Beneath the Surface by Heidi Perks Page A

stolen from their parents’ houses.
    The party at the diner usually ended early. There was no licence to serve alcohol and no one in the Bay was keen to encourage teenagers to hang out at the beach and drink. That didn’t mean there weren’t those who still did, but on the whole, once they attended the sixth form, and if their parents were lenient enough to allow it, the students headed out of the Bay and into the nearest town, half an hour away.
    ‘It’s a bloody prison!’ Becky was laughing as they neared her with their cups of juice. ‘They could film
Big Brother
here, there are that many eyes looking at you.’ Whatever she was pouring into the gathering mass of cups was coming out of a large water bottle. ‘Better to be safe,’ she added, holding up the bottle. ‘Extra water?’ she shouted loudly.
    Becky was a carbon copy of Donna. Except for her dark brown hair, which she once tried to dye blonde but failed dismally, they looked like clones of each other. Becky’s shorts were white, and her vest slightly less revealing, but other than that they dressed and sounded the same. And they were both as dumb as each other, Hannah thought, as she held out her cup.
    ‘I think she’s had enough
water
already,’ Lauren sniggered after they had topped up their cups and were sitting down at one of the benches.
    Hannah slipped her sunglasses down to cover her eyes, shifting on the seat so that she could keep one eye trained on the path leading up to the diner from the road.
    ‘Who are you looking for?’
    ‘No one.’
    ‘Come on, Hannah. I’m not stupid. Is it Dominic?’
    ‘No.’ Hannah could feel the burn in her cheeks and gulped down the rest of her drink. The strength of whatever alcohol Becky had added made her gag and spit it out onto the grass in front of her. Then, just as she looked up, she saw him. Dom was walking towards them, an arm casually slung over the shoulder of one of his friends, a boy called Cal, and they were laughing. She didn’t know if it was at her; she didn’t think Dom would do that but then she didn’t know him well enough to say for sure. They had spoken a number of times; he had always been friendly but there was never more than that, despite Hannah hoping there might be.
    He nodded in her direction and saluted before disappearing into the diner with Cal.
    ‘What a nob!’ Lauren gave a suppressed laugh.
    ‘No, he’s not.’
    ‘Oh no, Hannah is properly in love!’ Lauren sighed, rolling her eyes.
    ‘He’s just so good-looking,’ Hannah said. ‘Don’t you think?’
    ‘No, he’s not my type at all.’
    ‘And what’s your type, dear sister?’
    ‘I don’t know really. Less stereotypical, I guess,’ Lauren said. ‘He’s too surfer dude for me.’
    ‘You can’t say a toned, tanned body isn’t attractive.’
    ‘His eyes are too close together.’
    ‘Oh, for God’s sake!’
    ‘And I prefer dark-haired guys.’
    ‘Like Cal maybe?’
    ‘Jesus, no!’
    They both laughed. Cal was known as a player but neither of them could understand why. He was shorter than Dom by at least a head and what he lacked in height he made up for by being loud and brash. Hannah didn’t know why Dom hung out with him other than to make himself look even better.
    ‘So tell me,’ Lauren said, turning to face Hannah, ‘have you been thinking any more about what you mentioned the other day?’
    ‘Which bit?’
    ‘Looking for our dad.’
    Hannah was shocked her sister had brought the subject up. It hadn’t been mentioned since the time on the beach, and she was struggling to think how she could say anything to Lauren, given her previous reaction.
    ‘Yes,’ she said, sitting forward on the bench. ‘I’ve been writing a list of everything I know about him. Or at least everything Mum has told us, which of course we can’t take as gospel.’
    ‘OK, go ahead.’
    ‘Really?’ Hannah was excited. It was more than she could have imagined, having Lauren on board so easily.
    ‘I’m not