here. The club was packed.”

“Really? Connor’s always given me the impression that it’s three nerds and Mr. Chinn. No offense.”

He laughed. “Do you think I’m a nerd?”

We had reached the turnoff from the main road that led down to Penpol Cove. Ryan shifted quickly down through the gears, making the engine roar.

“Sorry. I haven’t got the hang of these gears yet,” he said as we passed the small shop at the edge of the village. “Whereabouts exactly do you live?”

“The other side of the village,” I said, giving him directions.

“I’m just farther down the lane. In the farmhouse by the cove.”

“That place has been for sale forever,” I said.

Ryan shrugged one shoulder. “My dad likes it. It’s quiet.”

I knew the house in question. It was a large granite building right at the end of Trenoweth Lane with views over the cove. Once it had been part of a working farm, but now it was just a big house with a very large yard. No one had lived there for years.

Ryan pulled up in front of my house and switched off the engine. My heart began to thud. Why had he switched off the engine? I could feel the redness begin to blossom across my chest. It would only be a minute or so before it crept up my neck and onto my face, like a flower blooming in a time-lapse photo. I wondered if I could say good-bye and escape before that happened.

“Thank you for driving me home, Ryan,” I said. The words came out all wrong. I sounded like an old-fashioned
girl who’d been for a drive with her beau. It must be obvious that I didn’t usually do things like this.

He shrugged. “You’re welcome. I had to pass you anyway.”

I opened my door and then paused. “Are you going to the party tomorrow?”

“I haven’t been invited.” He looked at me. “Unless you’re inviting me now?”

I nodded. “It’s Amy’s birthday. She’s invited everyone.”

“What do I need to bring?”

“I’m taking a load of food. You don’t need to bring anything. She’s holding it on Perran Towans, the beach just outside town. At two o’clock.”

“Shall I pick you up at a quarter of two?”

He was offering to pick me up? My heart repeated the squeeze from earlier, and yet I knew I couldn’t accept.

“You’re too young to drive.”

“Apparently I’m not.”

“Miranda—she’s my aunt, I live with her—there’s no way she’ll ever let me get into a car with a sixteen-year-old driver,” I said. “We could take the bus?”

Ryan shook his head. “You just said you’re taking lots of food. My sister, Cassie, can drive us. She’s seventeen.”

I shrugged. “Okay. See you tomorrow?”

I slammed the car door and walked up to the house, trying not to skip. Ryan Westland was going to the beach with me tomorrow. Okay, it wasn’t exactly a date, but still, we would be going together and I wouldn’t have to wait until Monday to see him again.

Miranda was in the sitting room watching television
with Travis. Two large wineglasses were on the coffee table in front of them.

“Did you have a good evening?” she asked, pressing the mute button on the remote control.

She had dressed up. She worked as a legal secretary for a small firm of lawyers in Perran, and always wore a neat black suit to work. Before Travis, she used to come home from work and change straight into sweatpants and slippers. Tonight, though, she was wearing a red dress I’d never seen before.

“Yes, thanks. We went to the movies.”

“How did you get home?”

This was a question I knew to expect. Miranda’s approach to parenting consisted mainly of checking up on my transport arrangements and keeping me clear of wild parties.

“Megan’s dad gave me a lift,” I said, the lie rolling easily off my tongue. If I’d mentioned that a sixteen-year-old boy had driven me home, I would probably have been grounded until Christmas.

“See if you can finish this,” she said, passing me the newspaper.

I knew without looking that it was the crossword.

“Have you eaten?” Travis asked. “I cooked teriyaki duck with quinoa and arugula salad. The salad is all gone but there’s a little duck left if you want some.”

I glared at Travis. He knew very well that I was vegetarian. “I’m not hungry,” I said, “but thanks for thinking of me.”

“It’s tasty,” he said. “And fatty. You look like you could use some more meat on your bones.”

“I’d prefer to be skinny than eat a decomposing corpse.”

He curled his lip in a half-smile. “I wonder when you’ll outgrow your vegetarian phase and start enjoying some good food.”

“I wonder when you’ll stop patronizing me,” I said, smiling back.

“Travis is an amazing cook,” said Miranda. “You really are missing out.”

Travis was a chef. Originally from California, he had been living in Perran for a few months now, planning to open a fish restaurant on the seafront. He had met Miranda when her firm drew up the lease on the building.

“I picked up some food for tomorrow,” said Miranda. “Some zucchini, red peppers, and button mushrooms in case you want to make some veggie kebabs.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Miranda.”

“And I also picked up some soft drinks.”

She glanced at the empty wineglasses on the table. Before she started going out with Travis, she had never brought alcohol home. “Eden,” she began, “can you promise me that you’ll be sensible at this beach party?”

I nodded. “I won’t be drinking, if that’s what you mean.”

She nodded slowly. “And how will you be getting there?”

“I’m getting a lift with a friend.”

She frowned, a severe crease appearing between her eyebrows. “Which friend?”

“Ryan Westland. He’s new at school. His sister’s driving us.”

Travis sat forward. “Westland? I’ve heard about them. Father’s a writer.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know about that.”

“He lives around here somewhere, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah,” I said. “In the farmhouse down at the end of Trenoweth Lane.”

“How old is his sister?” asked Miranda.

“Eighteen,” I said, adding a year for insurance.

“I suppose that’s okay.” Miranda smiled and turned up the volume on the television. “See if you can finish the crossword,” she said, nuzzling up to Travis.

