Swell (Complete)

Chapter Eight (Part One)

"I don't know love, I don't know hate
I am numb, wish I could find the words to say."
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Marti had started a habit of getting up early in the morning to go to the beach. She was now a regular sight to the surfers and she knew half of them by name thanks to Iain and Dodge.
Sunday seemed to be their morning off though. She almost missed the showing off, almost.
The beach was peaceful today, the sun was reflecting in a long line from one side of the horizon towards the shore and her grey led outline was complete.
In the sand beside her blanket she had some water colour palettes, paint brushes and a bottle of water. She poured some of the water into the middle of the palettes and wet the tip of her thinnest brush. She had a roll of brushes and different led shades that she had gotten from Elissa for her birthday the year before. It was bittersweet using it now, but the convenience of it was so perfect. She glanced from the roll to the skyline and tried to decide where to start.
"Edgar! Edgar, stop! No!"
Marti had barely decided to start with the palest blue in her palette before the shouting reached her ears. She didn't even get the chance to look from the small round palette in her hand before she heard the excited panting of the dog and then its thirsty tongue licking at her palettes.
She gasped and tried to grab the palettes from him before he slurped up any of the dry paint and his nose moved from the palettes to the bottle. He knocked it over and his dark snout started to sniff noisily at the puddle in her brush roll.
Marti didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. Her shoulders sagged as the dog's tongue cleaned the puddle in her roll and she saw all the sand it's big, dark paws had flicked onto her blanket.
Her canvas pad had fallen to the other side of her knees and she let the sigh win as she smiled down at the dog.
"Oh! Marti! It's you!" The voice was closer now and Marti looked up from the happy dog to the owner and smiled as she saw Adora slowing down from a run as she got closer. Adora stopped and knelt down in the sand beside the brown dog. "Edgar, you naughty boy!" She pulled the dog away from Marti's blanket and painting roll and roughed his face up.
"I'm pretty sure I saved him from licking any paint." Marti said with a smile.
"I'm sorry! Edgar loves people, and the beach is normally empty when we do this run. He saw someone and just started to bound over. He didn't ruin anything did he?" Edgar smothered Adora's face with his tongue and the pale girl tried to manoeuvre her face as she spoke. "Fine. Here, go fetch." She pulled a bright green ball from behind her back and held it out for the dog to see.
"No, he's fine." Marti watched as Adora teased the dog with the tennis ball a few times before giving it a mighty throw towards the water. Edgar galloped after it and Adora went from kneeling to sitting in the sand.
"Phew. He is all beans this morning." She ran a hand over her tied back hair and laughed a little.
Marti noticed for the first time that Adora was dressed in a singlet and long shorts, she had sports socks that were a bit too long for her runners to hide and there was a strap around her waist. Marti guessed that was for a sports type of bag that must have had the ball in it.
"He's really cute. Edgar?" Marti looked from the dog barking at the ball as it moved in and out on the shallow waves.
"Yea, named after our place." Adora chuckled and looked from her pet to Marti's pad. "You sure he didn't damage anything?"
"Yea, I was more worried about him drinking the paints. They're probably safe and all, but I wouldn't want to risk it."
"You're amazing, thanks." Adora shook her head and smiled.
Marti shrugged and picked up the bottle, it still had half the water in it. She pulled her pad back over and quickly grabbed a pencil from the roll as Edgar jumped at the ball. "It's alright, he's inspired me!" She hurriedly drew Edgar's shape into the shallow waves of her beach and smiled, holding it over to Adora to see.
"Wow! You really are amazing! I can't wait to see the colours added."
Marti felt proud as she saw Adora's impressed expression.
"Thanks." She closed the pad as she saw Edgar heading towards them with the bright green ball in his mouth. He kicked sand up on his way over and Marti could see droplets of water flicking from his beautiful, brown fur.
Adora patted the sand beside her, away from Marti and Edgar went to that side, dropped the ball and then shook his body out. There wasn't much water left on him after the run, but it was enough to make Adora cry out the dog's name and Marti laugh as the dog excitedly prepared for another ball throw.
More sand flew from his paws as he left them again, chasing after the ball.
"He is so cute." Marti smiled and screwed the paint palette back on top of each other, deciding it was time to stop from the morning.
"Yea, he's beautiful." Adora sighed again.
