" What?" he laughs.
" One day, hopefully soon, your charms will stop working."
The game of pool is finished and the others come outside before he can reply.
We all sit around talking, some with their feet in the pool, some on chairs. We eat and drink - no alcohol for me.
Later we make turns jumping on the trampoline. After my turn, when I jump off excitedly, Johnathan catches me, and he hugs me close to him.
He leans down to me, and then he kisses me softly, briefly on my lips. He smiles sweetly at me and without meaning to, I notice from the corner of my eye, the clock hanging against the wall.
I realize with surprise it is a quarter to eleven. My dad is probably waiting for me already and I would be late if I did not leave soon, making my dad more worried than necessary.
I sigh softly, as I push myself away from him gently, "I have to go. My dad is picking me up at eleven."
" Okay, let me take you back to the gate," he offers.
I cannot see Anne anywhere, so I accept.
We drive down to the gate in a golf cart and I ask him seriously, bravely, "Why do you do this, string girls along?
" I don't actually. I am nice, I am friendly and sometimes girls just take it the wrong way."
I frown when I look at him, "No, I don't think girls take it the wrong way, I think it is your intention all along."
" No," he says softly, defensively.
I suddenly feel cynical, "Yes. For one you always look into a girl's eyes when you talk to her, you always touch them while you are talking, you always stand very close, you smile charmingly, you say all the right things, and this I am afraid does not come naturally. So, my friend, you are doing it purposefully."
He laughs boisterously, looking at me amused, "I do that?"
I sigh frustrated and honestly, what is the point anyway. I cannot possibly hope to change him, but I can most certainly control my own feelings.
When we stop at the gate, he gets out of the golf cart as well.
I walk away to the gate without looking back or without saying anything, and then I hear him call my name, "Chrissie?"
I sigh and turn around. I wanted to make a quick get-away, resolute in my decision to get over my feelings for him because they were insulting and hurtful.
He walks with me. "I know you won't believe a word I say now, but I do like you, from that first day when you told me I was gross. I just didn't want you to know you had such a massive impact on me."