Peer Pressure (31 page)

JODIE: Revision,

She lied.

SEAN: On Facebook?

JODIE: Ha, alright, you caught me. What about you?

SEAN: I’m in my car, waiting for a friend.

JODIE: Going somewhere nice?

SEAN: Maybe. It’s Friday night, why aren’t you out?

JODIE: Didn’t feel like it.

SEAN: Miss you.

Jodie sat back a little and felt her heart flutter a little. It didn’t do that often, so she allowed herself to enjoy it. Then she felt her nose crinkle up with a touch of embarrassment as she typed:

JODIE: Aw shucks, listen to you. Getting all sentimental.

SEAN: I thought I was being charming.

JODIE: I miss you too.

SEAN: Only three more weeks till you come home, right?

Jodie smiled at this. Any mention of home made her feel a mixture of the bitter and the sweet.

JODIE: That’s right. Can’t wait to see everybody. How was Newcastle? Are you in
Aberdeen right now?

SEAN: Newcastle was fine. Think it might be the right place for me. No, I’m not in
Aberdeen right now.

JODIE: Where are you then?

SEAN: I told you. Waiting for a friend.

JODIE: A...girlfriend?

SEAN: Not sure. I’ll just check.

There was a knock at the door. Jodie paused for a moment, she closed her laptop and stood up, walking over to the door, her heart racing and opened it.

“Sorry Jodie, I forgot my keys.”

It was Mary. She entered the room and started rummaging amongst the debris on her bomb site of a desk.

“Are you coming out tonight, or what?” she asked.

Jodie shook her head, her mind was elsewhere.

“No, I’m going to stay in, catch up on some things.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Mary finally found the keys and headed back out the door, turning to add:

“Give me a call if you change your mind. We’ll be down at the union for the next few hours.”

“Sure, have fun,” Jodie replied, with a smile. Mary closed the door and was gone. Jodie turned back to her laptop and opened it up. Her Facebook page came back to life and she clicked on her Chat box.

It read

SEAN LEWIS IS NOW OFFLINE
.

“Damn,” said Jodie, in a whisper to herself, before sitting back down on her bed. There was another knock at the door. Jodie rolled her eyes, getting up again and opening the door, with a sarcastic:

“Did you forget your purse too?”

These words were wasted as she found herself face to face with Sean. Jodie almost fell over. He smiled and said:

“Is this creepy or romantic?”

Jodie laughed and shook her head.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was just in the neighborhood,” he shrugged.

“In the neighborhood?”

“Well, district, or region or whatever, you know how it is. I was heading back from Newcastle and thought...you know...”

“What?” she asked. Sean looked at her for a moment. He’d forgotten how pretty she was.

He noticed she’d changed her hair. It was shorter, which he liked. Jodie did much the same, forgetting how tall he was, how deep his voice was.

“I wanted to see you,” he finally replied.

“But I was just chatting with you online?”

Sean held up his iPhone and gave a mock head tilt.

“Get with the times, Jodie!”

Jodie smiled and stepped forward, as Sean extended his arms and wrapped them round her shoulders in a warm hug.

The hug lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to remind Jodie of being back at home. It made her feel warm and safe, Sean was good like that.

She stepped back into her room, allowing Sean to enter before closing the door.

In years to come, Jodie would think about that night and come to many conclusions. But above all else, she would try and pinpoint exactly when she fell for Sean.

It could have been as far back as their first meeting, or that first night they spoke on Facebook. It could have been during one of the many glances they would give each other at their bedroom windows, or the first time they kissed on that night when everything fell apart, but she was never quite sure.

But if she was completely honest with herself, it was probably the iPod that did it.

The End

My thanks to my editor Linzie Carson, as well as my friends and family.