I pounded down the empty lanes of Penpol Cove, the cold air ripping into my throat and lungs until my chest felt raw. The first mile was always the worst. My limbs felt weak and rubbery, my breathing was labored. Experience told me that if I could survive the first mile, I would soon get into the zone, find my stride, and lose myself in the rhythm of my run.

My usual route took me through the village and then down the lane to Penpol Cove, past the farmhouse where Ryan Westland now lived. The thought of him seeing me run past his house was just too embarrassing to imagine. I shuddered at the thought and took the other route.

Images of him kept appearing in my head. His leather jacket slung on top of his school uniform. His messy brown hair. The picture he drew of me in art class. And then I could hear the sound of his voice, his unusual accent. I began to run across the cliff top. I turned up the music on my iPod and picked up the pace. I needed to push myself so hard that all I would be able to think about was breathing. I would not be a lemming. I would not, like almost every other girl in Year Eleven, spend my time daydreaming about Ryan
Westland. It was pointless. Ryan Westland was gorgeous. He had about a hundred girls throwing themselves at him. And there was nothing especially interesting about me.

I pushed all thoughts from my mind. Breathe in, two, three. Breathe out, two, three. Just breathe. My thighs ached. My stomach grumbled. As I approached my house, I could feel myself reaching for those hidden reserves of energy, the sudden burst you get when the end is in sight. Breakfast.

By half past one, I had tried on hundreds of different outfits. Finally, frustrated and irritable, I decided to wear my favorite jeans with the thin green sweater that Miranda said matched my eyes. I straightened my hair, applied some mascara and lip gloss, and went downstairs to wait for Ryan.

A red car pulled up outside at one forty-five exactly. I got the cooler bag from the kitchen and opened the door. Ryan was standing on the doorstep about to knock. He was dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt with a red flannel shirt on top, and his black jacket and boots. He looked older than he did in his school uniform.

“Hi,” he said, smiling.

I felt myself blush. Why the hell couldn’t I be cool? “Hi.”

Ryan took the bag from me and put it in the trunk while I locked the door.

“Cassie, this is Eden,” he said as I climbed into the back.

Cassie turned to look at me. She had long blond ringlets that coiled over her shoulders and chest like a nest of albino snakes. “So you’re the girl from astronomy club?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. She had me confused with someone else. Everything suddenly made sense. Ryan had told her that he was going to the beach to see a girl from astronomy club. That was why he had agreed to go with me. I wondered which of the girls he was interested in.

A slight frown formed between her eyebrows and she turned to Ryan. “You said …”

“I know,” Ryan interrupted. “Eden is a good friend of Connor’s.”

“I see,” she said. She turned the ignition, flipped on the radio, and pulled onto the road to Perran. “And how long have you known Connor?” The question sounded more like an interrogation than polite chit-chat.

“Since we were both four. He’s one of my best friends.”

This seemed to satisfy her. I saw her check me out in the rearview mirror, and then she gave Ryan a look and turned the music up loud. I got the uncomfortable feeling that I was the object of a bet or a dare.

Cassie and Ryan didn’t speak to each other or to me until the car stopped in the parking lot at Perran Towans.

“Behave yourself,” she said to Ryan as she switched off the engine.

He laughed. “Not a chance.”

She put a hand on his knee. “Call me when you want me to pick you up, okay?”

He put his hand on top of hers and removed it firmly. “Thanks, Cassie.”

Ryan opened the car door and climbed out. As I reached over to open my door, Cassie turned to look me up and
down. I knew what she was thinking.
Why is he going to a party with this girl?
I was thinking,
What kind of girl puts her hand on her brother’s knee?

“Nice to meet you, Eden,” she said, without smiling.

I stared back at her. “Thanks for the lift.”

Ryan had already gotten the cooler bag out of the trunk. We said nothing as Cassie turned the car around and pulled away.

“I’m really sorry about her,” Ryan said.

“She doesn’t like me.”

“It’s not that. She’s just not good with people.”

I shrugged and reached for my bag. “I’ll carry it,” Ryan said, throwing it over his shoulder.

We looked down over the beach from the cliff-top parking lot. Although it was only two in the afternoon, the sun had begun its descent, casting a deep bronze glow over the sand. It was easy to spot Amy and her friends at one end of the beach. There were about thirty of them gathered around a huge pile of wood. The rest of the beach was deserted. The sea was flat, so even the hard-core surfers had stayed away today.

As we walked across the sand, I could see them one by one turn and stare.

Amy spoke first. “Hi, Eden. You brought Ryan.”

“Happy birthday. I hope you don’t mind me coming along,” Ryan said. “Eden invited me.”

“Did she?” Amy said, the surprise clear in her voice. She glanced at me. “The more the merrier.”

I looked around. Connor and Megan were stretched out on a big red blanket. Matt was bending over a cooler filled
with bottles. Amy’s friends from drama club were milling around the unlit bonfire, swigging from bottles and laughing. As though watching a slow-motion film sequence, I saw Amy’s girlfriends checking out Ryan. They whispered to one another and I could tell they were trying to work out why Ryan and I had arrived at the same time. Finally, one of them, a girl called Scarlett, made her way over to us.

“Come and get a drink,” she said, linking arms with Ryan and steering him toward Matt and the cooler.

I walked over to Connor and Megan and plunked myself on their blanket.

“What’s going on?” Megan whispered. “How the hell did you end up coming to Amy’s party with Ryan Westland?”

“I’m not sure myself,” I said. “Ryan gave me a lift home last night and I mentioned Amy’s party. He asked if he could come along.”

“He gave you a lift home?” Megan asked. “Explain that?”