Girl Heart Boy: No Such Thing as Forever (Book 1) Read Free Page A

my friend Rich a bunch of papers to hand out. I loved
Jane Eyre
, but Mr Roberts had the uncanny knack of turning any book into the most brain-bangingly dull story ever written. He also insisted on being called Mr Roberts, in return for which he called us all Mr or Miss Whatever. He thought he was single-handedly maintaining traditional values while treating us with the kind of respect that we, as upper-school students, deserved. We thought he was a dick.
    Anyway, I’d read
Jane Eyre
, like, five times so I happily zoned out. I didn’t quite gaze out of the window with a secret smile playing about my lips while absently doodling love hearts with Joe’s initials in them, but it was close.
    I so didn’t want to be the kind of girl who couldn’t concentrate on anything except her boyfriend (boyfriend??), but I was having serious trouble thinkingabout anything else. I sneaked a look at my phone. Exactly a week ago I’d been sitting with Joe in a beachfront cafe drinking coffee and putting the world to rights. A million miles away from a muggy classroom in Brighton.
    Joe and I ended up spending hours together on the beach at the non-barbecue.
    His friends eventually got bored of messing about in the sea and came to join us. I reluctantly sat up and straightened my skirt as they noisily went about getting drinks, putting down towels and dripping water on us. They smelled of boy: fresh sweat, beer and whatever they’d sprayed on that morning to make them fragrant. I shifted uncomfortably at the sudden change in dynamic.
    Joe gestured airily in his friends’ general direction and introduced them: ‘Ben, Rav, Will: Sarah. Sarah: Ben, Rav, Will.’
    I wasn’t sure who was who, although I guessed that Rav was the one with the brown skin sitting in the middle. He smiled and said hello then immediately looked down at his hands. I relaxed slightly. We could be quiet and uncomfortable together.
    ‘So, where you from, Sarah?’ asked Ben/Will. He was short with a Scottish accent, but he could havebeen a local with his deep tan and dark-brown wavy hair. I put on my best first-impressions-count smile. ‘Brighton. You?’
    ‘Perth.’ He lowered his voice. ‘The one in Scotland.’ I stared at him stupidly. ‘As opposed to Australia?’ I forced out a laugh, and he bowed slightly. ‘I know, it’s a shit joke. But thanks for laughing … Will’s from Brighton, aren’t you, Will?’
    I started with the ‘Oh really! Brighton! Wow, which bit!’ stuff, but Will was monosyllabic all over. He was tall, broad and handsome in a ridiculous Hollywood way. All bronzed with cheekbones and flashing eyes. But he knew it, and he acted sort of tired and sardonic, like he didn’t have to make an effort cos his smouldering good looks did the talking. Yawn. And his teeth were nowhere near as good as Joe’s. As the conversation continued in its fairly agonizing, stilted way, I tried to be part of the conversation, but I was distracted by my conflicting emotions, and I couldn’t concentrate. I was desperate for them to leave me and Joe alone again, but at the same time I didn’t want them to in case Joe went with them.
    In the end, Rav put me out of my misery. He announced he was starving so he, Ben and Will went off to get food. Joe told them he’d give it a miss. He wanted to stay with me. (He wanted to stay with me! I wanted a T-shirt with those words on it.)
    As soon as the boys had sloped off, Joe fell backwards on to the sand and stretched. ‘Thank God for that. I thought they’d never leave.’ He put his hands behind his head and grinned up at me. ‘Thanks for sticking around.’
    I smiled, and had just started the process of plucking up enough courage to make the first move when he gently pulled me towards him. As we kissed, he stroked his hand up my leg, under my dress, up my thigh. I could feel my heart beating faster, partly cos it felt good, but a lot because of the scary new territory. I gently pushed his hand away as it