Daisy calls Rufus back to us, shaking off his wet fur. “Well, that’s a shame. Shall we go for a walk? We’ll lose Rufus to the ocean if we keep taking our eyes off him.”
“Sure.”
As we walk down the beach, Rufus runs circles around us. Daisy fills me in about what she’s been up to with university. She’s yet to find a boyfriend, and I know how picky she is. They’ll have to be perfect in every sense.
Two people in the distance begin to walk towards us with a small brown terrier. Rufus barks and Daisy sighs, calling out for him as he moves closer but doesn’t reach the other dog.
“Honestly,” she mutters. “He’s made friends with the whole town.”
I chuckle quietly. “Wouldn’t expect anything less from him.”
We walk towards the two people who have stopped so Rufus can gently greet their dog. Daisy grips my wrist. “Oh my god, do you know who that is?”
“No.” I squint. “Who is it?”
“Isaac and Harriet,” she murmurs under her breath. “From school. I haven’t seen them in ages.”
We inch closer until Isaac’s eyes find mine. He does a double-take. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s seeing a ghost; except I didn’t die, and everyone in this town knows that I survived and moved away without a second thought.
“Ivy?” Isaac calls out. “Oh my, how long has it been?”
“A while.”
Isaac was one of my first friends at school. We had some classes together, including biology where we both thrived. But when I left, we didn’t stay in contact. That’s my fault, I wanted to leave everything in this town behind.
“How are you?” I ask.
I focus on his face, curly black hair, and glowing brown skin. He looks so grown up now, even with the evidence of stubble on his cheeks and jaw. Throughout school, we were mostly the same height, but he’s rocketed since. At least eight inches taller than me.
“Good.” He doesn’t take his eyes off me. “I’m good. You back for the summer? I had no idea you were home.”
I clear my throat. “Yeah, just visiting for now.”
“Fair enough.” He flashes me a handsome smile. “Well, hopefully I might get to see you a bit more this summer.”
“For sure.”
“There’s a party tomorrow.” Harriet catches my attention. We weren’t as close as I was with Isaac, but I remember her being a nice girl. “On the beach. You guys should come. There will be a bunch of people from school coming, and it might be nice to have a little reunion.”
Daisy hums. “Sounds like fun to me. Ivy?”
Isaac’s gaze lingers on me carefully, and I nod. “Yeah, of course. We’re there.”
“Great.” Harriet grins. “We’ll probably start just before sunset. Bring drinks.”
“Of course,” Daisy says as Harriet calls for her dog to move away from Rufus. “See you then.”
Isaac and Harriet begin to walk until Isaac stops and locks eyes with me, offering me a gentle smile. “It’ll be really great to see you there, Ivy,” he says genuinely.
“You, too,” I agree.
When they’re gone, we head towards the road. “That guy has had a crush on you since year seven. I swear.”
I shake my head, dismissing her words.
“He asked me to the school disco in year eight, but we went as friends. That’s all we were throughout high school.”
Daisy tuts. “Trust me. I can tell. He’s chuffed you’re home. And his glow up has done him wonders.”
