Ancient Echoes Read Online Free PDF Page B

time. He wondered – as he pretended to do things on the keyboard – whether she was feeling critical of the chaos she could see around her.
    ‘Jack?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I’d like to ask you a favour.’ When he turned she was leaning against the door, arms crossed. She was biting her lip, watching him carefully. She walked over to him, still defensive, and lowered her gaze for a moment. Then she looked back at him and said firmly, ‘Don’t lie to me. Promise not to lie. To
me
.’
    ‘I don’t lie,’ he muttered irritably, trying to turn away.
    She reached for his arm. ‘You lie all the time. But it’s OK. I know you like telling the stories. I shouldn’t have been so annoyed. They’re good stories. I just want you to promise –
me
– promise me that you’ll only tell
me
the
truth.’
    ‘Yeah. OK.’
    ‘
Promise
it!’
    ‘I
promise
,’ he said, again irritably. He was shaking. The look in her large eyes was very earnest, but he could smell soap and her breath, which was warm and sweet. He was getting aroused, and he flushed as he realized it but was helpless to control his body, and he knew that he was beginning to show through the loose cotton trousers of his track suit. Angela aroused him. He’d heard through one of her friends that she’d like to be his girlfriend, but was as shy as Jack himself when it came to making such arrangements, something that amused the bolder members of the school’s tribes. He’d also heard that she thought he lied too much for his own good. This recognition from her that it was all right to tell elaborate stories was almost an invitation.
    He suddenly realized she was shaking, but not with nerves, with suppressed laughter. ‘Is that where you keep your Heavy Metal?’ she said, glancing quickly down, then went bright red, a hand to her mouth as she tried to control her amusement. ‘I’m sorry,’ she managed to say.
    Jack twisted away, face burning, but she reached out and grabbed his arm again, stepping suddenly close, putting both arms round him. ‘It’s OK,’ she said, and chanced a kiss, which was soft and nervous, very dry. ‘It’s OK, Jack. I really like you. The stories, that stuff you do, it’s just like earning a living, isn’t it? It’s OK.’
    ‘I know it is.’ He licked his lips. He held her awkwardly, aware of the straining and longing below his waist. When they kissed for the second time it was soft and moist, the tentative then more adventurous probing of her tongue like a shock. She suddenly pushed against him and he tried to pull away, aware of the hardness of her breasts through her thin jumper. She tugged him back by the waistband of his track suit, breaking the kiss to whisper, ‘Let me feel it. Don’t pull back.’
    Damn! His knees were shaking.
She’d
lost her shyness,
he
felt he was about to faint. He tightened his embrace, more for support than love, and Angela seemed to sink into him, kissing him again, a surprisingly confident hand suddenly reaching between their bodies to press against his groin.
    He opened his eyes in delighted shock. She was already watching him as her fingers explored the Heavy Metal. And behind her, the door opened and his mother glanced in, made a profuse apology and backed out, but already the kiss was broken as each of them had leapt apart with the sudden surprise of the woman’s voice.
    Angela smiled mischievously. ‘Don’t tell me any lies,’ she said as she ran quickly from the room. ‘Remember – I’ll be keeping my eye on you.’

6
    John Garth was waiting for him on the steps of the greystone church, St John the Divine. He was pacing up and down, clearly impatient. Jack felt guilty for being late, but he had spent most of the day with Angela, either talking with her in the seclusion of the sports huts, or passing silly notes to her in class. He was basking in the excitement of the relationship that was now beginning to blossom. The touch and smell of her skin had become exquisitely