You know that moment of indecision where you're about to do something physically impressive and someone calls out to you, and you end up neither stopping what you were doing nor completing the original physically impressive task?
That's pretty much what happened to me.
I heard my name called just as I bent my knees to dive into the lake, prematurely looking forward to washing away the hours of grime and sweat I'd inevitably accumulated on the worksite, in my mind already frolicking in the cool and refreshing waters of Lake Arrowhead.
Instead of stopping to turn and face whoever had called my name, or alternatively completing what imagined being my elegant swan dive, I mixed the two actions by clumsily stumbling off the edge of the bank, and falling into the water with a loud splash and a muffled curse.
Ben, of course, had managed to pull up short of the bank despite it being my name that had been called, and was now laughing uproariously at my predicament.
I levered myself out of the shallow waters still muttering a collection of words that would have shocked a sailor, and looked for whoever had called my name, ready to give them a terse word, or several, about bad moments in which to shout someone's name.
"Edward?" repeated the voice, sounding slightly more concerned, and I felt a rush of satisfaction. That's right, feel guilty about what you just did to me.
I didn't recognise the voice immediately, but she clearly recognised me while I was running full pelt away from her so it was apparently someone I knew.
She appeared at the bottom of the stone steps that led down the back of the decking she was situated upon, and my mouth slid open an inch.
"Bella?" I asked incredulously at the girl briskly walking across the lawn towards me.
Dressed in a blue sundress, her white wide brimmed hat and sunglasses in her hand, she skipped across the grass barefooted with a small smile on her face.
"I can't believe it's you, wow, what are the odds of this?" she asked as she approached, and rocked back on her heels when she came within the awkward three foot range, unsure of what to do. She hadn't changed all that much at all; maybe a few inches taller since I'd last seen her almost two years ago, but having grown myself it was difficult to accurately judge.
"How did you even know it was me?" I asked, somewhat incredulously and for want of anything more meaningful. I couldn't believe she'd remembered the back of my head that well.
She looked a little bashful at this question.
"I thought I spotted you yesterday when we arrived, but I wasn't completely certain, and you were on a building site so I couldn't just come and say hello."
"How on earth could you spot me from that far away?" I asked, still not completely convinced.
"You have very distinctive hair," she replied, biting her lip nervously, "I could see it from the front yard."
Self consciously I ran a hand through my hair, and peered at the house behind Bella.
"So is this is your house, huh?"
She glanced over her shoulder as if to confirm that indeed it was her house, and it hadn't moved in the ten seconds since she'd left the small raised decking, and nodded with an embarrassed smile on her face.
There was a cough to my left, and Ben stood there, glancing between the two of us with a wry grin.
"I'll just go... I'll just go and grab something to eat then, or whatever," he said, winking heavily at me. Subtle was not an adjective I'd have used to describe Ben, but Bella didn't seem to be too put off.
As Ben disappeared back up the embankment towards the building site, there was a temporary silence. I searched around for something to say to break the awkwardness that had descended.
"I thought you lived in Malibu?" I asked, staring at the building in front of me. It was enormous, Ben and I had been joking about it when we arrived, making up background stories for the kind of people who lived in a house like this while we laid tiles. He'd be pleased to know that we weren't too far off the mark, as far as I could tell.
"We do still live in Malibu," Bella said, flicking the hair from her eyes gently.
"So you're on holiday here?" I asked, still looking over her shoulder at the magnificent home.
"We've been coming here every year since I was born," Bella replied, examining my face closely, looking for a reaction. "Daddy had it built the year he married mom, so they could get away from everything."
"Are your parents here as well?" I asked.
"Why wouldn't they be?" she replied, slightly more forcefully. We both knew I was fishing for information, but I decided to come clean.
"It's just that... last time you told me they were..." I trailed off awkwardly, unsure how to phrase it.
"You remember that?" She responded, looking surprised.
It was my turn to nod, before another silence enveloped us.
"Would you like to come inside, maybe get some lunch?" she asked suddenly, looking up at me from underneath her hair that still hung over her eyes.
I paused, slightly caught off guard.
"You don't have to, I mean if you're working or you've got somewhere else to be, that's cool," she added in a rush.
I shook my head faintly.
"Are your parent's home?" I asked.
"No, they've gone out for the day, mom made daddy take her for a drive up to Big Bear so she could go and see a few of her friends. Knowing mom, she won't be let daddy leave for home until he's almost in tears of boredom."
"Then lunch would be good."
