"Logan," he told me. "That's who you're going to date."

A small amount of ice-cream found itself coming out of my mouth as I choked back strangled laughter. I couldn't audibly protest, so instead I shook my head back and forth briskly, trying to mop up the cold creamy substance with my fingers.

Although Alastair had honoured his word and left me alone at the beach this morning, he'd annoyingly shown up at my ice-creamery shift this afternoon and insisted on joining me on my break. It was a busy afternoon, and nearby the bench we sat on a few children played with a Frisbee while their family picnicked on the lawn. I'd made sure we were a satisfactory distance from work, so Daniel couldn't get any ideas to report back to Maisie.

"Think about it, you two know each other really well, there's already tension there. All you need to do is bring the flame and I'm sure it will ignite."

"You're forgetting that I despise him," I reminded.

"Come on, Valerie," he reasoned. "You don't truly despise him. You're lying to yourself if you think you do."

I thought about it, taking another carefully bite of the rainbow ice-cream before replying. "Okay, maybe I don't despise him. But if you're intending on me giving someone a chance, having it thrown back in my face won't be the best outcome for you."

"That's why you have to trust me." He bit the side of his cone. He'd insisted on getting us ice-creams, which led to Daniel giving us suggestive looks as he served us. I would have to make up some explanation about that later. This probably wouldn't end well if my secret interactions with Alastair were blown.

"Why would I trust you?" I questioned.

"I haven't given you any reason not to, have I?"

I guess he had a fair point. It still didn't quench the uneasy feeling growing in my gut.

"Now, the first part of the plan," he began.

"We're constructing a plan?" I asked. Surely we weren't going to such extreme lengths?

"Sure are, and the first step should be easy."

"And what would that be?"

"Organising a meet-up tonight, with everyone, but not a the beach. Maybe a pub or something?"

He was right, it would be easy. Because it was summer, everyone would be down for a meet-up. Also, pretty much everyone, save for the lower year level, were of age. I quickly thought of the best place.

"We could meet at Sandy Cove Hotel?" I suggested. It had a nice little pub with a pool table and other entertainment factors.

"Sounds great. If you need an excuse, just say Lottie and I are keen to hang out again," he remarked. "She's already going stir crazy from no social contact."

I nod, already typing out a group text. Although I was not exactly enthusiastic about carrying out my part of the deal, I liked the idea of catching up with everyone again. I loved the little beach themed pub I'd grown up by, it was the perfect place to meet up casually for the evening. I also had the small belief that Alastair wouldn't pressure me into doing anything if I pleaded otherwise, which reassured me.

"Are you going to tell anyone about the deal?" Alastair asked. He scrunched up the paper from his ice-cream and successfully managed to lob it into the metal bin nearby.

"Probably," I admitted. "I'll end up telling Maiz, whether it be soon or later on, I don't think I've ever not told her something."

"You're really lucky to have a friend like that," he pointed out.

"I am," I agreed.

"Make sure you wear something... feminine," he suggested. "We're going to need to remind him you're an attractive young lady."

I scoffed, "I thought you weren't meant to make romantic gestures towards me anymore."

"That wasn't romantic. But I can make it romantic if you want me too." He winked, to further his threat.

"No, thankyou," I declined. "I'm having to put up with the idea of romance too much already."

After my shift, I headed to Maisie's on the way home. I wasn't sure whether she was working at the florist today, but my doubts were eliminated when her mother greeted me and informed me that Maisie was in her room as usual. Taking in the usual flurry of pink as I entered, I picked up a cushion from her armchair and placed it on my lap as I sat down. Maisie looked at me in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She was situated in the center of her bed, an assortment of images around her as well as a large pin-board. Leave it to her to be working on something creative. The images consisted of old polaroids of movie scenes which she must have made and small Christmas themed cardboard cut-outs.

"I came to ask." I took a breath, aware she would probably flip if she found out my intentions. "If I could borrow something to wear tonight."

Her eyes flickered to her phone; no doubt recalling the message, then to my face, trying to read my mind no doubt. "To the pub?"

"Yeah."

"You never admit that you need my fashion help," She pointed out. But like the good friend she was, she placed her scissors down on the bedspread and waltzed over to her closet. "What are you thinking?"

