‘Hannah?’ Simon called, sounding panicky and anxious, his voice coming from the bushes that seemed to be way above her. ‘Hannah? Are you down there? Are you all right? Where are you? Answer me . . .’
A second or two later she heard him slithering down the bank, crashing through the shrubs and scrub, before landing a few feet away from her.
‘Oh, there you are,’ he said, sounding relieved. ‘Bloody hell – are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? I mean, is anything broken? Do you want to ring for an ambulance or something?’
He pulled his mobile out of his pocket.
Hannah, still on all fours on the pebbles, swallowed hard. ‘No, don’t do that, please. I’ll be fine, just stay over there, will you?’ As she spoke she retched again and held up a hand to ward him off. ‘Please, Simon. I just need a few more minutes, that’s all.’
But he took no notice and came over anyway. ‘Jesus,’ he said, squatting down so that he could give her the once-over. ‘You look really awful.’
‘Well, thanks for that,’ Hannah sniffed, pushing herself up onto her knees.
‘Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to do anything?’
Hannah glanced across at him and for one awful moment thought he was going to hug her. She ran her fingers back through her hair, which she just knew was a complete bird’s nest.
‘No . . . just stay there, will you?’ This was hardly the impression anyone would ever want to make on someone they fancied. He must think Hannah was a complete and utter dork. She was covered from head to foot in grass stains and bits of twig and leaves and God alone knows what else from slithering down the bank, had sick on her shoes, a foul taste in her mouth and a horrible suspicion she might have some sick in her hair too.
Great.
Very gently she eased herself onto her feet. ‘You haven’t got a drink, have you?’ she asked, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
Simon gave her an odd look. ‘I don’t want to be a killjoy, Hannah, but I reckon you’ve probably had enough already, don’t you?’
‘No, not booze, you idiot, like water or something – oh, it doesn’t matter,’ she said miserably.
He reached into his pocket. ‘I’ve got some mints. Will those do?’
‘Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.’ Keeping at arm’s length, Hannah took the packet from him and slipped a couple of sweets into her mouth. She tip-toed her way out to the water’s edge to carefully rinse her shoes and feet, all the time aware that Simon was just a few feet away and watching her every move.
‘Stop looking at me,’ she snapped over her shoulder, carefully fishing her shoe out of the shallows.
‘I’m just worried, that’s all. You going to be all right?’ he asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
‘I already said yes, didn’t I?’
‘You sure?’
Hannah nodded and instantly regretted it as the whole world lurched sideways and she stumbled. Simon was there in an instant, catching her arm to steady her and grabbing hold of her shoes. She was too grateful and felt too awful to resist.
‘Actually I feel horrible,’ she said, leaning up against him. ‘And I still feel a bit drunk but I think it probably helped being sick. God, why on earth do people like booze? It’s crazy – I feel like shit. I suppose Sadie and Tucker are up there laughing themselves stupid, aren’t they?’
He grinned. ‘Wouldn’t take much.’
Hannah looked at him and smiled. Simon really was cute; it was such a shame that the whole world was spinning and that she looked so dreadful.
‘Those two were made for each other. Come on, I’ll help you back up,’ he said, and before she could protest, or fall over, Simon helped her pick between the rocks and the pebbles and rills of mud and gravel, holding onto her every step of the way to steady her. ‘I’ve got a comb if you want.’
She looked up at him, still trembling, and grinned. ‘That’s the best news I’ve had all day. Exactly how bad do I look?’
Simon just stared back at her, looking uncomfortable and self-conscious.
‘That bad,’ she giggled, aware of a funny little tingle of tension that arced between them as she let go of his hand and took the comb he was offering. As Hannah tried to sort out her hair, Simon shucked off his hoodie and handed it to her.
‘Here, put this on,’ he said. ‘Warm you up. Make you feel a bit better.’ He was so close now that she could feel the warmth of his body, could even smell him. For a moment Hannah thought he might be going to kiss her and stepped away, terrified he just might – God, she had just thrown up, how gross would that be?
She guessed that Simon had thought about it too, because she could see it in his eyes. She knew that if she hadn’t just been sick, she really wouldn’t have minded. Instead Hannah smiled, wrapped his hoodie tightly around her shoulders and said, ‘You know, you’re a total star, Simon, thank you. I suppose we better get back to the others.’
‘Sadie and Tucker?’
‘Uh-huh,’ she laughed. ‘Who else did you think I meant?’
‘They’ve already gone.’
‘What do you mean gone ?’ asked Hannah.
‘They’re heading for your gran’s place. I said that you’d be all right and that I’d keep an eye on you, so they said they’d get going and that we could catch them up.’
Hannah stared at him. ‘Are you mad?’ she said, instantly sober. ‘Those two let loose at my grandma’s party? My mum hates Sadie and they’re both drunk. God only knows what they’ll get up to.’ She grabbed her shoes from him and started to climb up the bank. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We need to catch them and quickly.’
Simon hesitated for a second or two longer. ‘You know that I really like you, don’t you, Hannah?’ he said. ‘I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend. Go out together and stuff. I could take you out, maybe the pictures or something, or swimming – or we could just hang out together.’
Hannah swung round. It wasn’t exactly the perfect moment to be asked out. Simon was grinning and he was standing strangely, all shoulders and elbows and she was about to say something rude and funny, when she saw the look on his face. It had obviously taken a lot of courage to pluck up the nerve to say something to her.
‘Si, I’d really like to go out with you but if we don’t stop Sadie crashing my grandparents’ anniversary party there is a good chance I’ll be grounded for the rest of my life. So if you’re serious, give me a leg-up the bank, will you?’ she said.
His grin held. ‘So is that a yes then?’