Watercolour

Nine

Jace's P.O.V

In the heat I could barely formulate a thought. There was no cooling breeze or cloud to block the sun. I curled my fingers around the thin fabric of my top, waving it in and out to create just a little air flow, but it wasn't enough. It was Sunday 26 October and I was sat on the wall outside the community hall waiting for everyone else to turn up. Admittedly, I was early, but I was still feeling impatient as I wanted to get inside and out of the sun.

Slowly, the heat became more unbearable and I couldn't sit on the burning tarmac anymore; so the best I could do was prop myself up against the lamppost. I looped my thumbs into the pockets of my jeans and waited for the others to arrive.

It was 3 minutes to eleven when I saw a figure turn the corner and come along the street towards me. The black jeans, vans and ponytail made it really easy to identify Alana - it was her signature look.

"Hey," she said as she sat cross-legged on the floor in front of me.

"Hi," I replied, deciding to join her back on the floor, despite the heat.

"Where's everyone else? Alex said he might not be able to make it but Lucas and Charley said that they're definitely coming"

"I don't know... as far as I'm aware, Nathan's coming but no-one's here yet."

"Not even Dan?"

"No, not yet."

There was a short pause before either of us spoke again.

"What you doing tomorrow?" I asked.

"Err... what do you think?"

"Oh yeah. Ha ha... you still have to go to school," I teased. "I keep forgetting that you're the year below me, even though you're older."

"Man I hate the people that held me back in nursery," she said.

"You could leave school though... you're eighteen," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I need to finish my A-levels."

"True," I admitted. "Hey, at least this is your last year."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Oh, hey there's Lucas and Charley... and Jemma. Oh, and Rachel!"

I turned around to see the four of them walking towards us.

"Hi, guys!" I said as Alana and I shuffled so there was space for the others to sit down with us.

"Where is everyone?" Charley asked.

"Don't know... we're the only one's here so far."

Lucas went to sit down but wobbled and ended lying on the concrete with his back on the floor and his legs half-crossed - causing us all to start laughing.

"What the hell just happened?" Alana asked hysterically.

"At least I didn't fall off a beanbag," he retorted.

"Shut up," she snapped under her breath.

"Wait," I interrupted. "You fell off a beanbag?"

"Er maybe," she answered, avoiding eye contact.

"How the hell do you fall off a beanbag?"

"Blame Alex's onion chopping," she said.

"What?" we all said, looking at Lucas and Alana in confusion.

"Another time... it's a whole other story."

It was 11:16am when Nathan arrived. I'd been sat outside the hall for about 25 minutes now and, apart from Alex, Dan was the only one who wasn't here yet. And as Dan was the only one who could let us inside, we collectively decided that we'd wait about another ten minutes or so before we stopped waiting and headed home.