"Uh..." I looked for inspiration from her colourful over-spilling wardrobe. Damn Alastair. "Something... feminine?"

She openly scoffed and turned to look at me. Her blonde hair was piled in a messy bun on the crown of her head, and she as wearing her arty clothes, smeared with paint and other materials. "Why on Earth would Valerie O'Conner want to wear something feminine?"

"Because," I said defensively. "I want to try something new."

Giving a half smile, she looked torn. I could tell she was deciding whether to prompt more of an explanation, or to do what she's always wanted to do and doll me up. But, the latter won out.

After trying on three outfits, she'd perfected my look with a maroon cropped top, which showed more boob than anything I owned, with black high waisted jeans and strappy black sandals. To make the outfit more 'casual' she had laced my wrists with a collection of bracelets. And the whole time she'd tried to make me spill the beans on why I wanted to dress up.

Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth about the deal right away. The idea of caving to what she had been pressuring me to do for years would give her way too much satisfaction. And, there was a good chance she'd be pissed that she'd been trying so long to persuade me to date to no avail, and then Alastair, who had known me for a total of three days, had managed to succeed in convincing me.

"You know," she said, looking me up and down once she'd assembled the finishing touches, oblivious to my change in heart. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Valerie's on the market."

Maisie and I walked to the pub from her house at twenty past six, which meant that according to the message I'd sent out, we were already late. As I had suspected I'd received positive responses about tonight from nearly everyone, including Logan. 

The anticipation of possibly confronting him in some way other than harmless banter made my stomach convulse. I guess its not like I hadn't considered seeing him as more than a friend before. Everyone had, he was strikingly handsome, with a chiseled jaw and broad shoulders, and he was charismatic. He was friends and got along with everyone. Except me.

But, of course, my attitude towards dating had always prevented me from showing him romantic attention to begin with. But now that Alastair was making me give it a chance, I needed to rewrite my mind to dismiss my doubts for now, they would come later. 

Right now I needed to think about Logan's brilliant mind and how to get around it and into his radar of love interests. For this to work I needed him to look at me the same way I was looking at him; with an open mind as I gave the possibility of dating a chance.

Everyone was already there, spotted around the shanty-like bar in groups. Being a Wednesday night, there were only a few other patrons seated on the far end, drinking beer and watching the small TV which was playing some sports game. 

The roof was lined with a rugged rope which held sea-themed ornaments and pictures of the beach and random scenery around Sandy Cove decorated the walls. It was small, the area divided up with a pool table, a bar and a handful of little tables where a few of my friends sat and talked.

I noted Logan's position at the bar with the other guys. Lottie, Alastair and Zoe centered around the pool table, it looked like Alastair and Lottie were playing off against each other as Lottie fired the black ball into a pocket.

"In your face!" Lottie triumphed immaturely, giving Zoe a high five.

"You cheated, you bloody idiot, you still have a ball left!" Alastair pointed out.

"Who cares?" Zoe said. She took the pool cue from Alastair's hands. "I want to verse Maisie, she owes me a game."

"I better join them," Maisie sighed from beside me. "Be good."

"I always am," I reminded her. The realisation that I'd lost my chance to tell her about the deal made me feel instantly guilty.

"You're looking very feminine."

"If you say feminine again I'm going to scream."

Alastair had approached me as I was watching Maisie leave. He was dressed in a white shirt with dark sleeves and a pair of chinos. I had to admit, he looked really good with the muscle definition, and really English. It was annoying. He looked over at Logan with the other guys, appearing to be pondering for a moment before speaking.

"Its often that girls scream for me," he said after a few seconds.

"You're disgusting."

"And you're," he began. "Going to get him to buy you a drink."

"He's not going to buy me a drink, he hates me," I reminded him. Honestly I found his great plan pretty disappointing if this was his first form of action.

"That's what he wants you to think."

I sighed, thinking what I could possibly say to convince Logan Mathews to buy me a drink. Honestly, I couldn't think of anyway Logan could take me seriously, let alone consider me romantically.

