A Thousand Salt Kisses (Book 1 of Salt Kiss series)

><> Chapter Forty-Nine <><

That night I lay in bed with my earphones in. I wasn't too sure if Mum and Dad would be 'making up' down the corridor and I certainly did not want to find out.

I played some music and lay on my side facing my window. There was the occasional flash of the lighthouse, but otherwise it was mainly darkness outside.

I thought back over the past six months and how much time I'd spent out there at night in that black expanse of ocean.

It was really kind of crazy. When I first used to lie in my bed here in Starfish, it seemed like such a hostile scary place. It was like being out there in the dark would be your worst nightmare.

But now it didn't seem so bad. In fact, to the contrary it just made me think of my love, Llyr.

Tomorrow was the day we were due to meet, at sun-high. I sighed and turned off my light. I was half excited to see him, but at the same time I was nervous. Were we meeting to say goodbye? I couldn't even bear to think past goodbye, when there would no longer be Crystal and Llyr, nor the long hot days of mystical adventures and salt kisses.

I would just be normal old Crystal White, the school girl again.

***

The next morning I woke up at around ten-thirty. I tried to come to but ended up dozing off for another ten minutes.

It was getting increasingly difficult to get up early and I needed to start trying if I was going to return to school again in the next week and a half.

I threw back my covers and immediately hunted for my dressing gown. Brr, it's cold.

I threw on the thick towel garment and headed groggily down the stairs. Mum and Dad didn't appear to be about. Perhaps they had gone out or maybe I thought, pausing with horror, they were still in bed.

I shuddered and put the kettle on to make myself a cup of coffee. As I opened the kitchen drawer to get the spoon, I saw the envelope hidden away beneath the cutlery. I felt another shiver travel through my body and this time it was not from the cold. 

I shut the drawer.  We were really sailing close to the wind with this thing, and I prayed Mum and Dad were going to be able to pull this all off on Monday.

I looked out of the window. The sun made gentle golden spots on the lawn, yet an undeniable chill stung the air. I exhaled and watched the coffee granuales disolve as I stirred the liquid. The other drama in my life was starting to resurface:

 "Is it even worth getting up today, Crystal?"  I muttered to myself, sloshing some milk into the mug. "Well, you're probably only going to have your heart smashed into a million pieces."

 Should you not just pour this down the sink and get back under the covers? Wouldn't it be better to just never see him again?

After a little consideration, both options of saying goodbye and not saying goodbye seemed equally as painful.

I took my coffee and headed upstairs again. Once I got back under the covers I put my music on and sipped from the mug. I lay there content for some time. There was something about that sensation of lying in bed, and waking up with a cup of coffee. It was really quite awesome, even if the day ahead was a little scary and overwhelming. 

I gazed out to sea. It was actually a greyish day, but the clouds were just a thin veil behind which the sun glared through. The sea was silver and twinkly and there were a couple of boats dotted on the horizon.

Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder and I screamed and jumped, my earphones fell out of my ears and my coffee flew up in the air and back into my mug again with a big brown splash.