Silent, The Wrong Decision

Two Years Earlier, Gavin, The Promenade

Better still, Philippa had seen it all. Seen me run to Jace's rescue. She'd fancy me now. Correction, she already did fancy me, but she'd fancy me even more after my attempt to help Jace.  

For a short time, I enjoyed playing the hero.  High fives. Banging fists. Some of the little kids jumping on me and pestering me to give them piggybacks while loads of girls hugged Jace and sobbed dramatically.

Awesome atmosphere.

Then I caught sight of Philippa and Aidan.  

Not so good.  Time to get out of here.  I started to move away, but Jace blocked my path. 'Hey, we're mates for ever now, you and me,' he said, pushing a flask of vodka in my hand. 'Drink.'

I took a huge gulp, looked over at Philippa.  She was completely ignoring me, even after my attempts to stop Jace falling into the sea. What was her problem?

Jace grabbed the flask, took a massive sip. 'So you thought I was going to drown?'

'No.'

'Yes, you did. Don't lie.'

'It was pretty convincing.  Were you really putting it on?'

'Course I was. Me and my mates planned it before we got here. It's your turn now to walk the railing.'

'No way. I hate heights.'

'Aw, come on.  It's the rules. You've got to have a go.'

'There's no way I can do it.'

'Tomorrow evening. Or I'll set Steve on you.'

I must have looked terrified because Jace burst out laughing and gave me friendly slap on the shoulder. 'Only kidding.'

'I think I might make a move.'

'Stay,' he said. 'It's my party. You're the guy who tried to save my life.'

I couldn't tell if he making fun of me or expressing genuine gratitude, so I shrugged. 'It was all a put on anyway.'

'Doesn't matter. You're cool. Stay.'

'I've got an early start in the morning.'

'You'll be okay. Philippa said you're a good pianist.'

'Did she?'

Grinning still, Jace said, 'Yeah. She said you should sign up with an agent in London and do something with it. Stop worrying, mate. Hey, your girlfriend wants a word with you.'

I thought he was talking about Philippa.  

But he was referring to Dawn instead.

Dawn.

Yeah, complicated.  Repercussions.  

Stuff that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Dawn, Paul and me by the old playground roundabout.  Philippa and Aidan close by. Jace and his three posh mates. Loads of kids (Years 5 to 11) milling about. I wasn't exactly expecting applause or anything, but Philippa could have at least commented on me sprinting over to help Jace earlier.

I should have left the party then, but Philippa and Aidan joined us and I made a decision.  If Philippa wanted to play games with me, I could do the same. I could make her jealous by getting involved with Dawn, even though I didn't actually fancy Dawn.  

Evil.  So completely cruel.  

From then on, I chatted Dawn up so that Philippa could hear, even though niggles of guilt were already there, whispering at the back of my mind, urging me to reconsider…Dawn's a really nice girl…you can't treat a girl like that…have it out with Philippa and Aidan instead.

Jace wondered by. Poked me in the kidney. 'Go for it, mate,' he whispered.