I started to follow her up to the house, when I realised that I didn't have anything apart from my cheap, slightly ratty, boxer briefs on. I coughed to hide my overwhelming rush of mortification, and went to retrieve my shorts, socks, shoes and singlet. I could hear Bella's strangled giggle from behind the hand she had clamped over her mouth as she watched me redress and relace my boots.
"Why didn't you want my parents here?" she asked, as she opened the screen door at the back of the decking, which led directly into a large, well equipped kitchen. Everything was stainless steel or marble, and glowed with cleanliness and wealth. I was afraid to admit it made me a little intimidated, and tongue tied.
"I... ehh... should I take my shoes off?" I asked, glancing down at my work boots somewhat stupidly. Before she even had a chance to answer, I blushed with embarrassment at having drawn attention to the state they were in, and began to unlace them.
My boots were hand-me-downs from Ben who'd bought a new pair. Of course Donny had no interest in making sure I had the right gear when he sent me on these jobs, but Ben had generously donated his old pair to me so I could protect myself from breaking a foot or toes every time someone dropped something. Which happened a lot.
It was so hot outside that I'd dried off standing in the sun for only a few minutes, the only damp part being my briefs which was soaking through my shorts slightly.
"Edward," Bella repeated with a puzzled grin, "why don't you want my parents here?"
"Oh! Eh... Well your dad didn't seem too keen on me last time, and I'm not exactly dressed up either. You wouldn't have a towel I could borrow would you? Just so I don't drip everywhere," I answered, thumbing awkwardly at the edges of my singlet.
She was dressed simply, yet elegantly in a full sundress, and here I was in a pair of tradesman's cargo shorts and a singlet.
"Don't worry, this is a holiday house, we live by a lake. There's a reason the floor is tiled in here, it doesn't matter if you drip a bit. And we can go and eat outside if it makes you feel better, I was sitting in the shade of the awning reading until you belly flopped into the lake anyway."
"I didn't belly flop!" I protested loudly, as she laughed, which I couldn't help feel a little elated at. I liked it when she laughed; she covered her face with her hand and giggled softly. It wasn't like girls at school giggling either. It was strange to me.
"Whatever you want to call it then," she answered.
"My rudely interrupted swan dive," I responded to which she laughed again, and opened the fridge.
I grinned like an idiot until she turned back and asked me what I fancied to eat.
Forcing the stupid grin off my face so she didn't think I was simple, I shrugged.
"I've been eating pre-packaged sandwiches and drinking cheap supermarket soft drink for the whole of this week, and that's pretty good for me. I'm honestly not fussed," I replied.
She frowned slightly, but turned back to the fridge.
In the end, the spread of dips, meats, vegetables and other sandwich fillings that were laid out on the counter before me was almost too much for me to handle. I mean, what the hell is eggplant and sesame shellfish dip for? When would you ever possibly think, I know what will go perfectly with this dish, a dollop of eggplant and sesame shellfish dip?
I digress. I was staring at the offending dip container trying not to be rude about it, and Bella was looking at me worriedly.
"Is there something missing? I'm sorry, mom said they would go shopping on the way home, but we're a little low at the moment."
I couldn't help chuckling.
"In the four meals I've eaten on site that haven't been breakfast, I've had a choice between a ham sandwich with lettuce or a ham sandwich with tomato. Not that you can really taste the difference, if I'm being honest, it's all a bit flavours of cardboard. This... this is incredible."
"Oh!" she exclaimed, and blushed while ducking her head.
I honestly didn't have much thought for her embarrassment however, as I was too busy slicing open my half baguette, fresh from the local bakery naturally, and trying to decide which of the six cold meat platters I was going to sample.
Bella took some chicken and a bit of lettuce in the other half of the baguette and declared that she wasn't that hungry and that she would locate some glasses for us to drink from. I couldn't escape the call of the lamb platter and so without much restraint, I loaded my sandwich with lamb, lettuce, tomato, olives, cheese, relish, and a smidgeon of the perplexing eggplant and sesame shellfish dip. I'd barely skimmed the surface of the available fillings, but my baguette didn't look to have the structural integrity to support any more.
Bella looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I wondered if I'd over-extended myself and my welcome by sampling so many of her fridges joys, but she allayed my fears.
"You have some strange tastes in sandwich combinations there," she said, handing me a glass of water, and opening the sliding door to the back deck.
It was my turn to feel embarrassed. In all my life, I'd never had so much choice. I'd never got to put together a meal like this, and I really had little idea of what went well with what. So I'd hedged my bets and went with a lot of everything, figuring it might taste ordinary, but at least it would be filling.
