Well what do you know? Had a chilled day and got on a roll with this, so here we are. Cat was very happy to receive all your good wishes, and she says thank you…

I don't own Skins, but it's given me a few perfect moments

2. The Moment

Emily

When I woke up this morning the sun was already streaming into my room. I got up and checked out the window and saw nothing but blue sky stretching as far as the eye could see. A huge grin spread across my face. I didn't have any classes today so the day was mine. So what to do? Go into Swansea or Cardiff and do some shopping? Fuck that for a game of soldiers. The trick would be to get out of the house before Katie tried to coerce me into doing just that. I could try and track down Effy and she if she wanted to hang, but there was plenty of time for that later. Call me predictable, but the answer was the same as it always was – the sea. You'd think I'd get bored of her, working with her all the time, but she never gets old. She is like a beautiful lover with a fascinating brain. Every day is a different conversation. Different sounds, different nuances, different shapes. Every day is a different negotiation, and she always keeps you guessing.

I pulled on some shorts and a vest top and grabbed some fruit from the kitchen. I threw a few essentials into a bag, jumped on my scooter and headed off to the bay.

"Good morning, lovely Emilio," shouted the boy in the shed as I pulled into the car park. "Might I say you're looking particularly beautiful today."

"Still gay, Cook," I laughed at him as I pulled off my helmet.

"Still worth trying, muff monkey," he grinned back at me.

Cook had been trying to get into my pants ever since we got here, which you might think would be a monumental pain in the arse, but he does it with such good humour that it's hard to get annoyed with him. And the rest of the time he just treats me like one of the lads. I left my bag with him and wandered over to the cliff's edge to check out the waves. I held my hand up to my forehead to shield my eyes from the sun, and scrutinised their pattern. After all this time here, I could read the sea like a book, especially this bay, and it only took me a moment to make my assessment. Bummer. The surf was way too choppy for any decent rides. Ok to shove a beginner out on a long board, but nothing that would get my juices going.

"How's it looking, champ?" asked Cook when I wandered back to the shed.

He let me keep a board and wetsuit there so I didn't always have to bring the company van down here, and could just chug along on my scooter instead. Cook took the money for the guy who owned the car park. It was the only car park near this end of the beach, so it always did a roaring trade. It was a menial job, but Cook had been expelled from school, and he didn't seem to mind it as it came with very little responsibility or effort required, and gave him the chance to chat up girls.

"Looking a bit rubbish to be honest," I admitted. "Not going to get much of a ride today."

I had to fix him with an evil stare before he offered me a ride on little Cookie. I could tell that he was thinking about it, but the ferocity of my gaze must have made him think twice.

"Does this mean you'll come and hang with the Cookie Monster for a bit?" he asked hopefully, pulling a pre-rolled spliff from his stash tin and waving it under my nose. Jesus, Cook it's only nine in the morning, I thought. I don't know how he did it, but I guess it helped to pass the time.

"Maybe later, Cook,' I offered. "I have to go and see my girlfriend."

"Better not keep her waiting then," he laughed. "You know how she gets."

It was our little joke that we started once when Cook was moaning that I loved the sea more than any person, especially him. And to be fair it was kind of true in a way. Of course I had my crazy family, and a great bunch of friends, but the sea was my most significant other. She was certainly the longest love affair I'd ever had. I had fallen in love with her from the moment we moved here. My Dad used to own a gym back in Bristol, but a mate had introduced him to watersports when we were on holiday once, and from that moment on there was no looking back. When my Dad sets his sights on something there's no holding him back, and within a year he had shunted us all out to Wales where we'd built up a highly successful business that eventually had the whole involved. I was sixteen at the time, and I have my suspicions that my mother's enthusiasm for the project had more than a little to do with my recent pronouncement that I was gay. I guess she thought all the fresh air and wholesomeness would somehow cure me of my affliction.

