The Abyssal Kingdom: part 1

Chapter Nine

After another morning of sleeping in late, Salantina woke up to her phone buzzing with an incoming text.

'Hey! Was thinking do you want to hang out later, maybe we could go for a walk or you could show me around the village if you're free?' Her heart skipped a beat when she read it, her hands tremble while she typed her response. Despite talking every day now, this was the first time Fynn had asked to meet up since that day they met at the beach.

'Hey! Yes, I'm free. If you want to come to Ballycreev Village. I could show you around here. It's the same bus you took to the beach, just get off at the second last stop.' After hitting send she read back over the message and thought she sounded really condescending; of course, he knows how to get here while feeling herself cringe. Hoping he wasn't offended, she began to type again with an explanation when her phone beeped again.

'Cool, I'll catch the bus around twelve. I could meet you then beside the bus stop?' His reply was casual. She deleted her apology and started again after taking a deep breath.

'Okay, I'll meet you at 12.15.' It was just after ten, but her nerves wouldn't let her rest. She got up and went through some of her clothes, wanting to pick something nice. Most of her clothes were swimming gear. Anything that wasn't was buried at the back of her wardrobe.

After digging through she found a nice black top that had cuts where the shoulders were and fitted dark blue faded jeans. Before getting dressed, she took a shower drying her long blonde hair straight, and even applied a small amount of makeup. Uncertain about her outfit she changed her clothes to a black dress with tights before changing back into her original outfit and going downstairs. 

Her mouth hit the floor when she stepped inside the kitchen.

'James! Oh wow, I didn't know you were coming home!' Her arms wrapped around her brother with tears streaming down her face. He was tanned with highlights running through his usual brown hair.

'Surprise! You look great. Are you getting dressed up for someone?' James laughed after she had finished smothering him. She got the impression Peppa had been in his ear.

'No. I'm meeting with the girls today, just thought I'd make an effort.' She was trying to sound casual, but her face felt warm and she knew James had seen straight through her lie.

'Well, as long as these friends of yours are making you happy that's all I care about.' James smiled. All of Salantina's friends used to like him when they were growing up. He was tall, with mousy brown hair, and hazel eyes. 

'They do.' Salantina felt her face go even warmer. She was tomato red at this stage. 'Anyways, enough about me what about your life in Sweden? And how is Beth? All your photos online looked so amazing.' Now wasn't the time to bring up Ruby although she was certain something was going on with them. 

They talked for another hour, and just as twelve was approaching she had to tell her brother she needed to leave. If she had known he was back today she wouldn't have made plans with Fynn.

Hugging her brother goodbye, Salantina made her way out the door and felt her stomach do a summer salt. Don't be awkward, don't be awkward...

After a quick five-minute walk, Salantina could hear someone calling her name. At the bus stop, Fynn was already waiting for her. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with black jeans. There was a warm feeling in her stomach as she walked towards him.

'Hey, sorry. I hope you weren't waiting long. My brother came home from Sweden today. I hadn't seen him in a couple of months so we got caught up talking!' Salantina explained, talking over her words in a rush.

'Don't worry, I just arrived,' Fynn replied and hugged her. It was like all the nerves left her body and were replaced by a warm tingling feeling. 'I'm glad you saw your brother. You must have missed him. If you wanted to spend time with him, we could have rearranged.'