Independent Jenny by Sarah Louise Smith Page B

delight, I used her iPad to book us a week’s stay in a cottage on the Isle of Skye.

Chapter Twelve
     
    We spent the next few days packing. Hayley read that there wasn’t much on Skye other than a Co-op and a few pubs and castles. No Tesco even.
    “What sort of a place doesn’t have a Tesco?” Hayley whined. I thought it sounded rather wonderful.
    So we stocked up on food for the week and bought Hayley a waterproof jacket and some hiking boots.
    I made myself so busy I didn’t have time to see Ross or Aiden, and decided it was probably better not to, anyway. I still thought of Aiden every moment I had spare and couldn’t see myself coming back from the trip and wanting Ross back. Shane convinced me I needed more time to make the decision and so I tried not to analyse everything too much, figuring I’d think about it while away and make a decision by the time I returned from Skye.
    The Friday night before the trip, I made myself beans on toast. As I opened the butter, I found another thing to add to the list of things I wouldn’t miss about Ross if I lived alone: toast crumbs had invaded. Yuck. Why did he always do that? I bet Aiden never did.
    As I sat eating, I really started to think. I was no longer madly in love with Ross. That much was clear. I was embarrassed more than heartbroken now.
    As for Aiden, my crush was still very much there, growing stronger every time I thought about that kiss. But maybe he was right. Maybe he was just the first kind man around after Ross.
    I couldn’t allow him to be a rebound, he deserved better. But the way he looked at me … the way he kissed me – it had to be real with the feelings I had.
    Then there was option number three. The sensible choice, given the facts. Walk away from them both and get a flat.
    Maybe Aiden could come and visit me… Oh. Back to thinking about him again.
    At 8pm Hayley arrived and I told her about Aiden. She listened intently, mouth agape.
    “Why didn’t you tell me the other day?”
    “Confusion. Embarrassment.”
    “Well, Skye seems a great place to clear your head. You’ll feel better soon, I bet.”
    “I hope so.”
    After a bunch more questions, Hayley produced a carrier bag.
    “What’s this?”
    “Some stuff I kept from our school days.”
    She tipped it out on my coffee table and we rifled through a bunch of photographs of us with our friends. We giggled, talking about the girls and boys we knew, both of us remembering fun times we’d had and stories about the people we hadn’t seen for years. It was funny, how friends could become strangers; well, that’s if you discounted the Facebook posts where we silently stalked each other without actually communicating in anyway, other than liking each other’s holiday snaps and baby photos.
    There was a cassette tape with hearts drawn on it in red felt tip.
    “What’s this?”
    “Ah, that is what Guy sent me from Skye a month or so after he left. I played it so many times it’s worn down.”
    I remembered she made him one too. We spent hours discussing the songs she’d add.
    “And here we are.”
    Hayley pushed a photo towards me of two young teenagers in love, their faces so familiar to me. They really were crazy for each other back then. No wonder she’d never quite got over her first love when they’d not even broken up face to face. I looked through a handful of other photos, including one of me with Guy’s brother, Will. We’d had a bit of a thing back then too. I hadn’t thought of him for years.
    “Will was cute, huh?” said Hayley, looking over my shoulder.
    “Yes, but we were never as serious as you and Guy.”
    “Guy and I even talked about getting married when we were older.”
    “Why did you lose touch, do you think?”
    “I guess our emails just got shorter and shorter. He wasn’t much of a typist anyway and the internet was so slow back then. Took forever to dial up, do you remember?”
    “Yeah, and I remember you moaning about it, too. So you’ve been