Never Forget (Memories)

boyfriend. He's gay." I raise my eyebrows. "And third, you've known Alec ten minutes. No offence, I'm sure he's a lovely guy," yeah I bet, "but you don't know him, so can we please stop talking about my relationship status."
    Alec laughs. "No offence taken."
    Mum shakes her head. "I can't take you anywhere, Lexy."
    I motion to Alec. "He already said he didn't take offence to my words."
    "I actually respect that," Alec put in, "I don't mean to butt in, but I think it's great you're more worried about your education than having a boyfriend."
    "Thank you." I smile at him across the table.
    "Oh, dear, that reminds me." Grammy taps the table. "I ran into.. What's her name? The girl you used to play with."
    My brow furrows as I think. "Do you mean Jen?"
    "Yes!" Grammy claps her hands. "Well I ran into her yesterday at the post office and told her about you coming here for the summer and she said you should give her a call. She gave me her number and I put it somewhere.." Grammy gets up and wanders over to her bag on the counter. She rifles through it.
    "You put it on the fridge so you wouldn't lose it, Vi," Alec tells her.
    Grammy looks at the fridge and pulls it off. "Here it is. So I did, thank you, Alec."
    "Any time," he says sincerely and stands. "Thank you for another lovely meal, Vi, but I better be going before mum wonders where I am." He looks at all of us. "It was lovely to meet you all."
    "And you, love," Mum says with a smile. Dad stands and they shake hands. I wave half-heartedly, my attention on the bit of paper Grammy hands me.
    "I'm gonna go call her now, okay?" I stand and disappear from the room.
    Alec is just leaving as I reach the bottom of the stairs.
    "Bye, Lexy." He smiles and shuts the door.
    "Yeah, bye," I say after him and bounce up the stairs into my room.
    I snatch my phone from my pillow and dial her number.
    She picks up after three rings.
    "Hello?"
    "Hey, is this Jen?"
    "Yeah, who's this? Oh, oh! Lexy, is that you?" she exclaims.
    "The one and only!" I laugh.
    "Oh it's so good to hear your voice. What's it been?"
    "Five years," I say, almost regretfully.
    "Wow, that's ages. How have you been?"
    We get the pleasantries out the way and I find myself laughing and smiling as if we'd never lost contact.
    "Anyway, what are you doing tomorrow?" Jen asks.
    "Nothing, why?"
    "I'm heading down to the bay with my boyfriend, Carl. Fancy coming with us? He'll be surfing and it's sooo boring on my own."
    "Yeah, sure. What time?"
    We make plans and I hang up. I lie back on my bed and sigh.
    Maybe it won't be so bad to spend the summer here after all.

CHAPTER TWO

    ALEXIS

    I roll over in bed, stretching before I rub the sleep from my eyes. I reach under my pillow for my phone.
    "Oh crap!" I exclaim and jump out of bed. My phone reads 10.10 and I'm supposed to meet Jen at 10.30 at the Bay.
    I scramble through my half unpacked suitcase in search of a bikini, sun dress and sandals. I find some sunglasses and grip the arm of them between my teeth before triumphantly finding the objects of my search.
    I change quickly and apply some mascara to my long lashes, rubbing some concealer under my eyes to hide the fact I've just got up. I release my hair from its messy bun, letting the crazy curls cascade down my back. I groan at the mess and run a brush through it, untangling it all. A little mousse smooths it out and I nod, satisfied at my appearance.
    I slide my bag onto my arm, grab my phone and make a break for it downstairs. Grammy is pottering around in the kitchen doing whatever it is she does when I get downstairs.
    "Good morning, Lexy girl." She turns to me with a smile and looks me over. "Off out?"
    "Yeah, I'm meeting Jen in about five minutes on the Bay." I walk over to her and kiss her cheek.
    "Will you be back for dinner?"
    "I'm not sure. I'll text mum and let her know, okay?" I open the front door.
    "Okay, love. Have fun!"
    "Bye, Grammy!"
    I walk outside and shut the door behind me. The sun glares at me and I push my glasses down onto my eyes. I can feel the heat on my arms as I walk down the street, and I smile to myself knowing I'll have the beginning of a tan by the end of the day.
    The bay comes into view a few minutes later and the beach is deserted except for a few surfers in the sea and one lone figure sitting on the sand. The blonde hair lets me know it's Jen, and I feel excitement rising up at the prospect of seeing my childhood summer friend again.
    Every summer since I was five, I'd play with