I'm Just a Puppet and She's Holding the Strings

_August 26th 2000_

I'm going home tomorrow.

And I'm bloody well gutted.

I want to stay here forever.

It'd be great if I could, I'd have sun, sand, sea, surfing and best of all I'd have Sebastien .

Well, I'd have him until he goes home at least.

I really don't want to go. I want to stay here for the next three days and spend more time with him.

He's the sweetest, funniest, most amazing guy I've ever met.

Yes, I do realise I've only known him for a week, but I'm not lying.

This last week has been so much fun.

I've never laughed so much in all my life and I've never known a nicer person.

The lump on Sebastien's head had swollen tremendously and I felt so guilty.

I'd also given him a bruise where I'd hit him with my surfboard but that had faded by now.

At the moment I was finishing packing up my suitcase.

"Are you nearly done, honey?" My dad asked, poking his head through the door.

"Yeah, almost," I nodded, a small smile on my face.

"When you're done you can have the rest of the day to surf or something. Your mum's stomach is still playing up a little," He winced.

"Is she feeling any better?"

"Better than she was, I think she's just getting the last of the bad fish out of her system,"

"Okay, are you sure you'll be alright with her if I go out?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Ste's here and she's sleeping so don't worry, just be careful,"

"I will,"

I quickly finished packing the last of my stuff except for my clothes for tomorrow and my pyjamas for tonight.

In the two hours my mum had given me everyday to have to myself I'd spent almost all of them with Sebastien.

I probably sound really ridiculous because I've only known him for a week and I've spent a lot less time with him than that. But believe me, that amount of time was enough.

The past week (Well... Like, fourteen hours) we hadn't done many varieties of activities. It was mainly just sitting on the beach talking, walking around the streets and chilling out at the hotel.

As I zipped up my suitcase and placed it by the wardrobe, I heaved out a relieved sigh and grabbed my towel on the way out.

"See you later, dad," I called as I left the room.

I jumped down the stairs and out into the lobby of the hotel, smiling at the doorman and thanking him as he held the door open for me.

I wandered my way down to the beach and found a clear spot (which took a while) before laying my towel on the floor and sitting down on it. I stared off into the horizon and took off my flip-flops before sinking my toes into the warm, golden sand.

I began to pile the sand over my feet, burying them from sight.

"Don't you think your feet may be offended by you trying to hide them? They might lead you into the road in front of a truck," A sarcastic voice whispered in my ear. I jumped and snapped my head around, hitting my head against someone's cheek.

"Owww," We chorused.

That makes it eight wounds in six days.

Every time we'd seen each other I'd hurt him some how.

On day one, I hit him with my surfboard and then hit him with the pool ball.
On day two, I fell backwards into the pool and pulled him with me almost drowning him.
On day three, I'd fallen over and grabbed at his arm but missed and scratched him with my nails leaving huge scratch marks over his arm.
On day four, I tripped over and fell on the floor, pulling him with me and causing him to scratch his elbows and jolt his wrist.
On day five, I dropped my surfboard on his foot.
And now, on day six, I'd just nutted him in the face.

"Rach, we really have to stop meeting like this," He complained, "Thank God you're going home tomorrow,"

I looked at him with a saddened expression but he couldn't see it because he was clutching his face, "Why?" I croaked.

"Because the way this week's gone I don't think I'd survive it. The damage is getting worse as the week's gone over, I swear to God, I really think you'd have murdered me by the end of my holiday,"

I chuckled lightly but only to humour him. I was upset that he was happy I was leaving.

"Well, you'll be rid of me tomorrow, you won't have to bear my company any longer and you can get better in peace," I sighed, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them.

I rubbed my head lightly to relieve some of the pain (not that it worked) and wrapped my arms around my legs.

"Scoot over," He nudged my shoulder and so I moved over on my towel so create some space for him.

He sat down beside me and leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"I don't just bear your company you know. I do enjoy it," He reassured, staring out onto the horizon like myself, "If I'm being totally honest, I don't think I want to be completely rid of you either..."

I didn't look at him but a smile grew on my face a little.

"Even if you do cause me a huge amount of pain, I think the hours I've spent with you when you didn't hurt me make up for it..."

I still didn't look at him, I could feel his eyes flicking over to me every so often and I knew I was blushing.

I kept my gaze on the horizon that the sun was slowly setting over.

"I don't want to lose touch with you, you know?" He whispered, "I'd like it if we could write to each other, or e-mail each other... We could exchange phone numbers too,"

I was silent. I don't even know why I was staying this quiet but I was...

