Page 28 of Oleander

Then he was gone, the stair creaking as he descended.

I showered quickly and pulled on clothes, shorts, and a T-shirt that I debated far too long over. I made sure my phone was charged, shoved a towel and some sunscreen in my rucksack, and headed downstairs. Beth was in the kitchen making what looked to be sandwiches for us all.

“You packed sunscreen?” she asked as I put my bag down on the dining room table. When I nodded she asked, “Have you put it on already?”

“I’ll do it.”

She packed a tinfoil-wrapped parcel into a cool box. She’d made enough for twelve, it looked like.

“He’s in the garden,” she said. “He came with nothing, bless him. So make sure you give him sunscreen too. Gideon’s a little hopeless with this stuff.” Beth had an almost fond look on her face. A look I’d never before seen for other people she considered to be hopeless: her boss, the dental receptionist, the waiter who messed up her order when we went out to eat.

Outside, Caspien was sitting cross-legged on the wooden bench reading. He wore sunglasses now; a designer pair that suited his face. The sun pooled over him, making his hair look like it was made of pure white. He had turned golden over the summer, a bronzed pinkish glow that contrasted against the bleached white of his t-shirt.

I thought of him saying, ‘Play with me,’ in that very low secret voice he’d used on the phone, and my insides turned watery and hot.

I realised I’d been staring too long when he spoke. Not looking up.

“Have you read this?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”

“It’s quite boring, isn’t it.”

“The film was better.”

He snorted. “I highly doubt that.”

“You haven’t seen it?”

“I don’t like films.”

I frowned. “Like...in general?”

He closed the book and lifted his head. “In general, I prefer books.”

I mean, so did I. But I still enjoyed watching films.

“What about the cinema?”

“What about it?”

“Do you...go?”

He thought about it and then shook his head. “I’ve never been to the cinema, no.”

“Not even to see The Avengers?”

He looked at me from behind his sunglasses. “If I were going to go to the cinema, trust me, it would not be to see The Avengers.”

“It’s not nonsense,” I defended. I guess, on some level, it was, but I also enjoyed it.

“What’s not nonsense?” Luke said as he popped his head out of the house.

“Caspien hasn’t seen The Avengers.”

“I never said that.”

“You did, you said—.”