She led us to a pair of deck chairs on the back decking, under the cover an awning that extended out from the house. Moving her book before placing the drinks on the small table between us, she lay back on the seat and slipped her sunglasses down over her eyes.
I followed suit, and glanced over at the book that was now lying face down on the decking.
"What are you reading?" I asked, simply making conversation.
"It's Watership Down, by Richard Adams, it's one of our set English texts for this year. What are you reading for your..." she began, and then her mouth fell open, eyes wide, and she covered her face with both her hands.
"I'm so sorry," she gushed, looking mortified, "I don't know how I forgot, I mean you're sitting there wearing your work clothing, and I'm asking you stupid questions about school, and you've got so many things on your mind already I'm sure, god, you remembered something I told you last year and I couldn't remember something from thirty seconds ago, how could I be so stupid?"
I couldn't help but laugh at her tinged cheeks and humiliated expression.
"My set text is Black and Decker's Complete Guide to Roofing and Siding," I said with a smile on my face.
"You're mocking me, aren't you?" she replied, summoning a glare from between her fingers.
"Possibly," I responded, leaning back. "So, what's this Watership Down like?"
"It's about Rabbits," Bella said, finally unhanding her face, and staring at me oddly.
"Is that literature code for something? Is it like Animal Farm where they're supposed to represent famous figures from history?"
"You've read George Orwell?"
"I'm a labourer, I'm not illiterate," I said, a tinge of annoyance creeping in for the first time.
I couldn't exactly blame her for being surprised, I'd only read it because I'd discovered it lying around the house. Mom had been using it as a wedge for the table leg closest to the kitchen which was shorter than the other three. When I asked her about it, she couldn't remember, which wasn't uncommon, but thought it had been there before we arrived.
It wasn't surprising, before we lived there, the last librarian of Adelanto had lived in this house temporarily before escaping to somewhere more civilised. 'Philistines' had been the word she used to describe us regularly, which had sparked my interest in words to some degree. Of course, the Adelanto library would have had to have been the least utilized public facility in history of underused government funded programs, and closed only ten years after opening.
The building had become decrepit and of course as soon as the library moved out, local kids smashed the windows and spray painted obscenities on the walls. When a kid lit a fire that burned the entire eastern face of the building the government just wrote it off, and the remainder of the building stayed there with no tenants or future plans.
Bella, meanwhile, was trying to hide her embarrassed blush once more.
"I'm sorry Edward, please that's not what I meant," she half begged, seemingly reverting to her previously mortified state.
"I know, I know, a little unusual for someone in my position I'll admit. I haven't read much literature, partially because it's not available really where I live, but also because it's a bit of a waste of time."
The transformation from embarrassed to enraged was less than a split-second.
"What do you mean 'it's a waste of time'? How is literature in any way a waste of time?"
Oops. Apparently I'd struck a nerve. She was now kneeling on her lounge bed, staring expectantly at me over the table as if I was about to give a closing statement on death row, and the jury were baying for my blood.
"It's just that, in my position, I don't have a lot of time, and the time I do have I prefer to spend reading something factual and educational. Something where I'm directly becoming more knowledgeable about a particular topic. I read a lot of out-of-date school books when they get thrown away."
I thought it was a nicely constructed reply, right levels of sympathy-inducing sob story and my actual position on the issue.
Bella was not placated.
"Literature is as informative and often more so than any textbook or schoolbook you could ever imagine. It teaches one about different times, ideas, places and people, it takes you on voyages you might never get to travel in person, it opens parts of your mind that would otherwise be left unopened, and it is the interpretation of art as words on a page. Literature is the gateway to worlds that exist and those that don't; it is a journey into the depths of oneself."
I sat there in silence, staring at her with an unavoidably blank look on my face.
She coughed and lay back on the deckchair, and took a bite of her baguette.
"Right," was all I could muster as a reply.
"I like literature," she said between mouthfuls, "and that was the speech that my teacher printed off and made us stick in the front of our notebooks at the beginning of the year."
"Its ahhh... it's an impressive quote. Who said it?"
"He did. Like all good educators, he's a total narcissist."
It was my turn to laugh into my baguette as I took a bite.
With my somewhat ordinary tasting, yet extremely filling sandwich finished, we sat in silence for a moment, appreciating the beauty and the serenity of the situation I found myself in.
