Joel shivered as he got out of the water. Despite wearing a wetsuit, the air and ocean were cold and unforgiving. He walked back up to the caravan with his surfboard and got showered and changed into warm clothes. Every few minutes he’d pause and think of her, wondering why she had been so distant this past week. There was one week left of the course, so maybe she was simply focused on getting towards the end of her book while her grandma was still alive. Or maybe things were more serious with her grandma and her mind was elsewhere.
As for his mind, it was often on her. Without control, it would flit to her without warning, and he would have to force himself back to the present moment.
He sat on the fold-out bed and opened the text messages on his phone.
Good morning, how is everything? he texted.
Then he added: You’re not too nervous about camping next weekend, are you?
What he really wanted to say was: Why did you really cancel our lunch last Friday? And why did you rush off after class on Tuesday? And does your mind wander to me as mine does to you?
Half an hour later he got a reply: All ok. So busy. Trying not to be nervous about camping.
He stared at it for a moment. Fair enough. She was just busy and probably tired. But it didn’t seem like her usual self.
He hesitated about what to say next, or whether to say anything at all, but he remembered it was Sunday.
Have you made pancakes yet? he asked.
Nope, just got out of bed, she replied.
Are you up for a new #pancakechallenge?
She didn’t reply right away.
Um, sure. What shape am I supposed to make today?
Joel thought for a moment. How many more shapes could one make from pancake batter? He thought he would give her some options for variety, so he texted: A body part.
He grinned, then added: And get your mind out of the gutter;)
He hoped his lightheartedness would help her return to her usual self.
His phone pinged: Sometimes random body parts find their way into my innocent pancake shapes anyway. #giantbutterflypenis
Joel erupted into laughter. She was back. If only for a moment, and via text, she was still … there.
Ha-ha, he texted. I look forward to seeing what random or on-purpose body part you create.
Watch this space … she replied.
He amused himself for a while imagining various body parts as pancake shapes. But he guessed she would so something innocent like a foot or a nose.
When the photo came through, his eyebrows rose.
Covered in luscious red-coloured jam was a pair of perfect bow-shaped pancake lips.
He smiled. Well done. What were they like?
The typing bubbles appeared, then disappeared, as though she was thinking of how to respond, even though it was a simple question. But he was learning that with Olivia, things weren’t turning out as simple as they seemed.
* * *
Olivia’s finger hesitated over the texting screen. She typed in the words, just to see how it would feel, just to imagine what it would be like if she were in a position to be able to say those words to someone. To have someone she could flirt with in that way: I’d rather know what your lips are like.
She giggled at the sentence that looked so foreign on her phone screen.
She could never say that. Her finger shook a little and she went to press backspace, but the message became a bubble and her phone made a whooshing sound.
‘What?’ She stared at the words. ‘What?’ Her heart raced and her finger tried to erase what she’d done. ‘Oh no, oh no!’ She had accidentally pressed send instead of backspace, and now her message was flying through cyberspace to her recipient.
‘What’s wrong, Mummy?’ Mia asked, looking up from the dining table.
‘Um, nothing. It’s okay, Mummy’s just …’ Oh God, what have I done? ‘I made a small mistake sending a message, nothing to worry about.’ She escaped into her bedroom.
Nothing to worry about? She paced the room and even Googled ‘how to erase a sent text message’ but sadly it looked like her mistake was inerasable and right now Joel would be reading her message and thinking that she was trying to seduce him.
Get a grip, Olivia, she told herself. It was just a little flirty message, nothing major. It wasn’t like it was anything erotic.
She stared at the screen. Below the message it said that it had been ‘read’, but there were no bubbles indicating he was replying.
Argh! Her body clenched and she stamped up and down on the spot in frustration and embarrassment, heat filling her body.
Okay, okay, think! How to rectify the situation? Maybe she could pretend April was here and had typed in her reply as a joke. No, she couldn’t lie, even a small white one.
Olivia pressed the screen. Sorry, just being silly. Trying ‘something different’, I guess. I wasn’t being serious.
Oh, but she was.
Her heart almost stopped when words appeared below hers: Oh. And here I was getting my hopes up.
Oh. Oh indeed. Was he being serious or just being silly too?
You are disappointed? she texted.
No, but I did get rather excited thinking you were flirting with me;)
Lol. In that case I can make up a new pretend flirt? #flirtchallenge
Go ahead, he replied.
Okay, this wasn’t so bad. She could do pretend flirting. Even though she had meant what she’d accidentally texted before.
And now that she was given the green light to flirt, she couldn’t think of what to say.
After a while of silence, Joel texted: Am I that hard to flirt with?
#underpressure was her reply. She had no idea why she was using hashtags but they just seemed to come out.
Extra challenge, Joel replied. You must flirt only in hashtags.
She laughed. Okay, here goes: #Yourenicerthanmypancakes.
Oh God, it was pathetic.
#thankyouthat’sveryniceofyou
Joel’s hashtag had un-hashtagged at the point of the apostrophe, so she said: #iappreciateyourgoodgrammarbuthashtagsdontlikeapostrophes
He replied with a hashtag and a laughing emoticon together.
So she replied: #didyoujusthashtaglaughatme?
#yes
The corners of Olivia’s lips turned upwards in a smile as their flirting triggered feelings she wasn’t sure how to handle. She texted him back with a hashtag and a kiss emoticon.
#didyoujusthashtagkissme? he asked.
#yes
#youresocute
She couldn’t contain her smile. Especially when he sent another text with a hashtag and two kiss emoticons.
#didyoujusthashtagkissmetwice? she asked.
#yes, he replied, and then her heart hashtag-fluttered at what he added next: #andthatwasntpretend