I suppose it had worked in a roundabout kind of a way. I was still as gay as a window of course, but I wasn't exactly spoilt for talent round here. I usually had to go into Cardiff before I even got a sniff of another lesbian. In fact the only remotely fuckable girl in the area was so hopelessly and unrequitedly in love with my twin sister, that the weirdness of anything happening between us had successfully put us off even in our most drunken lonely moments. Of course, I did occasionally get off with some of the clients. When I had suggested to my Dad that we set up a women only surf school, I was only partially motivated by the empowerment of the sisterhood. After all I did have that sexy teacher thing going for me, and I was only too willing to fit in a few extra private lessons for the fit girls. Eventually Mum became quietly resigned to the situation, but I don't think she ever entirely gave up hope that one day some hunky surf dude would sway me from my path.

Fat chance. The lads were ok to have a laugh with but cock just really wasn't me. I had taken all my diving qualifications and I knew a hell of a lot about surfing and all the other sports. So maybe one day I would fuck off and get a job in some exotic part of the world and get me a fit, tanned girlfriend in a bikini, but for the moment I was happy where I was.

I got changed in Cook's shed and left my shit with him, promising him I would be back to hang out with him later. My plan was to walk up to the other end of the bay and then swim the whole way back. It would be a decent workout and give me some quality time with my girlfriend.

The sun was pretty hot for this time of year, so I decided to ditch the wetsuit and just go in my bikini. Walking through the sand would get me warm pretty soon, and although I knew the sea would be fairly cold, I was pretty acclimatised to it. My plan was to swim hard, so my body would be pretty much working the whole time. Of course I would have to leg it back to Cook's pretty swiftly once I got out, but he'd have the kettle on for me as soon as I got there and some warmer clothes for me to change back into. I let my thoughts drift as I walked up the beach, my mind set free as it always was my the seductive music of the waves, and before I even knew it I had reached my destination.

As always I stood silently on the shore for a few moments before I went in, making my peace with my lover before I entered her. I wandered down to where the shallows tickled my feet, and performed a little personal ritual I had been carrying out for years. I bent down and dipped my fingers in the water, before standing up and drawing a tiny kiss on my forehead with the moisture as if sealing the bond between us. I always did this, even when I wasn't going in. Effy always laughed at me, and called me her little sea Druid, but I knew that she had her own relationship with the water that was every bit as intense as mine. How she ever fell so hard for such a shocking landlubber as my sister was beyond me, but Effy has her own mysterious ways. And they are very mysterious indeed.

I waded into the water, enjoying the bite of the cold as it rose up my body. As soon as I was up to my waist, I plunged right in. No point in fannying about, eh? The rush of adrenalin hit my body and I was off and swimming, diving head first into the aggressive white water. I worked my arms hard to get through the messy waves, resisting their attempts to pull me back towards the beach. I wouldn't get anywhere trying to swim sideways through this shit, so I had to plough on through and get myself out back, before the swell broke into these angry horses, where I could I could truly find my peace, and let my journey begin. Once I had made it I paused again, treading water and staring out into the endless reaches of the water, the water that connected me to even the most distant parts of the world. I offered her my love if she would send me some decent breaks for the first day of the new womens' course starting tomorrow, but then she was a fickle lover and she would no doubt do her own sweet thing regardless.

I smiled and kicked off into the water, swapping strokes every now and then to give myself a little variety of muscle movement. I kept my pace quite high, I wanted to push myself, but I knew enough about my own limits and the variations in where the stronger currents ran to know where I needed to conserve energy. Working with and through the water, whether it's on the board or under my own steam always gives me a tremendous natural high, and I could feel it taking over me as I pushed onwards, rising and falling with the dip of the swell. It felt so fucking good when I reached that peak, some days I felt like I could swim right over to Ireland. In fact some days I did challenge myself by swimming out as far as I dared, but I wasn't stupid. I always made sure I had plenty of energy in reserve and the minute I had the tiniest suspicion of a current I couldn't handle, I was out of there as fast as my small but powerful shoulders could take me.

My life in the waves had certainly given me a strong physique. I might only be five foot three, but you still wouldn't mess with me. It was still the talk of the village, the night I beat Freddie at arm wrestling The poor boy's had the piss ripped out of him ever since.

"God Ems, you're such a dyke," Katie had huffed, trying to defend his honour. She had a supposedly secret crush on him, except everybody knew about it, and she seemed personally offended that I'd managed to outmuscle him. But that was Katie. She was always making pronouncements.