"What do you think?" He asked. He had turned his head to fully look at me.

"Rach?" He called quietly; his voice seemed a little pleading probably due to the fact that I'd been ignoring him for the past five minutes.

"I don't want to leave," I murmured, my gaze concentrating on the mixture of reds, oranges and yellows in the distant sky.

"Why not?"

"Do you want the awkward honest answer or do you want the easily spoken lie?" I offered.

"Well, how about you tell me the lie and then if you want to then you can tell me the truth?" He suggested, "But you have to look at me if you're gonna tell me,"

"How about I tell you the lie when I'm looking at you but I tell you the truth when I'm looking at the sunset?"

"I don't actually mind as long as you tell me," He shrugged sitting up in an Indian seating position and playing with the sand in front of him.

"Okay..." I nodded and looked over at him. His pale blue eyes gazed into mine and he smiled reassuringly.

"I don't want to leave because I love being here," I broke our stare and gazed silently onto the horizon and watched as, after a few minutes, the sun disappeared behind the faint line.

As soon as it had gone, my eyes dropped to my lap and my voice became shaky, "But I also don't want to leave because I've enjoyed every painful second I've spent with you and I don't want it to end..."

It was a few seconds before he reacted. I'd probably scared him off or been too forward or whatever.

But suddenly, I felt his right hand on my arm and his thumb drift over my skin.

"Me neither," He agreed.

My head shot up and he smiled at me when our eyes met.

"Finally, you look at me," He joked.

"I thought I might look at you and somehow you'd burst into flames," I chuckled lightly.

"The way this week has been going I'd swear something like that would probably happen,"

I smiled and stretched my legs out in front of me, leaning back on my arms. I loved the way we'd get all the awkwardness out of the way and then we'd be like normal even though we'd just been in a kind of awkward situation.

"What time's your flight tomorrow?" He questioned. My smile instantly dropped and I sighed.

"Um... Seven pm I think, we have to be out of the hotel by twelve so they can sort the room,"

"Does that mean I'm not gonna see you tomorrow?" He frowned.

"Probably yeah," I nodded, casting a glance over to him now and again.

"That's crap," He complained.

I laughed, "Yeah, I know,"

"I guess I'll have to make your last night a bit bloody fantastic then won't I?"

My eyebrow quirked as I looked over at him, "And how do you propose you do that?"

"Well, we'll go get something to eat, something take-away so we can wander while we eat, and then we'll go into town and have a bit of fun there... Then we'll come back to the hotel and play some pool," He listed, "Let's see if I can't get you to keep the ball on the table," He teased.

I nudged him playfully, "Shut up," I retorted, "But that sounds like a plan, as long as you remember not to kneel down right in front of where I'm aiming. I've hurt you enough this week, I don't think I want to go back over all the injuries again,"

"I don't think I'd like that either," He winced before standing up.

He dusted off the back of his shorts and held a hand out for me.

I slid my hand into his and felt my stomach tingle as he pulled me up. I dusted off my own shorts and picked my towel up from the floor.

We walked over to the pathway and he let me up the stairs first in a gentlemanly fashion.

We found a small shop where we got something to eat and finished it quickly before heading in town's direction.

As we wandered into a road close to town I felt my palm collide with someone else's. Then I felt my fingers being intertwined with another set.

I looked down at our joined hands before following the arm up to meet Sebastien's face which was eyeing our surroundings to find our next direction.

He soon looked over at me with a smile before he spoke sweetly, "Am I making you uncomfortable? Do you want me to let go?"

I shook my head, "No, no, it's fine. I don't mind at all,"

I bit down on my lip, trying my best to reduce my smile so it wouldn't kill my cheeks.

"Great... Hey, let's go this way!" He exclaimed excitedly, pulling me over in a random direction.

I giggled, "Why? What's this way?"

"I have no idea," He grinned widely and kept tugging me.

He came to a stop as we arrived at some ancient looking shop.

"Let's go in," He announced.

"It looks creepy," I spoke dismissively.

"So? Let's go in anyway," He shrugged. He opened the door and had to pull me in with him because I wasn't going in willingly.

Strangely, the inside was neatly decorated and looked a lot better in here than outside.

"See... Don't judge a book by its cover," He told me.

"Yeah, alright," I rolled my eyes and smiled.

We wandered around the shop, looking at stuff.

"Ooh, that's pretty," I admired a bracelet on the shelf. It was made of wooden beads of different colours that had different markings on it.

"Yeah, it's really nice," Sebastien agreed, his hand now around my waist and not lacing fingers with me.

