Unexpected Reunion 

The moment my parents decided that we would be moving away from London to the countryside is still probably one of the worst days of my life, so now whenever I get the chance I spend a couple of nights with my best friend Amy. She had always been there for me and even though I had made new friends at my new school, she was still the only one that I felt I could be my true self around. We had arranged to meet up in the summer holidays and I had already spent the night at hers.

Unfortunately the condition of me being allowed to stay at Amy’s for the night is that the next day I would have to visit an old family friend and her family who apparently we had been very close with when we lived here. Of course I don’t remember this seeing as we moved away when I was 7. So after spending time with Amy I am now walking to the Payne’s house because apparently they only lived a 10 minute walk from her house. We had agreed that I would meet my parents there as they were to be driving up this morning from our hometown in Essex.

My mum had briefly described the family we were supposedly so close to before I left, they were a couple about the same age as my parents but they only had one son, I think his name was Liam. Apparently we had spent a lot of time together as young children, but most of these memories had vanished from sight as I struggled to remember a detailed image of what he looked like. There had been a couple of photos I had seen a glimpse of him, but he was just a young boy and I knew how much people could change in the space of 10 years; I only knew for definite that Liam was two years older than me.

Turning into his street I begun counting the numbers placed on the doors until I reached 23. It was a lot larger than what I was expecting; as I was walking through the driveway I noticed a flash of a vivid blue in the back garden which I assumed to be a swimming pool. Butterflies had begun to form in my stomach; I’m not sure what I was nervous for. The fact I was meeting people I couldn’t remember anything about, perhaps? Pushing these feelings aside I raised my hand and pushed against the doorbell hearing the faint noise ringing softly around the interior of the house. A couple of seconds later I saw a figure emerging and increasing in size as they got closer to the door.

Eventually the door hesitantly swung open to reveal a boy who looked nothing like the little boy I had seen in the photos. A different Liam was standing in front of me, his shoulders had broadened and his hair had grown into a Bieber style cut. He had matured a lot compared to what I was expecting, slightly sending me into a state of shock. I hadn’t even thought about what I was looking like, this morning I had shoved on a pair of denim shorts and an oversized white t-shirt.

‘Hey you must be Kat, right?’ He broke the silence, slightly leaning out his hand, ‘here let me take you bags’

‘Urr, yeah I am. And thanks’ I replied, slightly dumbstruck noticing the tanned muscles that were now brushing past my side as he glanced a small side smile towards me.

‘Come in, your parents are already here’ he said, whilst leading me into the kitchen and shutting the door behind me.

I followed him through the grand hallway which was painted an elegant cream colour making the whole place seem light and airy.  Turning into the door Liam had just disappeared into I entered the kitchen where my parents and Liam’s parents were standing around the island talking; noticing mine and Liam’s entrance they all looked up.

‘Kat, darling. How was your stay at Amy’s?’ my mother asked me, all eyes focused on my response.

‘It was fine thanks’ I murmured back softly. I let my gaze wander around the room until my eyes rested upon Liam who was now leaning against the island looking away almost as soon as he realised that I was looking back at him. He rubbed the back of his neck uneasily aiming a slight smirk towards me before turning around and heading to the fridge.

‘Hope you didn’t stay up too late Kat’ my mother continued questioning me.

I noticed Liam slightly laughing at this comment, ‘No, not really’

She nodded in agreement, before returning to her conversation with Liam’s mother.

‘Kat, would you like a drink?’ Liam called over to me; I looked up to meet his eyes for a fraction of a second before looking away.

‘Yes please, water will be fine’ I smiled appreciatively, walking over to near where he was standing.

He handed me the glass, our fingers slightly brushing causing me to faintly blush. It was weird how I barely knew Liam yet he was causing me to behave like this.

‘Kat, Liam’ Liam’s mother spoke, specifically addressing us, ‘why don’t you go for a quick swim, lunch isn’t going to be ready for another hour or so?’

‘Yeah ok’ Liam nodded in agreement, ‘what do you think?’ he asked, pointing his soft gaze towards me.

‘Um, I would. But I don’t have a bikini with me’

‘That’s ok darling, we brought one with us from home. Just in case’ my mother added in, a sickly smile painted across her face.

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Stepping out of the summer house in my navy and white striped bikini I saw Liam was already in the pool adjusting to the temperature of the water. It was still slightly awkward being around him seeing as we barely knew each other, but I guess this was a good time to change that.

Walking over to the loungers by the pool I placed my towel on the closest one, noticing the toned, tanned muscles on Liam’s back causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

‘How cold is it?’ I asked, an easy way to break the deafening silence.

He turned around in slight shock, his eyes raising slightly as he first caught sight of me before running quickly up and down my body.

‘U-Um, it’s not too bad’

‘Good’ I said before taking a risk and running and jumping into the water. The coolness quickly engulfed me as I resurfaced to the humid air surrounding me. Wiping away my brown hair that had fallen in front of my face I made my way to the shallow end where Liam was still getting used to the water.

 Splashing him slightly, a cheeky grin washed across my face I bit my lip in anticipation for what his next move would be.

Instead of splashing me back like I expected him to he walked against the water towards me a smile covering his face. I looked up to see he was looking straight at me, a slight look of wonder twinkling in his chocolate eyes.  

‘You’ve changed Kat’

‘Is that a good thing?’ I asked, slightly puzzled by his statement.

‘Yes,’ he replied, chuckling softly, ’you’ve just matured a lot’

‘Well you did last see me about 10 years ago, so yes I would expect that I have matured just slightly’ I said, mocking his comment.

He ignored my humour and carried on inching towards me. ‘You’re beautiful Kat’

I lifted my head in shock, ‘erm, thankyou’

‘I’d really like to get to know you Kat’ he said, now only a couple of inches separating his chest from mine. I could see his chest moving rhythmically up and down. Moving my eyesight back up towards his, taking my bottom lip between my teeth I smiled sweetly at him.

‘I’d really like to get to know you too’

Our eyes were still connected, but I noticed his arms moving slowly from underneath the water. Expecting him to wrap his arms around my shoulders I reciprocated the action, but instead he flicked his arms out of the water send a surge of freshly cold water against my slender body.

‘Couldn’t let you get away with splashing me could I?’

I stood there in shock, a cheeky grin forming on my face as I saw a hint of menace sparkle in his face.

‘Think again Payne’