Summer's Edge Read Online Free

Alice’s head was splitting and her mouth was desert dry. Jules had been right: and even she had woken up feeling fairly rough. Becky just pulled the sheet over her head and moaned.
    Despite her intentions of the previous night Alice went straight for the bathroom. Jules’ parents had an amazingly powerful shower that drummed down on her, half punishment, half pleasure.
    Closing her eyes in the steam she replayed everything that had happened. Much of it was hazy but she remembered the kissing, how she had felt, how much she wanted it again. And more.
    Next week was going to be interesting, if he recognised her.
    Back in Jules’ bedroom there was a discussion going on about whether they should go to the cricket that day. "We could take your dad’s pass and sit in the members’ enclosure," Becky was saying.
    Alice guessed that Becky, who had no interest in cricket, wanted to watch Brett play.
    "God no, way too keen," she advised her. "Not unless he specifically asked you to come. Did he?"
    Becky admitted that nothing had been said.
    "He’s going to call you, isn’t he? Leave it at that."
    "Alice is right you know," Jules agreed. "You don’t want to look like a groupie."
    "Does cricket have groupies?" Becky asked.
    "Lawn bowls has groupies," Alice said. "Seriously. You don’t want to be that girl. Let him pursue you."
    "I bet you’d go if Mr Walker was going to be there," Becky said.
    Alice’s stomach flipped slightly at the prospect. There was a strong chance he would be there, given his friendship with Gloucestershire’s coach. But she thought about it for a moment. "No, I wouldn’t. Even if there wasn’t the whole complication of him being at school next week I still wouldn’t go. It’d just look sad."
    "Besides which are they even playing at home?" Jules asked.
    "In Taunton. But it’s not far."
    "No way can you go then, it will look absolutely desperate. Like you’re stalking him."
    Becky was obviously disappointed but she couldn’t win against both of them. Nor did she want to go by herself. "What if he goes out tonight and meets someone else?"
    "If he does, he does," Jules said. "They are sportsmen. What goes on tour and so on."
    "I think he really liked you," Alice said, to console Becky who was now looking really glum. It wasn’t exactly a lie, Alice couldn’t honestly remember through the haze of lust and drink what Brett’s intentions were or weren’t. But she didn’t want Becky making an idiot of herself or feeling miserable. "And they’re not on tour anyway, they won’t be staying overnight if it’s only Somerset."
    They were all going to sit around brooding if they didn’t go out and do something. Alice suggested they go shopping. "You can look for something nice to wear for when he calls you," she said.

4. In the pavilion

    Monday came all too soon. From the moment she stepped through the school gates Alice was on edge, anticipating that she might encounter Mr Walker at any moment.
    Assembly was an absolute ordeal. She kept her head down and tried to hide in the crowd as she entered the hall. She deliberately avoided Becky and Jules, fearing they would be more recognisable as a threesome. To her relief Becky and Jules weren’t sitting together either. Jules was late and had to take a seat nearer the front.
    For all her worry Mr Walker didn’t even appear in assembly that day. It wasn’t completely mandatory for teachers and as a cricket coach he wasn’t even full time.
    At lunch they came up with a plan. "Biting the bullet is best," Jules had decided. "We’ll go and watch the cricket after tennis and let him see you. Get this over with. Otherwise you’ll just be distracted by it for days."
    It was a beautiful late April day, flawlessly sunny. Warm in the sun though cool in the shade. Their tennis skirts were also extremely short and much more alluring, so Alice thought, than normal school uniform. You were supposed to wear huge regulation gym knickers underneath. But as these were