My little moment of serenity, however, was about to be shattered. It took me a few seconds to realise that I could hear voices from inside the house, but I hadn't managed to turn around before the door to the decking opened, and a woman stepped out.
"...I really don't understand what the matter is Charlie, you seem perfectly alright now, and you sounded like you were gargling switchblades half an hour ago, but low and behold... Oh!"
Renee Swan was interrupted mid-monologue by the shock of seeing me lying on one of her deck chairs, and she stared open mouthed for a second, before closing it again and addressing her daughter.
"Bella, you didn't tell me you were having a friend over; you said you would be finishing off your book today! What was it, the one about the rabbits," she rambled, eyes wide.
Mrs. Swan hadn't changed all that much since I'd last seen her. She was dressed more casually, yet still extremely smartly, and her eyes widened even further when I stood up and held out my hand to greet her, my cheeks extremely red with embarrassment. I'd been hoping to avoid this situation.
Bella, of course, could see no such problem.
"Mom, you remember Edward don't you? He's the boy from the charity dinner that stayed over the night in our hotel! You're always saying what a small world it is."
Naturally, to round off my humiliation, Bella's father Charlie, the congressman, followed his wife out of the sliding door. Like his wife, he hadn't changed much. Maybe a few more grey hairs than I remembered, and the pair of shorts and a polo shirt made his age more apparent, but I would have recognised them anywhere.
Mrs. Swan, apparently recovered from her shock, turned to her husband.
"We remember Edward, don't we dear? He stayed the night with us after your benefit dinner a few years back."
Charlie Swan's eyes rested upon me, standing awkwardly in front of him as he looked me up and down.
"So, you're the boy who ran away in the middle of the night are you?" he asked finally, staring at me.
I ducked my head to avoid his glare, while the congressman was admonished by his wife.
"Charlie! Don't be rude to Bella's friend, I'm sorry Edward, do forgive him. We're just a little shocked to see you, after, well, you know..." she trailed off awkwardly, as I stared resolutely at the planks of wood beneath my feet.
"Isn't it incredible though?" Bella jumped in, apparently clueless to the awkward nature of the situation, "I mean what are the odds of that? I thought I saw him yesterday, but I wasn't sure, but then I saw him again today and I couldn't not say hello."
Charlie was too busy silently remonstrating with his wife to notice his daughter's exclamation, but he certainly didn't miss the next one.
"I know! We should have him over for dinner after he finishes work this evening!"
If glares could have melted a person, I'd be seeping inbetween the gaps in the deck.
It clearly took a minute for Charlie to compose himself after that particular suggestion.
"What do you mean, 'finish work' exactly?"
Apparently he thought if he ignored the question part of that sentence, that it would simply disappear.
"He's working on the building site next-door daddy, that's how I found him!"
My wince wasn't exactly well hidden. Why couldn't she just lie and tell him I was saving local wildlife as part of my high-achievers pre-college program?
"Can we have him over mom, can you cook an extra portion?"
Mrs. Swan was standing somewhat agape at the entire scenario, but quickly shook herself and addressed her only child in a slightly shocked tone.
"Uh, yes we've got plenty in the fridge," she replied without looking like she'd really thought about her answer.
To Bella, that was apparently all the confirmation she needed.
"Oh thank you mom, that's wonderful. I mean, if you're available this evening that is Edward? Would you like to come to dinner with us?"
My mind almost froze. She's just put me on the spot. All the factors are racing through my head, and in the end I just blurted out a "yes" to end the silence. Oh god. What have I done? Her parents are both looking at me now, and her father looks at me like I'm something he's trodden in.
"Good, well that settles things then, dinner at 7pm this evening, thank you ever so much mom and daddy!"
I have to get out of here.
"I'm sorry, I've got to get back to work now," my brain manages to push out of my mouth.
"Oh, that's a shame, but I'll see you at 7 o'clock then. Have fun at work!"
Her father's growl of disapproval is audible.
It was only when I was once more three floors up with Ben again, that I realised I was working overtime this evening, with no way of letting them know I would be late or couldn't make it.
Oh god. This should really improve Bella's parents' opinions of me. Well actually, to my mind they probably couldn't get worse, so really the only way was up. Hopefully.
A/N: Hope you've had a happy holidays, whatever your denomination, or lack thereof. Anyhow, apologies for the gap, it's been a busy few months but I should never leave it that long. Hope you enjoyed the reasonably long chapter with plenty of interaction.
As always, any feedback would be massively appreciated, even if it's just an abusive review telling me to update faster! They do work you know :)