"So, how was your day with Tom yesterday?" Marti smirked at the other girl and glanced at her as she finished packing up her travel kit.
The morning sun made it hard to tell if Adora's cheeks had flushed from the question or the energy her pet had, but Marti saw the fall of the girl's energy and frowned.
"Tom's great." Adora started.
"I can feel a but..." Marti said gently.
Adora grimaced and looked at her. "He's so great that he reminds me of Iain."
Marti's lips parted and she understood immediately what Adora was trying to say. "Right. I get you."
"I've not really had dates before, or a guy as interested as Tom seems, and I have to let him know, but... I don't know how to. You won't tell him anything yet will you? I would really prefer to tell him myself, I mean, he really is great, but if we kept dating... it's just like... me dating Iain, and it feels... Wrong." Adora was really getting flustered and Marti almost felt sorry for her.
"I won't say a word. I've had to tell a guy or two they remind me of my brothers... It's really a compliment, but it doesn't bode well for us." Marti assured the girl.
She saw Adora's relief and felt as though she had successfully reassured her that her secret was safe.
"So, Tom said you were hanging out with Debbie yesterday? How did that go?" Adora asked, changing the subject.
It was Marti's turn to sigh. "Well, I kind of became invisible when she found out Tom was on a date."
"Oh Marti, I'm sorry." Adora's sympathy was clear in her tone and her empathetic expression.
Marti shrugged. "It's not like I haven't had a girl befriend me to get closer to my brothers and then ditch me when they found out the boys weren't interested before." Marti explained. She really was used to that, and for a while she had felt as though Elissa had done it to get closer to Will, especially when Marti had kissed her and her friend's real feelings towards Will had been confessed.
Marti looked down at her art roll and swallowed a lump. Elissa had been different though; they were friends first, and even after.
"That doesn't make it any better." Adora shook her head.
"No, you're right." Marti ran a hand through her sandy blonde hair. "I was going to ask you tomorrow, but seem as we're here, do you think I can hang with you from now on?" She looked to the brunette beside her with a hopeful smile.
"Sure! I sort of float around a bit sometimes, but its mostly with the band." Adora explained happily.
"Wonderful! Thanks." Marti felt a weight lift from her shoulders knowing she wouldn't have to try and awkwardly figure out where to go to at school tomorrow.
Edgar came bounding back over to them, this time his mouth was empty.
"Edgar! Did you let another ball swim away?!" Adora cried out in surprise as the dog barrelled into her. "Mum will kill you."
Marti looked up to the waves and sure enough floating further and further away from the shore was a small bright green dot.
"Doesn't he swim in to get them?" She asked, all her painting and drawing equipment now packed neatly beside her.
"Edgar isn't normal, he only goes into water as far as he can stand, unless there's a human he knows in there. He never quite mastered the idea of the doggy paddle..." Adora roughed the brown Labrador up again and started to stand up from the sand.
"Not much of a guard dog then?"
Adora laughed loudly. "He's more likely to drown someone with drool than he is to protect me from them. I suppose its all the exposure to people at the Escape, he's just too used to people. Mind you, I've never needed a guard dog, so..."
"Well, that's mostly good. I mean, at least you can be sure he isn't likely to attack a guest, and hopefully you never need a guard dog." Marti watched as Edgar sat in the sand next to Adora and wagged his tail.
"Yea, well, we better go finish our walk, I've got to be back home to help Mum wrap up this weekend's murder." Adora smiled down at Marti.
"Sounds fun."
"It can be. Was a bit embarrassing to spend most of yesterday with fake blood still in my hair though."
Marti stood up and shook her blanket out. She rolled it up and found the strap that buckled around to keep it rolled.
"I should go home too, got a date with Shakespeare." She smirked at Adora, who grinned in the morning sunlight. "Though it looks like it's going to be a nice day."
"Mmmm, it does, might be a cold night though. Maybe you can convince Shakespeare to join you outside today, has to be better than the mist rolling across the Scottish moors." Adora joked.
"I'd say so!" Marti put her art bag over her shoulder and tucked the blanket under her arm. "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yes! See you then." Adora turned back the way she had been coming and started to jog across the sand. "Come on Edgar!" She called out. Edgar let out an excited yelp and chased after his owner.
Marti shivered at the thought of having bare skin in the cold morning air and headed towards the warm bakery.