strange girl Love story episode 1


My story starts in late July. It was July 21st, I think. It
was the first day of our holiday, a hot July day. I stood
in the sun and looked at the sea. It was eleven o'clock
in the morning. I was on the boat at Portsmouth with
my mother and father and my sister, Louise. Sea birds
played near our big boat and the small boats near us on
the sea.
I started to look at the people with us on our boat.
They all watched the sea birds and talked and laughed.
They were all happy on the first day of their holiday
too. And suddenly there he was, this tall, quiet boy in
a blue and white shirt: he was really good-
looking. I'll always remember
Wow the first time I saw him.
He didn't see me then. He was with some friends.
One of the boys was his brother, I think: they had the
same blue eyes, the same mouth and nose, nearly the
same hair. His brother and one of the boys with him
tried to catch the sea birds and he smiled at them. Then
they came and stood near us, and they talked about the
small boats on the sea. I watched him over Louise's
head all the time!
His brother and his friends made a lot of noise, but
he was quiet and didn't talk a lot. Then suddenly he
looked at me and his eyes stayed quietly on me . . . and
he smiled his lovely smile with his shy blue eyes.
The people near me on the boat, the sun, the sea,
the birds, the noise of his friends, time - it all stopped.
At that moment there was only him and me, me and
him. Him and his smile for me. Only the two of us.
Slowly, very slowly, the boat started to move away,
across the water to Spain. It takes a day and a night on
the boat from Portsmouth to
Santander, in Spain. A day
and a night together,
on the same boat with
him . . .
We'll be on this boat for a
day and a night. Perhaps I can
talk to him before we arrive
there . . . Perhaps I'll see him
again this evening . . .
It was a big new boat with cafes, shops, a cinema
and a disco. In the evening Louise and 1 went to the
disco together. We had a Coke and listened to the
music and watched the dancers. But he wasn't there.
Then suddenly a tall boy in a black and white shirt
came in — it was him! He was with a friend. They
stopped and looked slowly at all the people in the
disco. It was dark in there and he stood and looked for
a long time.


He's looking for me!
He wants to see me!
Then he saw me and he smiled a big, friendly smile.
I wanted to stand up and sing and dance . . . dance with
him. He came across the room and stopped near our
table . . . and he asked me to dance!
Suddenly he wasn't shy with me. We danced
together for a long time after that.
11
Do you want to dance?
Suddenly he wasn't shy with me. We danced
together for a long time after that.

But then I looked up and there was a second tall boy
in a blue and white shirt at the door of the disco, with
the same eyes and the same mouth and nearly the same
hair.
But the boy near the door had that nice, quiet, shy
face — not a big, open, friendly smile. Suddenly I knew:
this was his brother with me on the dance-floor, not
him! I was with the wrong brother!

He stood for a moment near the door and watched
me and his brother on the dance-floor with sad eyes. I
wanted to run to him, to take his sad face in my hands
and say 'sorry'. He looked at me, then he went out
quickly.
I stopped dancing, walked back to my table and sat
down. His brother started to dance with Louise.
I didn't sleep that night. I thought about him all the
time, and listened to the noises of the boat and the sea.
In the morning I went to the cafe at eight o'clock and
waited there with my sister for a long time. I wanted to
say 'sorry' to him. I had four cups of coffee, and I don't
really like coffee.
But he didn't come. Where was he? Where was he?
At eleven o'clock we arrived in Santander. I wanted
to stop the boat: I wanted to stop the holiday; I wanted
to go back to England. I only wanted to see him again,
to talk to him, to ask his name.
But he wasn't there.
15
Where are you?
I want to see you again.