"It represents romance," A new voice joined the conversation and we looked over to the shopkeeper, "It's a lucky charm,"

"It's so simple but it's beautiful," I trailed my fingers over the beads with a smile.

I placed it back in the tray and shrugged it off, "I'm gonna look around a bit more,"

"Okay, I'll come with you," Sebastien added before heading over with me around the shop.

Suddenly, he frightened me slightly with a quick jerk movement to his pocket.

"What's up?" I frowned.

"I think I've dropped my wallet..." He fretted.

"Really? Ah, crap, it might've fallen out when we were running," I suggested.

His eyes darted around the shop, "Oh," he sighed with relief, I see it, it's over there on the floor," He walked over to it and I kept looking around the shop.

"You ready to go look somewhere else?" Sebastien's voice came to my ears a few minutes later.

"Ready when you are," I smiled back.

"C'mon then," He slid his hand into mine once again and we headed out.

"I think we should just head to the pier and then head back to the hotel for pool, does that sound alright?"

I nodded profusely, "It sounds perfect,"

"I think the pier's this way..." He trailed off pointing to the right, "But it might be that way..." He paused and brought his finger to his mouth in thought.

"Have you been there before?" I began to doubt his sense of direction.

"I've been there, yeah, but I don't actually know how to get there..." He smiled innocently.

"Well, that reassures me plenty," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

He ignored my comment.

"Left or right?" He asked.

"Ooohhh no, you're not getting me involved in this. I'm not giving you any opportunity to blame us getting lost on me," I denied, shaking my head.

"Oh you're no fun! Getting lost is great, I'm not going to blame you, 'cause it's not a bad thing,"

I shook my head again, "I'm still not choosing,"

"Ugh, fine, let's go right," He decided starting off in that direction.

"I don't like right," I contradicted making him stop and turn in the opposite direction.

"Well, let's go left then,"

I stopped him again, "No because if we do get lost then it'll be my fault,"

"You're impossible!" He cried, throwing his free hand up in the air exasperatedly, "You'll have to choose. We can either go a way you don't like and risk getting lost or go the way you do like and still risk getting lost but then it'll be your fault, it's your decision," He finalised.

I sighed and looked both ways.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe..." I began, causing Sebastien to laugh loudly.

"Just kidding," I grinned, "Let's go left,"

"Are you sure now?"

"I'm positive,"

"Are you more positive than a plus sign?"

What a ridiculous metaphor...

"Um... Yeah? Whatever," I shrugged.

"Definitely?"

"Yes! Definitely!" I exclaimed in frustration.

"Great, let's go," He spoke before leading me off to the right.

"This is right," I noted.

He casually turned as he was walking, doing a 180 and heading off to the left.

"I knew that," He scoffed with the raise of an eyebrow before he smiled sheepishly.

I chuckled and allowed myself to be tugged along behind him, wondering if we were going the right way or if we were just getting ourselves well and truly lost.

Only time will tell...

"I guess you were right," Sebastien announced as we came to a halt by the railing of the pier.

"That's because I'm great, I would've thought you'd have realised that by now," I beamed at him, "I'm kidding, I'm not really,"

He nudged me with his shoulder, "Yeah you are,"

I put my hands on my cheeks to hide the redness, they were bright enough to notice in the dark.

"So you think we'll find our way back?" I spoke, swiftly changing the subject.

"I think so we'll just have to go back the way we came,"

"Do you remember the way we came?"

"Um..." He trailed off.

"Sebastien!" I exclaimed, slapping his arm lightly.

"Ow! That's still sore from when you pulled me over!" He winced.

"Ah! Sorry," I apologised, gently taking hold of his arm and lifting the edge of his sleeve.

The streetlights were enough for me to see.

"There's no bruise,"

"It's faded now, but it's still sore," He pouted.

"Sorry," I murmured, releasing his arm and learning my own on the railings in front of us.

"It's okay, I'm used to it," He shrugged.

As he went forward to lean on the railings, he threaded his left arm through my right and took hold of my hand.

I smiled at him and he laced our fingers, squeezing my hand softly.

We were silent for a while, just gazing into the distance, watching the moonlight reflect off the still water.

We were just enjoying each other's company; there was no need for words.

"Hey Rach?" He piped up eventually.

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"Do you think we'll ever see each other again?"

My gaze settled on him and I shrugged in uncertainty.

"I don't know," I replied with a sigh.

"I hope we do," He said back.

I smiled, "Me too,"

_An Hour Later_

"I told you we weren't lost," He stated smugly as the hotel came into sight.