"Oh God, Ems, you're totally perving on that girl."

Usually when the girl in question was in hearing range. Subtle. Thanks Katie.

"God Ems, you're getting such swimmer's shoulders."

I think that one was supposed to be another insult, but I didn't take it as such. I had spent many a teenage hour fantasising about the gorgeous women in the swimwear posters in our shop, and to be compared to one of them was nothing short of wish fulfilment. But despite all these pronouncements, I knew out of the two of us, I was the one who was happiest in her own skin. Ok, so she didn't have an athlete's body like mine, but then she didn't aspire to one, and she was extremely beautiful in her own way. She had lots of male admirers who adored her curves, and the most amazing tits that reduced Effy to a hopeless mess every bikini season. But even though she oozed confidence in public, Katie was one of those women who constantly worried about the way she looked. I suppose it didn't help that, despite all the attention she got from others, the boy she was in love with only had eyes for another.

Love certainly seemed to be more hassle than it was worth, but I guess that goes to show that I've never really been in love. They say that the chemicals it produces in your body are the most powerful known to man. More powerful than the ones I was producing right then as I shot through the sea like I was born to it? If that was true then it was certainly worth going out on a limb for. Or maybe Cook was right and I already had the best girlfriend I could have.

Jesus, where does my mind go sometimes? I saw the Worm's Head rising up ahead of me and realised I'd almost swum right past the edge of the beach. I smiled as I internally check my energy levels. I felt well worked, but not exhausted. Fuck me, Emily Fitch, you are a champion, a goddess of the waves.

I turned back to the ocean again for one of my favourite things of all. Waiting. Watching. Picking your moment. Breathing with the swell until you knew. This one would be the one. This one would be your wave, the one that would carry you back to shore. It was important not to be too impatient. To let your desire for the rush cloud your judgement. The waiting was all. Waiting for her to give you that perfect gift.

I saw it coming. My sixth sense starting tingling. I turned back towards the shore and started paddling just ahead of it, waiting for it to catch me up, until our energies merged. I caught it fucking perfectly and body surfed most of the way back in. I was fucking buzzed. This had been a most excellent of mornings and I felt on top of the world. Like I could do anything. I felt my feet hit the floor and rose out of the waves like I owned them. This day could only get fucking better.

It was the boy I noticed first out of the couple on the beach. He had strikingly deep black skin. This was rural Wales after all, and we're not the most representative of modern Britain's multi ethnic population. Of course we did get tourists of all variations, but this boy was still unusual enough to make me look, and mixed race couples were even rarer. At least I thought they were a couple. I mean you see a boy and a girl together and you kind of assume, don't you? They certainly would have made a breathtaking pair. She was the complete opposite to him, pale white skin, shoulder length platinum blonde hair, and arctic ice blue eyes that shone as they….

Checked me out? Oh God, she was totally checking me out. She was totally fucking hot, and she was checking me out. Well, if that's what she wants then I'd better give her a show. Work the swimmer's shoulders, Emily. Use those hips now. I thanked the sea herself, that I was feeling so in tune with myself today, and I could make this beautiful girl study me with such delirious intent. Her desire was almost tangible, like I could almost feel it's warm fingers reaching out to caress my skin. I don't think anyone had ever looked at me that way. I have been perved on and I've been ignored, and any number of things in between, but this was something different altogether. This was something beautiful. It made me want to fall to my knees in the sand and offer myself to her there and then, or at least stop and have a friendly chat. But I knew that I had a minute at most before I would become a shivering wreck now that I was out of the water. Much better I decided, to retain my air of mystery and cool now that I had made such an impression. The odds were that they had come here in some kind of vehicle, and if that were the case, it was going to be in Cook's car park.

So I kept going, throwing them a nonchalantly friendly smile as I went past, letting her think she had gotten away with it. I would hang out with Cook as long as it took, and seemingly catch them by accident later. If they were just day tripping, I would probably chalk it down to one fucking perfect moment. But if they were staying in the area for a while?

I was about to become the friendliest fucking local in the village.