One Perfect Summer

he concedes, laughing a little. ‘But it’s better than the alternative.’
    ‘We’d better get going,’ I say. ‘I’m starving.’
    ‘You should have had breakfast,’ Mum says wryly.
    ‘I slept in,’ I tell Joe.
    ‘I didn’t get back to sleep,’ he replies.
    ‘Joe and I fell asleep on the sofa last night,’ I admit to Mum.
    Both eyebrows go up. ‘Oh, really ?’ she says.
    Joe shifts awkwardly at my side. ‘Let’s go!’ I say merrily, hoping to put an end to his embarrassment. Although why he is embarrassed is beyond me. It’s not like we did anything.
    ‘Did you have to tell her that?’ he mutters under his breath when we’re out of the door.
    ‘Why not?’ I reply. ‘We’re both eighteen, what’s the big deal?’
    He shrugs. I put my arm around his waist and smile up at him, but he stares ahead at the path. I release my grip, a little put out. If he notices, he doesn’t comment on it.
    We pass a couple of dog walkers on the way, but apart from them the cliffs are practically deserted.
    ‘Let’s walk down to the ledge,’ Joe suggests.
    The grass is slippery underfoot, but his hand holds me steady. There are steps cut out of the rock at the bottom of the hill.
    ‘Let’s keep going,’ I say. We carefully navigate the steps and come to a chalky slope leading to the cliff. The cliff is only about ten metres high down here, and below is a flat area of rock just above sea level – the actual Dancing Ledge. My dad was reading aloud about this place only yesterday, and he told Mum, Lizzy and me that the rock here was blasted away by local quarrymen and used to construct Ramsgate harbour in east Kent. It’s called Dancing Ledge because the area of stone cut out of the cliffs is the same size as a ballroom dance floor. And within that ‘dance floor’ is a man-made swimming pool, created for the use of local schools about a hundred years ago.
    ‘We’ll have to come back when it’s sunny,’ I say, looking at the clear pool of water, grey today, but greeny-blue on a sunny day I imagine. ‘Could we climb down?’ I ask him.
    He glances at Dyson.
    ‘Not to worry,’ I say, remembering his fear about Dyson running off.
    But he delves into his coat pocket and pulls out a leash. ‘He’ll be fine.’
    ‘That was well thought out,’ I say, impressed.
    ‘Come on, boy,’ he says, leading Dyson back up to the fence. The dog barks with annoyance at being tied up, but Joe pulls a plastic bag out of his backpack and unwraps it to produce a very large bone. I can practically see Dyson salivating from here. He flops onto the grass and starts to gnaw. Joe flashes me an amused look as he jogs back down the steps.
    ‘I thought you weren’t a planner,’ I tease as he gets closer. He shrugs without looking at me and nods at the cliff edge. ‘You ready?’
    ‘Let’s do it.’
    Joe goes first and promises, with a grin, to catch me if I fall. I jump the last metre and land safely on the rock. It’s completely deserted down here. No one else wants to brave the weather conditions, but despite the wind, the sea is not rough. The water laps onto the ledge and we can see that the rock comes to a sudden stop just beyond it. The water looks very deep.
    ‘You can dive in,’ Joe tells me.
    ‘Have you?’ I ask him.
    He nods.
    I bet he looks hot in his swimming trunks. I see the dark outline of a couple of caves beyond him. ‘Have you been inside the caves?’ I ask.
    ‘Yeah. Want to have a look?’
    ‘Sure.’ He leads the way. We reach the caves and go inside. The sound of the wind whistling through the hollowed-out space is loud, but it’s much more sheltered.
    ‘This is cool!’ I exclaim. ‘Shall we eat in here?’
    ‘Yeah, okay.’ He bends down and opens his backpack. Earlier, I gave him the food I’d prepared, along with a picnic rug, which he hands to me. I lay it out on the smooth rock. Joe sits down, but doesn’t look at me when I hand him his sandwich. It occurs to me that he’s barely looked at me since he went off to tie up Dyson. I instantly feel on edge.
    ‘Are you alright?’ I ask nervously.
    ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ He shrugs again, not meeting my eyes.
    He stares out of the cave opening while eating his lunch. I take a bite of my sandwich. His arm brushes against mine and it makes my hairs stand up, but I feel strangely separate from him. I don’t know what’s going through his head.
    We eat in silence and after a while he puts his leftover sandwich down and links his