Heather spent the Wednesday looking for jobs in the Broadstairs, Canterbury and even Ashford area. She needed one obviously, but it also kept her parents off her back and it would give her some more spending money; as fun as it was spending all this time with her friends, her social life was eating its way through her savings faster than she'd like. She text Kevin to ask him if he minded going to Prezzos, where she could use her taste card to get 2 for 1 on all food. She was also going to bring her own drink with her to the cinema; she felt bad for the cinema, but she needed to save money somehow.
Dinner together definitely felt more like old times. It was hard not to feel at ease around each other and laugh about the things they'd done, as well as some of the things they'd experienced at their respective universities. They were laughing so much they lost track of time and ended up having to run from the restaurant down to the cinema.
"Sorry we're late," Heather called out when she saw Bianca stood outside the cinema, looking impatient and a little nervous they'd miss it.
"Where have you been?" her friend asked, giving her a quick hug, before passing them both their tickets.
"We were having dinner," Kevin answered with an apologetic smile, and he could see Bianca was torn between forgiving them and lecturing them. "Shall we head in?" he asked to head her off.
"Oh yes, let's go," the blonde remembered why she was waiting outside for them and lead the way in, not seeing their relieved smiles exchanged behind her back.
Like last time the group went to the cinema, Kevin and Heather found themselves next to each other, sharing jokes and having another nudging contest over the arm.
It meant that, when they next saw each other to go to the casino on Saturday, Heather was looking forward to hanging out more than she could explain, more than she should want. So much so, she felt physically sick when she saw him at the casino with Stephanie, reminding her painfully that he was in a serious relationship with someone else. She suddenly realised she had to rein herself in, and she noticed how different Kevin was in the group, with her, with his girlfriend around.
Heather was really starting to love her summer back in Broadstairs; she and Kevin went to korfball training once a week and the occasional fun tournament on the weekend; Bianca kept their schedule packed with days out as a group, but she also had girlie days or nights with her friend; and she also had the odd day out on the weekend with her parents.
What wasn't there to like?
That Saturday evening, Heather went around to her friend's house for dinner, films and snacks. They were taking a break in between films, wanting to take the opportunity to catch up and Bianca wanted to move around a bit, so turned some music on.
"Oh, I love this song," Bianca gushed as she turned her stereo up a bit.
"Who's this?" Heather asked as she continued flicking through the magazine, lying on Bianca's bed on her front.
"Nickelback," she answered. "I've got two tickets to the game. It'd be great if I could take you to it this Sunday. I'd walk you home, when the whole thing's done. If you're there, I don't even care which team won," she sang along.
'We can stop at the coffee shop and make fun of the cops in the parking lot. We can laugh as we both pretend, that we're not in love and that we're just good friends.'
Heather stopped seeing what she was flicking past as she listened to the lyrics.
'Well, I'm tired of pretending. But I'm terrified of it ending. I know if not for you, there's nothing I can do to ever let it end. And I know you feel the same way, coz you told me drunk on your birthday.'
"You know, this song always reminds me of how you and Kevin used to be before you guys FINALLY started dating," Bianca mused now, glancing at her friend carefully, not entirely sure how she'd take it.
"Huh, yeah," Heather choked out a chuckle, trying to play it nonchalant, like she didn't care.
"It was kinda funny as hell, though occasionally it was just like, 'just do it already'," her friend now chuckled, getting a few nods and forced laughs in response.
'Saturday we're going to take a ride, coz our favourite band is gonna play downtown. Gonna sing the song, we've all heard up about those two young friends who should've fell in love. Later on, we'll cut through the park and she can hold my hand, coz she hates the dark. We can laugh as we both pretend, that we're not in love and that we're just good friends.'
It had taken Kevin and Heather ages before they realised they were more than just friends, and even once they'd realised they kept pretending that there was nothing between them. She couldn't even remember why they fought it for so long, but they had, and they'd wasted a lot of time together doing so.
'The greatest times we ever had. It's crazy now just looking back, we can laugh. But you never know how life's gonna go. Guess we're the only ones who'll ever know about Sunday night, just staring out, sitting side by side in the full moon light. I pull her close just to hold her tight and the both of us could tell it just felt right. She looked at me in the sweetest way, like she could tell what the hell I was about to say. It must've took a while, just to find the words, coz she cut me off and finally said it first.'
And they were in danger of doing so again. Or at least, thinking about the last few weeks, that's what it felt like to Heather. They'd slipped back into their old habits around each other, and it felt just like it had all those years ago. But the situation was different; Kevin had a girlfriend now, and they'd already given it a try. It hadn't worked. And that thought stung more than she'd expected it to, making her swallow hard as she tried not to let her feelings show.
"Hey, you alright?" Bianca suddenly asked, making Heather realise that her friend had been talking to her and she hadn't heard a word of it.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm okay," she said quickly, chucking the magazine away. "Guess that was all a long time ago, huh?" she added as she sat up, trying to make it look like that thought didn't hurt. "Anyway, shall we put another film on?" Heather asked eventually, wanting to get the attention away from herself and to lose herself in another world.
"Yeah, sure," her friend nodded quickly, realising she'd touched upon a nerve somehow. She held up a couple of DVDs; 21 Jump Street, American Reunion and the Muppets. It didn't escape Heather's notice that they were all comedies, as she chose 21 Jump Street; there was no romantic story there that could sneak up on her, not like the other two.