"Well you could've fooled me Mr.Oh-My-God-I-Don't-Know-Where-We-Are-What-Happens-If-Someone-Tries-To-Kill-Us?!" I mocked.

"Hey! At the time, I was mocking you! I knew where we were the whole time!" He defended.

"You don't even know where bloody Greece is! We've just spent the past twenty minutes walking around in circles!"

"Yeah, well we got back didn't we?" He scoffed.

"Thanks to that woman who told us where to go!"

"Oh stop complaining!"

"No!" I said stubbornly, "You're an idiot,"

"You're stupid,"

"Don't make me hurt you on purpose,"

"Why not? I've had every part of my body damaged, why not my pride from being beaten up by a girl?"

"I took your pride days ago," I snorted, "Thanks," I smiled as he held the hotel door open for me.

"You're welcome," He grinned, "And you're probably right. You've beaten me up better than my brother has ever done,"

"I feel so proud," I joked as we arrived in the games room.

"You should do," He chuckled, "Now let's see if we can't get your pool skills up to scratch before you leave,"

"I don't have the rest of my life, Sebastien, you do know that don't you?" My eyebrows rose, my expression expectant.

"Yes I do know that, but with my help you'll clear this table quicker than you can tie your shoelaces,"

"You're expecting too much of me,"

"No, I'm not, expecting too much of you would be expecting you to slam a revolving door; Impossible," He spoke as he set up the balls, "You can do anything but the physically impossible. You're a strong minded, determined person and I wouldn't expect you to be anything less," He lectured as he handed me my cue.

"Was there really any need for that speech?" I teased.

He grinned, "Yeah there was, I was feeling philosophical,"

"Right..."

He swung the end of the cue and hit the back of my knee so I almost fell over.

"Hey!" I protested as I regained my balance.

He stuck his tongue out at me, "That's for mocking my philosophical-ness,"

"Something tells me that that was the last we'll see of your philosophical-ness for a long time,"

He glared playfully.

"Alright Miss. Sarcastic, take your bloody shot,"

"Alright, I will," I leaned down over the cue like he'd taught me the first day we met and pulled back the cue before jamming it forward into the white ball.

We both watched as it shot off the table and onto the floor then rolled to a stop as it hit the wall.

I rolled my eyes innocently and he laughed.

"Well... Maybe first I should teach you how to keep the ball on the table," He began and grabbed the ball from the floor before placing it back in front of me again.

"Try again," He nodded at the table.

I sighed and leaned down again, I pulled back the cue and let it go forward again.

It didn't go off the table but it didn't really hit the balls either...

"Okay..." He sighed, he grabbed the white ball and gently rolled the only ball I'd hit back into place, "Let's try again,"

"Sebastien, I suck, get over it," I groaned.

"No, Rachel! We're not leaving here until you pot a damn ball!"

I rolled my eyes and took the white ball in my hand then dropped it down one of the holes, "There, happy?"

"Funny," He retorted, "Really, that was just fantastic comedy,"

He grasped the white ball as it came back out and slammed it back on the table.

"Bend over," He ordered.

"Excuse me?" I laughed.

"You know what I mean," He shook his head and I did as I was told, trying not to giggle.

His seriousness was quite entertaining.

"Right," He started before he came over to me, standing hip to hip with me.

He bent over, lifted my hand that was lying on the table and placed his on underneath it before snaking his arm around me to hold the back of the cue.

His head was resting on my shoulder and he stared straight down the cue.

"Get your aim right," He whispered, slowly moving the stick so it was at a different angle, "And aim for the middle of the ball," He added, pushing the end of the cue down a little.

"Now pull back..." He trailed off as he turned to watch as he pulled the cue back and realised how close we were.

My eyes cast over to him, my head only moving ever-so-slightly so that we wouldn't bang noses.

"And release," He finished, pushing the cue forward but never stopping looking at me.

"It worked," I spoke in astonishment as I watched the triangle of balls break apart and spread widely over the table.

"Mhm," He nodded, "I said that I'd get you to pot a ball and this is half way there," He spoke in an undertone.

Without realising that I shouldn't have, I turned my head slowly and our eyes caught each other's.

"Hi," I breathed.

He smiled slightly, "Hello,"

I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage and I was trying my best to control my breathing.

"Is your heart racing as fast as mine right now?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

I nodded slowly, "Even faster,"

His mouth twitched a smile.

"Good," He whispered as he edged towards me.

I didn't have to move far to meet him half way.

