Chapter Eight

"I'm confused," Bianca said honestly when her friend told her she'd broken up with Jamie. They were sat outside in front of Morelli's, enjoying some ice cream together, taking a break from their job hunts. "You seemed so happy when you first told me you'd started seeing him," she added.

"Yeah, I know. But…" Heather started, but not sure how to explain her feelings. Jamie was a nice guy and she'd had fun with him, but she just couldn't see it lasting.

"This doesn't have anything to do with Kevin, does it? Because you know he's with Stephanie," the blonde reacted.

"No!" the brunette objected, a little too heatedly. "No, this isn't because of Kevin," she said, calming herself down now. "He's nice, but… I dunno. I mean, he asked me to get tickets to a comedian together and I wasn't sure if we'd still be together then to go," Heather tried to explain. "Does that sound horrible?" she asked her friend, seeing her shrug.

"I don't know," Bianca responded. "I guess at least you didn't leave him hanging on," she added as a plus point. Her friend actually managed a chuckle.

"Small comfort," she commented, making the blonde laugh as well.

"Never mind. Something will work out eventually," she said optimistically. Heather gave her a sweet smile.

"Exactly," she said gratefully, leaning over to give her a hug. "So, what else do we have planned this summer?" she asked curiously, and Bianca launched into events she'd planned for the next two weeks.

That Tuesday was the first time Heather would join Kevin to korfball training, and it was the first time she'd seen him since their long talk on Thursday.

"Have you had a good week?" he asked as he made his way out of Broadstairs, towards Ramsgate's harbour, following the coastal road. This was his preferred route, even if it wasn't always necessarily the fastest way. His ex-girlfriend always loved going this way as well, looking out at the sea. And she didn't disappoint now, looking out at the sun reflecting off the water almost mesmerised.

"So-so," Heather shrugged, struggling to look away from the sea to look back at him. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him she'd broken up with Jamie.

"Oh, sorry to hear that. How come?" Kevin asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"It's not just one thing," she said with another shrug. "Bianca and I tried looking for jobs a couple of times, but it's hard to find specifics. I don't want to just go for things for the sake of applying, if you know what I mean," she started explaining, seeing him nod now. "And… I broke up with Jamie," she said, softer, almost like an afterthought. "How about you?" Heather said a little louder again, hoping he wouldn't notice she'd sandwiched it in there.

"How come you broke up with Jamie?" was the first thing he said. "Heather?" he encouraged her, gently placing his hand on hers in between shifting gears when she wouldn't look at him.

"I… we just weren't… right for each other," she said, her voice sounding tenser than she meant it to, her eyes nervously moving up to look at him, feeling rooted when he glanced at her.

"Sometimes that just happens," he nodded understanding and, even to her own surprise, she found herself hoping that he wasn't talking about them. Kevin swallowed hard as he returned his attention back to the road, not sure how to feel about his ex being single again. "You'll find someone," he heard himself assuring her.

"Thanks," Heather responded wryly, appreciating the sentiment but at the same time she wasn't sure what to make of it.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, listening to the radio before they started speaking again, about lighter topics this time. They discussed the upcoming social events that Bianca had planned; dinner, the cinema, the casino, the beach and a shopping trip to Ashford. Kevin wouldn't be able to make all of them and he'd be bringing Stephanie along to the casino event.

Kevin led the way into the hall, as he'd been the one to be in contact with the club. He'd spoken to third team coach Rick, who'd assured him that they could always use another boy who'd played before and especially another girl, even if unexperienced.

"Hey you guys, welcome," he said as he headed towards them, them being the only two players at this stage of the year who were unknown to him. New players tended to start in September. "You're Kevin and Heather?" he asked just to check, seeing them both nod. "I'm Rick, I coach third team and play for the first team," he introduced himself now, shaking their hands in turn. Rick was about 5ft 10, in his late twenties, almost black hair and a healthy build; Heather had been expecting him to look more like a basketballer. "Kevin, you have some experience?" he asked, remembering his email saying something about having played at University.

"Yeah, I played for Cardiff University for two years," Kevin nodded now.

"Great," Rick nodded, pleased to hear it. "And you, Heather?"

"Not with this, but basketball," Heather answered, hoping that would be enough to see her through.

"Cool, we can work with that," the coach smiled, reassuring her. Depending on how ingrained her basketball was, it may take a little longer to convert her to korfball moves and shots, but sometimes the basketball moves came in handy. "We'll show you with a little four on four what it's supposed to look like, and then we'll go through some different shots to warm up," he added now, to give them an idea of what to expect this session.

The experienced players set up with 2 men and 2 women opposing four others in bibs. When Rick blew the whistle, the player with the ball started passing it around. All four players moved the ball around the post until they'd moved two whole circles, before one of the girls went in to the middle, receiving the ball. She held it up until one of the men came in to set up under the post. The two remaining players out front started moving in an attempt to shake their defenders, until the ball made its way to the man out front, who took a shot from out far. Impressively, the ball went straight through the big yellow plastic basket without even touching the sides. Kevin could tell from her posture that this little demonstration had intrigued Heather, and she seemed quite enthusiastic when Rick said they would now be split across the various posts to start warming up and practising a few different types of shots. They started with runners, which was similar to a basketball lay-up. It took Heather a couple of goes, and advice from Kevin and one of the other girls, to not travel too much but eventually she was able to make the steps match and propel her shot into the basket.

"Okay, I like this, this was a good idea of yours," Heather told her ex enthusiastically when she rejoined him in the queue.

After two hours, they were both sweaty and tired as hell, but Heather was also buzzing enthusiastically. "I definitely want to go again next week," she told him when they were back in his car, on their way back to Broadstairs.

"Sounds good to me," Kevin grinned, glancing at her. Tonight had been a lot of fun, almost like it used to be when they played basketball together. And when they played some short games at the end of the session, they could sense each other's moves like they'd done back then. It had felt nice to have her back as his friend, giddy with excitement as she sang along to the radio, bouncing in her seat.

"See you on Thursday for the cinema?" Heather asked after he'd parked his car a few blocks away and they'd walked the rest of the way; his house was first on their way.

"Yeah, this Thursday I can do," he nodded, giving her a slightly hesitant smile. Kevin was probably looking forward to it a little more than he should and more than he was to the casino event on Saturday, that Stephanie would be down for. He was torn; he wanted his girlfriend to come along and get along with his friends, but he was also aware that having her around changed the dynamic and the atmosphere a little. "Thanks for coming along tonight," he said now, turning towards her on his front step.

"Thanks for inviting me," she grinned. "Do you want to get dinner together before joining the others?" she asked after a few seconds, liking how tonight had been and wanting to continue that feeling.

Against his better judgment, Kevin felt himself nod. "Sure. Text me where and when," he told her and headed in. Heather couldn't help smiling a little excitedly to herself as she continued her way home.