Read Online Independent Jenny by Sarah Louise Smith - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sarah Louise Smith
Tags: Fiction & Literature
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more mature than any of the other boys I knew.
We’d been together for almost a year when he told me he’d been accepted at the University of Edinburgh. He hinted that we’d see each other when he came back for breaks, but then his parents announced they were moving to the Isle of Skye to take up a farming opportunity, so the chances of him coming south were slim.
“So, I guess we’ll just be friends then yeah?” I said, when he told me. His face was blank and for the first time since that night in Hayley’s garden, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“I guess so. I mean, it’s a long way.”
I hesitated, thinking about whether I wanted this to end or not. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of hours of waiting for him to call, or write, or visit.
“Yes, and you know what they say about long distance relationships…”
He nodded. “Let’s keep in touch though, yeah?”
“Of course. You’re one of my best friends.”
“You are my very best,” he said, smiling his cute smile and pulling me in for a hug.
Hayley and Guy didn’t take the news about Skye so well. There were tears, screams, shouts. Hayley tried to convince him to stay and suggested they both drop out of school and find a place together, but he said he wasn’t going to make her give up her life for him. So they promised to email every single day and agreed they’d go to the same university. It was only a year or so to wait until they were together again.
I tried to tell Hayley she couldn’t plan her education and pick her university based solely on a boy, but she was having none of it. She’d always acted with her heart, always on impulse and with passion.
The day before they left, Will and I went out for dinner at Pizza Hut. He was quiet and distant and I asked him why.
“I guess I’m just a bit overwhelmed about moving,” he confessed.
“It’s a long way, I guess.”
“And very different, even when I go visit the folks. Mum and Dad are so excited about it, but Guy’s so miserable and moaning all the time about missing his mates and Hayley and only having sheep for neighbours.”
“And you?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll be away at university most of the time, and I don’t mind going home somewhere remote and quiet in the holidays. It looks pretty.”
“I’ll miss you. We should write to each other,” I said, wondering if we would. I liked him a lot but he wasn’t the love of my life. I’d seen my mother have enough of those to know that.
“I’ll miss you too. We’ll definitely keep in touch.”
We had a reasonably nice goodbye, a long hug and a quick kiss. I felt sad, but not heartbroken. Unlike Hayley.
She and Guy sent each other soppy emails, and she would moan about the internet dial-up, and how slow it all was. Sometimes she showed me their messages. They were pretty much just moaning about how much they missed each other, to start with. But gradually, the emails became shorter. And less regular. Then it just fizzled out and one day he didn’t reply to her email. And she didn’t seem that bothered, at the time. She fancied some guy she met while working at the cinema and that was that. Or so I thought.
We drifted apart for a while after we finished school. I was in Bath, Hayley was in Manchester. We occasionally emailed each other but I didn’t see her for a few years.
Then, just before I got married, she called me and said she was living in Bath too. Our friendship was renewed and we got on better than ever before, despite our still obvious differences; even to look at us it was apparent. Hayley was always in her designer clothes; Prada suits and Jimmy Choo (who?) shoes. Me in my supermarket-bought tops and Converse All-Stars. She wore make-up every day, I saved it for special occasions.
Yet, we got on. We clicked. We could make each other laugh and we both shared a love of good food, good wine, and chocolate cake. What more do you need from your best girlfriend?
Occasionally, we’d talk
We’d been together for almost a year when he told me he’d been accepted at the University of Edinburgh. He hinted that we’d see each other when he came back for breaks, but then his parents announced they were moving to the Isle of Skye to take up a farming opportunity, so the chances of him coming south were slim.
“So, I guess we’ll just be friends then yeah?” I said, when he told me. His face was blank and for the first time since that night in Hayley’s garden, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“I guess so. I mean, it’s a long way.”
I hesitated, thinking about whether I wanted this to end or not. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of hours of waiting for him to call, or write, or visit.
“Yes, and you know what they say about long distance relationships…”
He nodded. “Let’s keep in touch though, yeah?”
“Of course. You’re one of my best friends.”
“You are my very best,” he said, smiling his cute smile and pulling me in for a hug.
Hayley and Guy didn’t take the news about Skye so well. There were tears, screams, shouts. Hayley tried to convince him to stay and suggested they both drop out of school and find a place together, but he said he wasn’t going to make her give up her life for him. So they promised to email every single day and agreed they’d go to the same university. It was only a year or so to wait until they were together again.
I tried to tell Hayley she couldn’t plan her education and pick her university based solely on a boy, but she was having none of it. She’d always acted with her heart, always on impulse and with passion.
The day before they left, Will and I went out for dinner at Pizza Hut. He was quiet and distant and I asked him why.
“I guess I’m just a bit overwhelmed about moving,” he confessed.
“It’s a long way, I guess.”
“And very different, even when I go visit the folks. Mum and Dad are so excited about it, but Guy’s so miserable and moaning all the time about missing his mates and Hayley and only having sheep for neighbours.”
“And you?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll be away at university most of the time, and I don’t mind going home somewhere remote and quiet in the holidays. It looks pretty.”
“I’ll miss you. We should write to each other,” I said, wondering if we would. I liked him a lot but he wasn’t the love of my life. I’d seen my mother have enough of those to know that.
“I’ll miss you too. We’ll definitely keep in touch.”
We had a reasonably nice goodbye, a long hug and a quick kiss. I felt sad, but not heartbroken. Unlike Hayley.
She and Guy sent each other soppy emails, and she would moan about the internet dial-up, and how slow it all was. Sometimes she showed me their messages. They were pretty much just moaning about how much they missed each other, to start with. But gradually, the emails became shorter. And less regular. Then it just fizzled out and one day he didn’t reply to her email. And she didn’t seem that bothered, at the time. She fancied some guy she met while working at the cinema and that was that. Or so I thought.
We drifted apart for a while after we finished school. I was in Bath, Hayley was in Manchester. We occasionally emailed each other but I didn’t see her for a few years.
Then, just before I got married, she called me and said she was living in Bath too. Our friendship was renewed and we got on better than ever before, despite our still obvious differences; even to look at us it was apparent. Hayley was always in her designer clothes; Prada suits and Jimmy Choo (who?) shoes. Me in my supermarket-bought tops and Converse All-Stars. She wore make-up every day, I saved it for special occasions.
Yet, we got on. We clicked. We could make each other laugh and we both shared a love of good food, good wine, and chocolate cake. What more do you need from your best girlfriend?
Occasionally, we’d talk
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