The New Girl by Cathy Cole

Old Town. Gulls sat on the uneven rooftops, crying and flapping their wings. To Lila it felt as if they were repeating what her secret admirer said. Have faith! Have faith!
    The roads in the Old Town were narrow and higgledy piggledy, sloping left and right, some with steps and some with cobbles. Lila was lost in moments. She wasn’t surprised tourists avoided this maze when they could spend their time on the wide, straight high street and the gently curving Marine Parade with its views of the sea instead.
    Polly dragged her down a narrow set of cobbled steps to a silvery wooden fence, and pushed hard at the creaking gate. Inside there was a little paved garden dotted with wooden tables and large, furled umbrellas.
    â€œThat leads to the rooftop garden,” Polly said, pointing at a spiral of rusty iron steps running up the side of the old white-brick building. “It’s gorgeous in the spring, if you can face the climb. We’re going in this way. This fire door’s never locked.”
    They met a set of worn, carpeted steps as they entered the building. Polly ran up and craned her neck around the corner at the top. “Good, the table’s not taken,” she said, sounding relieved. “Come on.”
    â€œOh!” Lila exclaimed when she reached the top. “It’s so cool!”
    The Heartbeat Café hummed like a hive below them, full of clatter and chatter. The red leather booths that lined the panelled walls were already half full, particularly the booths near the stage. Lila spotted Eve at once, sitting with her back to the balcony, beside Rhi and opposite a boy with dark curly hair she didn’t recognize. She nudged Polly.
    â€œWho’s that?”
    â€œMax Holmes,” Polly said promptly. “Tech genius with a rebellious streak. He’s been going out with Rhi for about a year. Cute, isn’t he?”
    Lila caught a flash of Max’s white teeth as he threw his dark head back and laughed at something Rhi had said. “Very,” she agreed.
    â€œEve always gets that booth by the stage,” Polly said, settling down at the little balcony table. “People say it’s the best spot, but I think it’s better up here. You can see everything that’s going on.”
    Lila noticed that there were hundreds of carved initals inscribed into the wooden walls around her. There were messages scratched into the wooden balcony rail too, and the banister that curved down the stairs. She traced the flowing letters LW&TG on a panel by her head.
    â€œCarving initials and messages is a Heartbeat Café tradition,” Polly smiled. “Heartsiders have been doing it for generations. We are the love capital of the world, remember.”
    Lila felt the love of LW&TG tingling through her as she traced their time-worn initials with her fingers. She wondered who they were and what their story had been. She wanted a timeless love like that. Maybe she’d find one at Heartside Bay. Maybe I’ve already found it , she thought, picturing the note in her pocket. Only I don’t know who with.
    Down below, Max Holmes was carving something into the wall beside the booth he, Rhi and Eve were sitting at. It wasn’t hard to work out that he was adding his and Rhi’s initials to the history on the Heartbeat Café walls. Rhi and Max seemed like the perfect couple as they smiled into each other’s eyes and linked hands over the table, and Eve was laughing and teasing them both. They all looked very happy.
    â€œI’ll get us something to drink,” Polly offered.
    As she headed down the stairs for the bar, Lila looked back at Eve’s booth. She blinked in surprise. An extra person had slid into the booth opposite Eve. His face was turned towards the balcony, and his eyes were on Lila.
    Ollie slowly lifted his hand, apparently to scratch his ear. He quickly pointed upwards. Then he opened his hand, showing five fingers.
    Lila guessed he meant