Page 18 of Nothing Without You

‘Yeah, us too. Mum’s packed her stuff already.’ She looked down at the sand, a feeling of sadness filling her. I never want to leave here.’

‘Me neither.’ Chris turned to her. ‘Meet me at the park tonight. I’ve got some crackers to let off. The girls will be down at the boys’ camp, and Dad wants to listen to the cricket on the radio.’

‘Sounds good. I’ll bring some lollies and soft drinks.’

The temperature rose steadily throughout the day, and the little cottage grew stifling hot. Her mother sat on the front steps, fanning herself with a magazine as Evie prepared to leave to meet Chris. ‘Don’t be too late, and make sure you all stay together. Your father would have a fit if he knew you were out at night.’

‘I’m with the girls and Chris, Mum. He has some crackers and,’ she waved a packet of lollies in the air, ‘I promised I’d bring these and a bottle of lemonade.’

Lily and Rose were sitting with Chris on the bench seat when she arrived at the park. They’d hung around long enough to see a couple of crackers go off and grab a handful of Fantales each. ‘We won’t be too long,’ they promised. ‘Rose has her watch on, so we’ll be home by nine o’clock. This is our last night with the boys.’

Chris had been unhappy for a while after they left, but cheered up when Evie asked him to set some more crackers off. They laughed as he threw a couple into the air, the sound and bright light making a dog in the next street bark.

He passed her a sparkler and lit it. Evie laughed and jumped around as she swirled it in the air, making circles and patterns with the end of it.

For a moment their eyes met and she wondered what he was thinking. Would he have bothered being friends with her if he had his mates around, and would they keep seeing each other once they got back to their homes? She put the sparkler down and pushed it into the sand, making sure it was out. ‘Race you to the beach,’ she said, taking off while he was still picking up pieces of rubbish and putting them in the bin.

‘Hey. That’s not fair,’ he called out, but she was already halfway down the track, the glow from the moon casting its light across the dunes. His footsteps soon sounded behind her, and she ran faster. The sand was cool under her feet, and her hair flew behind her as she reached the beach. Chris pulled up beside her, both panting and trying to get their breath. Evie put her hands on her hips and looked out across the ocean. ‘I beat you,’ she said. ‘I run faster and catch bigger fish.’

The area was lit up by the full moon, and their attention was drawn to further down the beach where a bonfire’s flames licked the air. ‘That’ll be the boys, where the girls are. It’s their last night too. Tomorrow this island will empty out, and on the next ferry a whole new lot of visitors will come.’

‘I wish I lived here so much.’

‘Me too. I reckon one day I might,’ Chris said. ‘I could make surfboards and have a shop that sells them, as well as skateboards. I can make skateboards too.’

‘I’m going to be a teacher when I leave school. There’s a school here. I’ll teach at that,’ she replied.

‘You could come and visit me in the shop.’

She turned her gaze back to the ocean. ‘I could.’

Chris turned and looked in the other direction, to where the girls and the bonfire were. ‘Let’s walk right to the point. We’ve got a couple of hours, and I bet the girls will be late meeting us back near the track.’

They talked about all different things while they walked, the moonlit beach deserted with only a slight breeze to keep them company. Occasionally, a curlew sounded from up in the dunes, its eerie, lonely call eerie, causing Evie to jump. Waves crashed endlessly on the beach and she tried to hold the sound in her memory. She would miss it when they left.

‘Look out there,’ Chris said as he pointed out to the horizon. ‘That must be a big ship sailing up the coastline. Maybe it’s going to another country. One day I’m going to sell surfboards to all those countries. Maybe they’ll get delivered by one of those ships.’

He explained to Evie how he would make boards, and she let the sound of his voice wash over her. She could listen to him all night. When they reached the point, they stood on the rocks that separated their beach from the next one. ‘We’d better head back,’ she said. ‘Mum won’t worry if I’m a bit late, but it’s a few hours since we left.’

As they walked back, they waded in the shallows, the cool water washing over her feet. Finally, they reached where they had started, and when Chris sat down in the sand, she sat beside him. Sparks and flames leapt into the sky from the bonfire, which was still burning, and Chris kept looking in that direction. ‘Those girls are late. I knew we’d have to wait for them.’

Flattening the fabric on her floral dress, Evie sat up straight, her legs stretched out in front of her and her bare feet resting on the sand. A funny tingle ran through her body as Chris’s arm rubbed against hers, and when she turned to look at him, she found him staring straight at her. She was just about to ask him what was the matter when he leaned forward, his mouth close to hers. ‘Can I kiss you, Evie?’ he asked. ‘I want to kiss you.’

She nodded and made sure to keep her eyes on his. Suddenly his lips were on hers and she moved her mouth to kiss him back. His lips were warm and gentle, and his arm came up around her shoulder, pulling her closer. When he kissed her again, she leaned into him and closed her eyes, only coming up for breath when he stopped. He leaned away from her and drew his knees up, wrapping his arms around them and looking out to sea.

‘Have you ever kissed before?’ he asked her.

Her voice was a whisper. ‘No. That was my first kiss ever.’

They sat in an awkward silence for a while, until she crossed her legs in front of her and touched his arm. ‘That was nice. You can kiss me again if you like.’

He smiled as he wrapped both arms around her and held her tight. This time his lips pressed down a little bit harder, and a pleasant feeling tingled in her stomach. She moved her head so that their lips met easily, kissing him back. She even went as far as to hold his arm. When they drew apart, he kissed her on the cheek. ‘Your first real kiss,’ he said.

She didn’t know what to say, but she could feel her face burning. She wanted him to kiss her for a lot longer and put his arm around her again. But now there were voices coming up the beach. Girls’ voices. Lily and Rose.

It sounded like both the girls were drunk, and they didn’t even bother trying to hide their cigarettes, both of them drawing on them and blowing smoke into Chris’s face.

Lily lay down in front of them on her stomach, her short skirt barely covering her underpants, a low-cut top revealing what Evie considered to be very large breasts. ‘Were you two kissing? I was eleven when I had my first kiss.’ she said, laughing out loud as Rose flopped down on her back, swinging her legs high in the air and staying in an upright yoga pose. She sang as she pointed her toes to the sky. ‘All I need is the air that I breathe and to love you.’

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