His lips meeting mine was enough to make my whole body feel so exhilarated that I thought I would keep smiling for the rest of my life.

Soon, we found ourselves standing up straight, his hands around my waist and mine resting on his shoulders.

After a few seconds I felt one of his hands unwrap from me and I lost track of it for a minute until it took hold of my fingers. I then felt him slide something onto my wrist.

I broke the kiss and looked down at what he'd put on me.

It was the bracelet that we saw from the shop earlier...

"It matches you perfectly," He began.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like you said... Simply beautiful," He took my hand in his and ran his thumb over the beads, "Just like you..."

I grinned uncontrollably and kissed his cheek.

It wasn't exactly what I said but I wasn't about to correct him...

"I'm gonna miss you so much," I whimpered.

He pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, "I'm gonna miss you more..."

_Twenty Four Hours Later_

Right now I was sat on a plane, staring blankly out of the window as I played about with the bracelet on my wrist.

"You alright sweetie?" My mum nudged me gently.

I nodded briefly, "Yeah, I'm fine, I just don't want to go home,"

"Me neither, but we'll be back on holiday again next year,"

I smiled slightly and turned back to face the window.

Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate.

I forgot to turn it off... Oops.

From: Sebastien
Thank you

I frowned at this and replied with:

What for?

The reply was rapid.

From: Sebastien
Everything

"Turn your phone off Rachel, they're not meant to be on when you're flying," My mum advised.

I smiled from the message and nodded at my mum, "Yeah, I know,"

I switched my phone off and shoved it back in my pocket.

My cheeks were seriously starting to hurt.

What kind of stupid effect is this boy having on me?

... Okay, a good one...

_Eight Years Later_
_Present Day_
_March 11th 2008_

Do you ever get a really bad case of forgetting and it does your head in for about a week?

That's what I have now.

And it all started with a damn bracelet.

"Ooh, this is pretty!! Where'd you get it?" Mia asked excitedly as she rummaged through a box she found in my cupboard.

Mia was my best friend. I'd known her for about six years and she was the loveliest girl you could ever want to meet.

"What is it?" I questioned as I taped up a cardboard box with fragile things in.

"It's a bracelet thing, it's multi-coloured and I adore it," She spoke excitedly.

I shrugged, "Let's see?"

She threw it over to me and I caught it before eyeing it carefully.

"I think I bought it when I went on holiday to Greece a few years back," I answered as I threw it back.

"I love it, I want one," She grinned as she put it back in the box.

"Take it if you want it," I said casually as I grabbed another box.

"Can I really?" She beamed at me.

I chuckled and nodded as her brown curls bounced against her shoulders as she clapped eagerly.

"Yeah, of course you can, as far as I'm aware it's nothing important so just take it,"

But as soon as I'd said that I began to wonder... Was it really not important? Because something was nagging at me inside.

"Thank you!" She smiled.

"Hey Mia, you do know that I'm moving out right? We're meant to be packing boxes, not rummaging in them and taking stuff out,"

She blushed sheepishly, "Sorry,"

I shook my head and laughed before I threw her the tape.

"Grab some boxes and bring them down for me would you?" I said as I picked up a few boxes.

"I can't believe you're moving so far away from me Rach, I mean, we've lived next door to each other for six years now!"

"Mia, I'm only moving a few streets away, just because you have to walk for an extra five minutes to get to my house doesn't mean that I'm moving to Sweden,"

"I know but it's just crap! I mean, I might have some scary new neighbours who might come and kill me,"

"Yeah... 'Cause that's gonna happen," I rolled my eyes as I handed some boxes to the movers.

"It could!"

"But at the same time, it's just not gonna," I contradicted.

She slapped my arm before she handed her boxes to the mover.

"So is that the last of them then?" She asked, crossing his arms as she looked around the hall.

"Yup, that's the last of them,"

"Oh, man it's gonna be so weird not having you next door to me," She sighed.

"I know, but we'll get used to it..."

She pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight.

"Why are you hugging me? You're coming with me to the new house now,"

"Yeah I know but I thought the situation called for it," She shrugged as she let go.

"You're weird,"

"I had a good teacher," She winked at me before leading me out of the front door.

"True," I agreed as we got into the car.

"Let's go move you in then," She announced.

"Let's," I smiled as we started the engine and headed off towards the house.

But that one thing was doing my head for the rest of the day...

Where did that damn bracelet come from?!

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You look so beautiful today
When you're sitting there
It's hard for me to look away
So I try to find the words that I could say
I know distance doesn't matter
But you feel so far away

Simple Plan- I Can Wait Forever
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