Diana

It was almost eleven pm, the sky was a particularly nice shade of drab and the crickets were chirping loudly as I walked back through to the dorms. I had been out swimming again, and my hair was dripping the cold water onto my mostly bare back. I had only put my shorts back on, and walked through the streets in my one-piece. My towel was thrown over my shoulders, and I had a bottle of water in my hands. I was unscrewing the top as I went, only to fasten it again a few seconds later. I trailed down the pavement, thoughts of homework overcoming my mind. And thoughts of Alan, of course.

Our date two nights ago had gone well. We went swimming until twelve, the remnants of our fish and chips stuffed into one of the many bins along the coastline, the scent of the oil still gliding on the warm breeze.

I splashed around, ducking under the gentle waves as to confuse Alan. He was intent on tickling me, a very bad idea - especially since we were in water.

'Diana!' He called, bobbing up and down. He threaded the water easily, before spotting me and taking long strokes of freestyle to get to me. I kicked on my back lazily, heading further out to sea. 'Stop that, would you?' I laughed, shaking my head.

Alan was closer than I realised, and grabbed my ankle, pulling me close. He placed a kiss on my forehead and wrapped an arm around me, before I wriggled out of his hold and grabbed his hand instead. I lifted my hips to the surface of the water, floating on my back. Alan mimicked me, sinking slightly before raising his own hips. I played with his fingers, twisting them between mine. We lay there for a while, looking up at the stars.

Alan let go and righted himself, treading water until he was at my left leg. Still floating, I felt him trace my tattoo. 'It's gorgeous.'

Earlier tonight, at the parlor, I had decided against finishing it off - it would have taken a few hours with the design being drawn and then transferred onto my skin, and finally the basic outline inked in. Besides, I had wanted to go swimming. I had discussed options with the tattooists though, and had a glance through their portfolios, and had even gotten a few recommendations from the employees as to who I should see about this particular piece. Once finding said person, they drew a rough sketch, estimated a price and tattooing time, and chucked the piece of paper into a folder, saying that they would work a bit more on it before our next meeting. I said in two weeks' time, and they happily agreed.

'Thank you,' I said, righting myself as well, 'your tattoos are beautiful too.' I traced the birds on his left arm above his wrist and smiled softly. I planted a kiss on his cheek and returned to floating. Alan wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me out of my floating position, and hugged me close, kissing my neck. I put a hand over his and skimmed the other across the top of the inky water.

I stepped off the path and sat down at the base of a tree, tilting my head towards the sky, a faint smile on my lips.

'No, stop that!' I heard a girl giggle loudly, screeching as her pursuer caught up to her. I saw their outlines across the open area, their figures draped in the light glow of the moon, their shadows being cast more elongated due to the angle. I saw the figures kiss and the man's hand move towards her midsection. The girl giggled again,

'Stop tickling me.'

'Oh, shush, Ivy.' The man replied, his voice deep. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. I felt extremely awkward listening in on their not-so-private moment, so I stood and dusted myself off as the figures - Ivy and the unnamed boy - started making out again. As I was about to enter the building and ascend the stairs, I heard Ivy laugh again and exclaim,

'Andy! Stop tickling me!'

I took my phone out of my shorts pocket, my heart filling with dread. My clumsy fingers missed my code, and I finally unlocked it, going straight to my contacts and finding the number Jessica had given me but a day ago. I pressed the "call" button and waited with baited breath.

A loud ringing sound split the air, and I heard Andy move away from Ivy and answer his phone.

'Hello? Who is this?'

I held the phone to my ear and trying to steady my voice, I replied,

'It's Diana. I was just wondering if you knew where Jess was.'

'She's fine, I'm with her now.' He said, blatantly lying. 'I've gotta go now, see you later Diana.'

'Bye.'

I snapped my phone closed before leaning around the side of the building and snapping a picture of the two that had resumed kissing.

Next stop, Jess.

Notes

Title cred: N/A

Cheating? Whoops.