BEFORE: Absent

Seb didn't show up the next day.

I must've waited nearly an hour in the park before Phoebe began whining and I decided to give up and leave. Maybe he forgot. I thought. Maybe I should go around to find him. Would he appreciate it? Maybe he never did want to meet up, and they were all sat there at home laughing at me for thinking they'd actually want to hang out with me. No, stop it. I thought angrily. I was just being paranoid. There must be a good reason. I'd talk to him at the next barbecue if I didn't see him before – there was bound to be one in the next week or so.

Attaching Phoebe's lead back to her collar, I headed back home.

"You're back early!" Simon exclaimed as I walked through the door, dragging my feet. His eyes softened as he noticed my expression. "Not good?"

"They didn't show up," I mumbled. They. I hadn't told my parents it was meant to be just Seb, but even if the others had shown up, Seb would've claimed all my focus.

"Don't worry Bry." Simon ruffled my hair. "They probably just forgot or ended up being busy. These things come up – especially since they're renovating the upstairs of their house at the moment."

I nodded glumly as I unclipped Phoebe's lead and hung my keys on the hook by the door. "I guess so."

I spent the rest of that day and all the following ones bored. All my friends except Sophie lived out of town, but even Sophie was away on holiday at the moment so there was nobody for me to meet up with. Dance classes basically stopped over the summer holidays, and as much as I tried to do my own exercises it just wasn't the same, and the days all just rolled into one.

I never thought I'd look forward to a barbecue, but when Mum told me about the one happening in four days, I felt a nervous excitement rise in my stomach as I thought of talking to Seb again.

Finally, the day came, and I made sure to look extra nice with a dab of makeup and a pretty red summer dress since the weather was still hot enough.

"You look nice," Mum commented as I reached the bottom of the stairs, and I blushed, suddenly worrying that I'd overdone it.

"Should I change?"

"No, no!" Mum shook her head. "I love that dress. Plus we don't have time, we're already a little late and we're meant to be helping set up." I noticed then that Chris and Simon were already waiting outside the door, and I hurried out to join them. "Right, everyone has everything?"

We all nodded and started heading down the driveway towards the Simpson's while Mum locked up.

Since it was our turn to help the Simpson's set up, the Garcias didn't arrive for another forty-five minutes. The more the clock ticked down, the more nervous energy I had, and Chris kept giving me confused looks.

"Did you have a whole kettle of coffee this morning or something?" he asked after my leg vibrated so much while we were sitting at the table that his plastic cup fell over. After that, I forced myself to take some deep breaths and calm down. It was not that big a deal that I was seeing Seb! He probably didn't even think twice about it. He'd probably completely forgotten I'd ever had a water fight in his back yard. Probably forgotten about my existence entirely.

Then he stepped into the back garden and everything seemed to go very quiet. I tried my best not to stare but I couldn't help catching his eye. He looked guilty when he saw me, and at that point I knew he definitely hadn't forgotten to meet me. His sisters followed him through the gate, and I nearly missed the nudge in the back that Kathryn gave Seb while glancing my way. He slowly ambled over, still unable to meet my eye.

"Hey," I said when he reached me and sat down on the bench opposite. I hadn't noticed, but at some point since the Garcia's had arrived, Chris had left the seat next to me.

"Hey," he said back, glancing over my shoulder. I turned to follow his gaze, only to see Kathryn suddenly stop making waving motions with her hands in their direction and look away. I laughed, though I wasn't sure why I found it funny that Kathryn was having to force Seb to talk to me. "Sorry about that..." he mumbled. "And, um, sorry I missed when we were meant to meet up. Something came up, and then I wasn't sure how to contact you."

That was exactly what Simon had told me, although I felt there was something Seb was hiding from me. I wasn't one to pry though, especially considering how little we know each other. "That's okay," I smiled at him. "If you still want to, we can meet up with the dogs another time?"

He sighed in relief as his shoulders relaxed and his blinding smile returned. "Yes, I'd like that. How about tomorrow if the weather's good? Maybe I can bring the water guns to the park if you're up for that again?"

My smile widened as I remembered our first water fight. "That sounds really fun. Thyme and Kathryn should come too if they want to – it was so much fun last time!" I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it, but a flicker of disappointment shot over Seb's face. It was gone as soon as it arrived, and I quickly forgot what I thought I'd seen.

"Definitely," he said as he waved his siblings over. A few seconds later, Kathryn sat down next to me and Thyme next to her brother. "Want to have another water fight tomorrow?" he asked them, and Kathryn's face burst into a grin. Even Thyme, who still hadn't said a word to me, smiled at the idea.

"That sounds really good! Such a shame we couldn't meet up with you these last couple of weeks, but with the renovations upstairs..." Kathryn gulped, and a wave of unease swept across the siblings. "But yeah. Just very busy," she ended awkwardly, and I tried to ignore the suddenly uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Food's ready guys!" Chris called across the garden, and I realised that in the time we'd been talking, the other families had arrived. We stood up, heading over to grab a plate and a burger, but I didn't miss the concerned murmur of Seb to his older sister.

"When's Dad meant to be arriving?" I discretely looked around – their mum was having a chat with Mrs Robinson but there was no sign of their dad.

Kathryn sounded equally concerned when she replied, "I'm not sure. He won't be long. I don't know what to do."

Of course, I was curious, but this sounded like a really personal topic and I just didn't know any of them well enough to let on that I'd heard them talking. I moved out of earshot, and sat back down at my seat on the bench. Not long after, Seb, Kathryn, and Thyme resumed their previous seats with me, and we chatted about school.

They suddenly tensed and the conversation died down half an hour later, and I didn't have to turn around to know their father had just arrived. It was almost like they were scared of him, but I pushed away the thought. He was probably just strict, it was nothing I needed to worry about. I'd notice if it was, surely.

***

Seb was already at the park when I arrived the following day, but there was no sign of Kathryn or Thyme or Saffy.

"Hey!" I called. "Just you?"

He jogged over, a large re-useable shopping bag over his shoulder. "Hey," he said breathlessly. "No, I'm sorry, and no water pistols either. I've actually just been sent to run a load of errands and I have to go home straight after, I'm sorry." He looked genuinely disappointed, and I felt sorry for him. I knew what it was like to have to do chores when I was meant to be meeting friends.

"No worries – I can join you and help if you like?" His eyes widened a little, and I raced to retract my idea. "Don't feel that you have to have me trailing along. I'm just bored at home, you know. All my friends live far away or are on holiday so it's either you or total social isolation from anyone under the age of eighteen." By the time I'd finished rambling, the grin had returned to Seb's face.

"No, please come! Might make them slightly more bearable. There's not too much, just some letters to post and some stuff to get at the shop. But I could do with some company too." He started walking in the direction of town and I followed wordlessly.

After an hour, Seb had finished all his chores and he started to head back in the direction of his house.

"Actually," I said loudly as he was already a few paces away. "I live this way." I pointed in the opposite direction to his house. "So we should probably split here."

Seb's face dropped slightly before his smile rose back up again. "Okay, Briony." He paused. "Actually, do you have a nickname?" I shook my head and he frowned. "Is it okay if I just call you B?"

A blush spread to my face at the thought of us being close enough for him to give me a nickname. I nodded, letting a strand of hair fall over my cheek to disguise the redness.

"Okay, then. Do you wanna meet up next week, B? The next few days we have things, but next Tuesday I'm free?"

"Sounds perfect," I agreed, my cheeks still stained and unable to meet Seb's eye.

"Same time at the park then on Tuesday."