He didn’t move. ‘Aren’t you going to sit up and watch your boyfriend showing off?’
‘I don’t have a boyfriend.’
‘You could have fooled me.’ Connor and I teased each other all the time, but this seemed different. He seemed really annoyed by all the attention Ryan was getting.
I sat up. ‘I hardly know him. We couldn’t even be described as friends.’
‘But you like him, don’t you?’
I could feel myself blushing. Even if I hadn’t, Connor knew me well enough that I wouldn’t attempt a lie. I shrugged. ‘Too much competition. I wouldn’t want to have to try that hard to get a boy to notice me. I’ll leave him to the sharks.’
‘Oh, I think he’s noticed you,’ Connor said. ‘He came to this party with you.’
‘That doesn’t mean anything. We live near each other. Anyway, he’s way out of my league. I haven’t even thought about him that way.’
Connor smiled and leant towards me. ‘He’s not out of your league. You’re beautiful.’
I couldn’t speak. I thought back to what Ryan had said just a few minutes earlier.
‘Well, thanks, Connor,’ I said, in the end.
I stood up to put some space between us and Connor stood up too.
‘I’m going to go and start the barbeques,’ he said. ‘You want to help?’
When the frisbee game ended, Ryan walked up to the barbeques and stood next to me. ‘Thanks for the invite,’ he said. ‘I’m having a good time.’
‘I can see,’ I said, pushing veggie burgers around the grill and deliberately not looking at him.
‘What are you cooking?’
I was reminded of the first day I spoke to him, at lunchtime when he had seen the pizza. ‘Veggie kebabs and veggie burgers.’
‘What are veggie burgers?’
I smiled. ‘You don’t know what veggie burgers are? Are they all hunting, shooting, fishing types in New Hampshire then?’
Ryan looked at me as though he didn’t know what to say.
‘They’re made from soya beans,’ I said. ‘You should try one.’
‘OK. Is Connor cooking the same?’
I shook my head. ‘No, he’s grilling beefburgers.’
‘As in cow?’
I laughed. ‘What planet are you from?’ And then I noticed his expression. He looked sickened. ‘Are you a vegetarian?’ I asked.
‘Yes.’
I couldn’t work him out. He seemed so normal and yet at times, so strange. How could he not know what burgers were? He was American. Burgers were like their national dish or something. And Matt had said something about Ryan not knowing who Hitler was. Maybe he was a member of a strict sect like the Amish who didn’t allow any connection with the modern world. But that didn’t make sense. He didn’t look Amish and he drove a car. Or maybe he was part of a religious group that forbade the eating of all animals? Animal rights campaigner? Child of commune-living hippies? Member of a cult? I checked out his shoes, which were on the sand by his backpack. They looked like they were made of tough leather, like his jacket.
‘How long have you been vegetarian?’ I asked.
‘Always.’ He breathed in deeply and looked me straight in the eye. ‘What will you be eating?’
‘The veggie stuff like you – I’m a vegetarian too.’
He breathed out. ‘Good.’
‘Does it matter that much?’ I asked.
He was still looking at me intensely. ‘It matters to me.’
The afternoon passed quickly. We ate and then Matt and Amy lit the bonfire and everyone drank bottled beer or Juiska, little pink or blue bottles of vodka and juice.
As the sun slipped below the horizon and the temperature dropped, everyone gradually drew their blankets closer to the bonfire. Connor and I were alone on our blanket, sitting as close to the fire as we dared. I was ready to go home.
‘There’s Venus,’ Connor said, staring up at an unblinking point of light in the sky.
‘How do you know that?’ I asked. ‘It just looks like a normal star to me.’
‘Do you see any other stars in the sky?’
I looked around. It wasn’t yet dark enough for the usual spread of stars.
‘Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after the moon,’ said Connor. ‘And she doesn’t flicker like the stars do. Her light is steadier.’
‘What does it look like through a telescope?’
‘She, not it,’ said Connor. ‘Venus is named after the goddess of love and beauty. Through a telescope you can see her disc shape. Right now, she’s a crescent shape.’
‘Connor!’ I heard Megan call.
I looked up and watched as Megan slurred her way over to us. She half stumbled on to the blanket and put her arm around Connor. ‘You ready to walk me home?’ Her words tumbled over themselves.
‘Yeah. It looks like you’ve had enough.’
Megan leant against his shoulder.
‘How are you getting home?’ Connor asked me.
‘I’m not sure,’ I said, looking for Ryan.
‘You’re not going to let him drive you home, I hope,’ said Connor. ‘He was drinking beer earlier.’
He didn’t need to say Ryan’s name for me to know that was who he was talking about.
‘He hasn’t been drinking,’ I said.
‘I saw him with a bottle of beer.’
‘He hasn’t taken a single sip.’ I pointed to the full bottle of beer, still standing in the sand.
Connor snorted. ‘How do you know that’s the same bottle?’
‘I just do. Anyway, his sister’s going to drive us home.’
Connor pulled Megan to her feet and put an arm around her. ‘Are we still revising tomorrow or have you made plans with Westland?’
‘Of course we’re still revising tomorrow,’ I said. ‘I wish you’d stop making assumptions just because I happened to get a lift with Ryan. It’s ridiculous. Anyone would think you were jealous!’
‘I’m not jealous of him. I’m just bored with you and Megan – and every other girl within a ten mile radius of Perran – acting as though there’s a total eclipse every time Ryan Westland sits down.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Next week he’ll be old news. We’ll all go back to worshipping you.’
‘If only that was true. I’d better get Megan home. I’ll see you tomorrow, OK?’
I nodded. ‘Feel better, Megan,’ I said.
‘I feel fine,’ she said, her words thick.
I watched as she stumbled along the sand, leaning hard against Connor. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought they were together. Megan had left her red blanket behind. I shook out the sand and folded it up.
‘You ready to leave?’
I turned. Ryan had crept up on me. I nodded.
‘I’ll call Cassie.’
‘Why don’t we walk home?’ I said. ‘It’s a beautiful evening.’
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realised I’d made a huge assumption. There was no we.
‘I’d really like that,’ he said. ‘Let’s get your bag and say our goodbyes.’
We followed the coastal path above the beach until it was too dark and then headed inland to the road that wound its way along the cliff edge to the village.
‘That’s Venus,’ I said after a while, to break the silence that had grown between us.
Ryan laughed. ‘I know. I thought you said you couldn’t identify anything in the sky except the moon.’
‘I can’t. But Connor pointed it out earlier at the beach.’
‘Venus?’ He laughed again. ‘I wonder why he chose to identify Venus, named for the goddess of love and beauty.’ He stopped and looked up. ‘He could have identified Jupiter or Sirius or Polaris. But he chose Venus.’
‘Oh, stop,’ I said through chattering teeth.
‘You’re cold,’ he said, slipping off his jacket.
‘I’m fine when we’re walking.’
He helped me into his jacket, which was much too big but warm and smelt like lemons and metal.