"Just remind him you have a sensitive side, you guys have built up pretty hard walls to each other over time. But at the same time stay confident, let him know that you're not messing around. And push the boundaries, you know, touch his arm a little, work your way-"

"Okay!" I cut him off. "Okay, you're a great wingman but you don't know him like I do. He won't fall for that stuff with me."

"If it helps," he exhaled. "Do that cute thing with your eyebrows, it makes your eyes look really big and beautiful."

He contorted his face into a pleading look to demonstrate and I couldn't help but reach out to slap him in the arm, even laughing a little. Still, I can't remember anyone referring to a part of me as beautiful before.

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I'm going to go over to him."

Before Alastair could say another word that would make me back out, I left him, walking over to the bar where Logan leant on the polished wood, thankfully not too close to Noah and Pete nearby. The idea of anyone else observing my lack of dignity right now would make this situation even more daunting.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey, Vally!" Logan said enthusiastically. "Your new boyfriend let you off the leash?"

I gave him a sarcastic smile, "Ha-ha, so funny Logan. You know he's not my boyfriend."

He ran a hand through his golden hair before resting his elbows on the bar, giving me the once over I was so used to from those guys. His ice blue eyes glossed over my legs and lingered at my chest momentarily before drifting up to my face within a period of one second. He seemed at least a little impressed by my more 'feminine' outfit.

"What brings you over to us?" He asked me, when the novelty of me paying him attention had worn off slightly.

Here it was. I narrowed my eyes into a not quite humourous squint that I thought may possibly come across as somewhat flirty. "I was wondering if you'd like to buy me a drink."

Logan's eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets as he did a double take, his usually excellent mind failing to process my words immediately. It didn't take him long to regain his composure though, his slick cocky look back on his face.

"What makes you think I would like to buy you a drink?"

I tried to think quickly, searching my brain for an appropriately flirty response. But just looking at Logan reminded me that being flirty wouldn't work, he'd see right through it. Why would I act flirty with him in any normal circumstances? I was confident that if I kept acting flirty his mind would jump to my ulterior motives. I needed to do better, I needed to try and anticipate what he would react to best.

Giving my best attempt at a nonchalant shrug, I perched beside him on the polished wooden bar. "I'm just testing you, to see if you're really as chivalrous as you'd like to believe."

He narrowed his icy blue eyes at me, resting his chin on his hand as he observed. It wasn't long though, before he gestured for the attention of the middle-aged man behind the bar.

"Two double shot vodkas with lemonade, thanks."

My eyes swept over his half full beer sitting beside him. And then I raised my eyebrows. "Double shot? Are you trying to take advantage of me?"

He laughed at my sarcasm as he pulled cash from his pocket and placed it on the table for the bartender. I noticed my heart was thudding unusually fast, likely because I was experiencing the rush of success. I'd done it, I'd convinced him to buy me a drink. Now what? What did Alastair expect me to do?

"I probably would be, if you weren't so difficult to take advantage of," he said. My light laughter in response came a little late as my brain struggled to recall what I'd said last. 

"Oh?" I encouraged him to continue, just as the bartender placed the two drinks on the table. Again, he gave me a slightly surprised look. It wasn't often that either of us prodded the other to go into depth with our back-and-forth remarks.

"Have you been drinking already?" He asked me, placing the cold glass of one of the drinks into my open palm. He hastily grabbed a straw from a little cup on the bench and bopped it into it.

"No. Why are you being so surprised at me trying to be friendly?"

"Because you're not friendly to me," he said frankly. "I can't help but be suspicious."

So he was suspecting something. My thudding heart alerted me to the fact that this physical reaction wasn't coming from the rush of success. It was coming from the fear of getting caught. Why was I doing this again? This was not me.

"Well I was wondering, do you really know w-why we're so mean to each other?" I stuttered. My mind had gone into chaos and I had definitely blown my cover with that one. Why would we ask something so cheesy in any normal circumstances?

"You think I'm mean to you?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," I replied. I started fidgeting with the bracelet on my wrist as I sipped my drink. Jeez, the vodka was strong. I look around, desperate for someone to rescue me. I tried to catch Noah's eye, but, no success.

