Gone by Anna Bloom Read Free Book Online

stranger.
    Joshua offers a half smile. “It’s cool, you haven’t been here long. I didn’t realise the place had been sold.”
    Dad gives one of his coughs as he walks back into the kitchen “Well it was a bit of a rush.”
    “I see.” Josh turns his appraising glance towards me again and I stand rooted to the spot. Does he see? Does he realise I am the reason we had to move with just a few days notice? Does he realise I am the reason my family had to move two hundred and fifty miles? Does he see the labels?
    “Hey Bex.” Joshua doesn’t smile at me. In fact it feels like he is not even sure why he is here.
    “ Rebecca.”
    “Bex.”
    “So are we going surfing or not?” I ask with a resigned sigh.
    A grin switches on, flickering to life and it’s as if his whole face lights up. It’s beautiful and I know I definitely have my mouth open. Then he ruins it by speaking again. “Yes, Bex we are.”
    I let a deep sigh burst from my lips before turning to my parents catching them watching me with a strange look on their face. What is that? Worry? Concern? Shock?
    “Nice to meet you,” Joshua leans forward and shakes both of my parent’s hands again. “I’ll have her back this afternoon if that’s okay?”
    I automatically tut out loud and scrunch my face into a scowl. It gives me the raving hump when people talk about me like I am a piece of property that needs to be cared for or returned after use. Call me over sensitive. I don’t know why he’s asking anyway. We may have spoken for hours last night, but I didn’t in any way tell him anything important about myself. Admittedly we did have a weird conversation where I decided to blurt out that he shouldn’t try and look for me on Facebook or Twitter. He absolutely wet himself laughing and then turned to me, his arms spread wide, and said “Do I look like the type of guy on Facebook or Twitter?”
    I had to admit he didn’t, which amused him even more for some reason.
    “Would you like to stay for a BBQ when you come back?” Mum glances between myself and Joshua as she asks. She has an expression on her face which I would describe as confused but optimistic.
    My own expression must be downright shocked.
    Is she joking? In two years she has never willingly invited a friend of mine into our house. A risky game to play with your teenage daughter. She may have kept unsavoury characters out of her house and away from Emily, but at the same time she opened up more opportunities for me to loiter down alleyways and get thrown out of pubs for under-aged drinking. It’s a game she lost.
    Maybe the sea air has gone to her head and she has decided to change tactics. Or maybe she has finally given up caring. Who knows?
    I am shaking my head at both her and Joshua. A BBQ with my family sounds like a dead boring idea – just for me.
    “A BBQ sounds great.” Joshua gives another one of his breathtaking smiles that make his cheeks look like they are going to split.
    I am thinking up a reason for why the BBQ does not sound like a great idea at all, but the only one I can come up with is, “I wouldn’t bother, it’s going to be dull.” I roll my eyes in their sockets just to reaffirm my point.
    This makes Joshua laugh, a noise he looks quite surprised at as he places a hand on my elbow and turns me for the door.
    “Shall we go for your surf lesson, Bex?”
    “Rebecca.”
    “Bex.”
    Rebecca.”
    Joshua starts to tow me towards the door, my elbow still firmly in his grip. It’s the closest thing I have come to physical contact in I don’t know how long.
    Once we are safely outside I screech my feet to a halt, removing my elbow from his grasp.
    “One more time, and let me say it slow so you understand. My name is Rebecca.”
    He leans right in towards me, until he is close enough that I can see three freckles along the bridge of his nose.
    “One more time and let me say it slow so you understand. Your name is Rebecca, but you look like a Bex.”
    I have no