BEFORE: Park

The second time I ever saw Sebastien Garcia, was about a week after the barbecue. Chris was out with his friends and our parents were at work, leaving me to walk Phoebe, our Labrador, by myself.

It was hotter than the average summer day in the east of England, so I had to stop in the park to give Phoebe a rest and some water as she was quite old now. After filling up her water dish, I lay down in the shade and closed my eyes against the glaring sun while Phoebe sat next to me, lapping at the water and panting in the heat.

I wasn't sure how long I lay there in the grass, but it couldn't have been longer than ten minutes, when I heard a couple of familiar voices, though I couldn't place how I knew them.

"...I know you don't want to be outside, T, and I know you're too hot, but Dad told us we all had to walk Saffy, so please stop complaining." It was a female voice, probably a teenager from what she was saying. I didn't open my eyes, but just kept listening.

"But I don't like the outside when it's this hot. And Dad didn't need all three of us to go - one person is more than enough! Look - she's on her own!" A younger female voice countered, and I opened my eyes at that, suspecting that she was pointing at me, and I wasn't wrong.

Everything was blurry from the sudden sunlight streaming into my eyes, so I still couldn't identify who it was, and how I somehow knew one of those voices, until I heard the third.

"Hey, do I know you? Wait, you were at the barbecue last week, weren't you? Briony, is it?"

I nodded dumbly.

Standing in front of me were none other than the three most beautiful people to ever be created, led by the most beautiful of them all. Sebastien Garcia.

"Oh! I remember you," the older girl, Kathryn, said, and I could now see her bright smile since my eyes had finally adjusted. "You remember us, right? I'm Kathryn," she pointed at the younger girl, who had frozen where she was standing and was now staring down at the grass, "this is Thyme-"

"And I'm Sebastien."

As if I needed to be reminded who he was.

"N-nice to see you again," I stuttered. I actually stuttered, all because of the perfect people in front of me.

Luckily, just as the sudden silence was starting to get awkward, Phoebe found it to be the perfect opportunity to become a puppy again, and leapt towards the Garcias' dog, Saffy, with a playful bark.

The four of us laughed as we watched them, and the three of them sat down with me in the shade. Thyme retrieved a bowl and a bottle of water out of her backpack and placed it on the ground next to Phoebe's.

"So," Kathryn started. As the oldest, she seemed to be the talker of the group. "How old are you, Briony?"

"Thirteen," I replied. "Just going into Year Nine."

I looked at the three of them, Sebastien's eyes lighting up. "Same!" he said, surprisingly excited at the revelation. "Which school do you go to? Thyme and I are starting at King's in September. Thyme's going into Year Seven."

My eyes widened. "I go to King's! You'll really like it. Do you know which House you're going to be in yet?"

"Great! And I got my letter a few weeks back - King Henry VIII I think," he said, and my eyes widened even further. What were the chances...

"I'm in Henry VIII too! You'll be in my form then - we did get told at the end of last year that we would be getting a new person at the beginning of this year, so that must be you!"

The most perfect smile spread across Sebastien's cheeks, a dimple appearing on both sides, and I almost had to look away from fear of being blinded. "Awesome!" he exclaimed, then paused, "What's your dog's name, sorry?"

"Phoebe," I quickly answered, and watched as Sebastien looked at his older sister, who nodded.

"Do you want to come to our house for lunch with Phoebe? We're not too far away from here, and her and Saffy seem to be getting along pretty well." It took a lot of effort to tear my eyes away from Sebastien, but I eventually managed to look at the dogs, and laughed. They were playing about in the shade, all signs of Phoebe's age gone as she chased the smaller dog about, cheerfully barking occasionally.

"That sounds good!" I agreed, and we all started to slowly stand up. The dogs noticed this, and ran over, lapping up the rest of their water. Once the dishes were empty, Thyme and I shook out the remaining dregs, and stuffed them into our bags before cleaning up after the dogs and reattaching their leads.

"Okay let's go," Kathryn said, and started walking, Thyme next to her, leaving Sebastien beside me. He grinned at me, and I couldn't help but grin back.

***

The Garcia's house was only two minutes down the road from the park, but we were all drenched in sweat by the time we arrived, and the dogs were panting hard. Kathryn unlocked the door and we stepped inside. Their parents weren't home, so Kathryn made us all a cold glass of orange squash with extra ice, and I refilled Phoebe's dish.

"What do you want for lunch?" asked Seb, as he opened the fridge door. The blast of cold air felt amazing, and we both sighed before bursting into laughter. "Okay... Something cold then," he joked, a big grin across his face. Him and Thyme pulled out the packaged ham and cheese and we all made sandwiches.

Kathryn made a face as she tried to open the jar of onion chutney. "Seb, can you open this?" He looked at her, hands and mouth full of sandwich, and said something so muffled none of us understood it.

"I can give it a go?" I suggested. "I'm stronger than I look."

"Okay, sure," Kathryn laughed. "But don't tear up your fingers with it."

With minimal effort, I popped the seal and unscrewed the lid, grinning as I passed it over to Kathryn.

"I loosened it, alright?" she defended herself as Seb started to laugh.

"Sure you did..." he said when he finished his mouthful of food. "What's your secret, Superwoman?"

I laughed uncomfortably, a blush rising to my cheeks.

"Nah, but seriously," Kathryn continued from Seb. "What sport do you do? I bet you're really good."

I looked down, the blush spreading down to my neck. "I-" I cleared my throat. "I'm a ballet dancer actually. I want to be a professional."

"Oh yeah, that stuff is actually really difficult right?" asked Seb. He actually looked a little impressed, which I was surprised about. Most people's reaction was just 'Can you do the splits', or 'I used to do ballet when I was 4', so it was nice to have something different.

"Yeah, I train every night at the studio for two hours, and have my own workouts to do every morning at home too," I explained, and Kathryn looked impressed too.

"Damn, I never realised it was so intense, especially when you're still only thirteen," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's quite a lot," I agreed. "But I love it."

After that, Seb found some water pistols in their garden shed and a chaotic water fight ensued, ending with us all lying on the grass staring at the bright sky exhausted and breathing heavily. The dogs lay panting in the shade, drinking occasionally.

"What's been happening here?" a female voice called from the doorway, and I sat up immediately, feeling lightheaded at the sudden movement. "Ah, it's Briony right?"

"Hi Mrs Garcia," I smiled at her, feeling nervous. "Sorry for me and Phoebe to intrude..."

"No, not at all! It's nice to see you all making friends, even Saffy..." She looked at her dog beside mine in amusement. She turned her gaze to her children. "It's getting towards five O'clock now though. Dad will be back soon."

An uncomfortable feeling spread throughout the garden, and I shivered at the sudden coldness in the air. Standing up, I brushed the loose grass off my legs. "Phoebe and I should probably be going now anyway, my parents will wonder where we got to."

Seb walked me to the door after I thanked the others for having me there. "Do you want to meet at the park at the same time tomorrow?" he asked. There was still an uncomfortable, stuffy atmosphere in the house, but his smile eased it a little.

"That sounds good," I agreed. "I'll bring Phoebe again?"

Seb nodded. "Perfect. I'll see you then!"

I waved goodbye and walked down the driveway. As I walked out of the gate, a car slowed down to pull into the house, and my eyes made contact with Seb's dad's narrowed gaze.