He pondered my words for a moment, taking a mouthful of his drink without even flinching. "Maybe you're just a little sensitive, Vally."

"Maybe that's just it."

I breathed carefully, trying to regain my confident composure that Alastair had affirmed in me. What did he say before? Cute look with my eyes? I tried it, contorting my features slightly, trying to ensure that it was not enough to look like I was trying too hard.

"Are you saying you'd like it if I was nicer?"

I thought about that, a world where Logan Mathew's was nicer to me. I screwed up my nose slightly, that would mean I'd have to be nice back. Which would mean I'd have to like him. But here I was, struggling to tolerate him as it is. But wait, right now I wasn't struggling to tolerate him, in fact, it was almost nice speaking to him normally. Then again, I'd thought the same of Alastair this morning.

Maybe they both weren't so bad, and I just gave them too much attitude to begin with.

"Hmm..." I pondered. "You see, I don't actually know what you'd be like if you were nicer," I braced myself against my next words, cringing internally at the flirtatiousness. "Maybe you should show me."

"Are you sure you're not drunk, Vally?" He frowned. "I can tell Maisie to take you home, you don't want to say anything you'll reg-"

"No!" I interrupted. I glanced at Maisie nearby, playing pool with Zoe. If she had noticed my conversing with Logan, she hadn't made a deal of it. "I swear this is my first drink."

"Well why are you being so... flirty."

Damn it. He had noticed, of course he had.

"I'm not." Ditching the plan, I decided acting like my usual self was the only way to get out of this situation with my dignity unscathed. "Maybe your ego is so big you're imagining things. Thanks for the drink, Logan, I owe you one."

Sliding my weight from the bar, I paced away, searching for where Alastair had disappeared to. I intended on telling him the deal was off, I'd even put up with his pestering if it meant never having to embarrass myself around Logan again. He'd never let me forget that conversation, I knew it. Why had I signed up for this? And most importantly, why did I go through with it?

He was sitting on a tall stool next to Lottie on the far end of the room, a small table holding some drinks between them. They each looked tense and agitated. I was clearly interrupting an argument between them. I was about to leave them be, when Alastair piqued up at the sight of me and stood down from his chair.

"Hey, Valerie, how'd it go?" 

I waited until we were out of earshot, each standing in the hallway between the bar and the bistro. "You are so clueless, Alastair!"

"What happened, I saw him buy you a drink?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah he bought me one, but I looked like such a bloody idiot. He saw right through me."

"That's a good thing!"

"How is that a good thing? He is probably laughing to his friends about it right now," I said hopelessly.

"No he isn't, trust me. And if he is, he really is just a shallow jerk and I won't force your half of the deal. I promise."

I looked at him, trying to tell if he was serious or not. The idea of breaking out of our deal right now was comforting.

"Really though," he continued. "He won't break his carefree demeanor with you, because he's probably waiting for you to jump up and say 'Ha! Tricked you!', but now that he knows that you're interested, you've planted the seed-"

"Alastair, I don't even know if I am interested," I reminded him. Then I remember who we're talking about. "In fact, I'm definitely not interested."

"But you're giving it a try, so you have to at least tell yourself you are."

I thought about his words before, how he'd said Logan was expecting me catch him out on a joke by flirting with him. Truly, that was what I was doing, just without the humour. I was pursuing him without the intention of becoming invested in him. It wasn't fair on him, but then again, he was never fair on me. And I was trying to give it all a chance. Well, in theory at least.

My eyes found a photo on the wall. It was black and white and framed in a gilded metal. The photo was of a couple I recognised, though they were both much more aged now. It was Maurice and George, the couple who'd purchased Sandy Cove Hotel in their youth. Today, their children ran the place, the bartender who'd served Logan earlier was their son. 

One thing was for sure, the picture of them, each wrapped gleefully in each other's arms outside of a newly sold hostel, soon to be renovated into Sandy Bay Hotel, depicted them completely in love. The smiles on their faces, the way they looked at each other. Not even I could deny it. Did they know the risk they'd taken when they had decided to get to know each other? Did they question what they would do if the other eventually left them? 

My thoughts from earlier rekindled in my mind. I owe it to myself to give this a chance.