“So, have you seen anyone else?” she asks when we’re tidying up after dinner.
“I bumped into Jacobi and Taya,” I tell her.
“Lucky you.” Her sarcastic lilt makes me smile.
“Still not their biggest fan, then?”
She shrugs, “I used to like him, you know, before.” She spares me a quick glance, then looks down to her hands as she twists her fingers around each other. “Taya changed him, or maybe… I don’t know, maybe other things did.”
I want to get away from this subject. “So, any interesting boys in your class this year?”
Her cheeks flush, and suddenly I'm all ears.
“James, he’s a new guy, but I don’t think he’s noticed me, not outside the classroom anyway.”
Her whole posture is slumped and sad, and I wonder how life has treated her while I’ve been gone. When I moved away with my mum, I didn’t think about this place, or more accurately, I tried to erase this place from my mind, and in doing that, I also blocked out my friend and left her to the wolves.
Placing my hand over hers, she startles as her eyes meet mine.
“I’m not sorry I left,” I tell her, “but I will always be sorry I didn’t keep in touch with you.” Tears well in her eyes, and I feel like the worst friend ever. “I never stopped considering you as a friend, not like you think I did, I just needed to block this place out, which meant everyone…” I sigh, knowing no matter what I say, it will never make up for the way I treated my best friend. “But still, I should never have blocked you out. I know now I should have explained that I needed time. I could’ve even written a letter, not left you hanging, wondering why I ditched you. I’m sorry, Emmie, really, really sorry.”
She leans forward and grabs my shoulders, pulling me in for a hug, and I vow to myself, I won’t be that friend again. Not to her.
“Come on, enough with the heavy,” she says, looking at her watch. “Let’s go to the arcade.”
I look at my own watch and see it’s still early. “Okay, why not. We’ll finish this food, and I’ll go and get changed,” I respond, pointing at the stain on my top.
Giving myself a once over in the mirror, I’m happy with my black jeans, black UGG boots, and my black, cropped Calvin Klein hoodie. I comb my fingers through my long, grey hair which I should brush, but I can’t be bothered, and I coat my lips with a light red gloss.
“Ready,” I tell Emmie.
“Are you wearing enough black?” she asks sarcastically. I raise an eyebrow and open a drawer, pulling out a black beanie which I slip on my head. She rolls her eyes and threads her arm through mine. “Come on,”
The sound and lights hit me first, then the smell of hot dogs and burgers. I realise I’ve missed this place. We used to hang out here all the time when there was a group of us, before things changed and before I left. This place was our home away from home.
“Nigel still works here.” Emmie tells me. “He still talks about you, the girl with the grey hair.”
“Yeah, well if he was allowed to know about witches, my hair wouldn’t seem that odd,” I reply.
“Awesome.”
I glance down at her as we approach the entry doors. “Huh?”
“Awesome,” she repeats and nods towards my head. “Your hair is awesome.”
“So’s yours,” I state, nodding back towards hers.
She fiddles with her curls. “Yeah, but mine’s all fabricated.”
I pull her to a stop. “Women don’t want grey hair, Emmie. They pay a lot of money to have it dyed when it starts going that way.”
“Urm, no. Women pay a lot of money to have their white hair covered. They call it grey, but it never is. Haven’t you ever noticed that?” She doesn’t give me a chance to respond before carrying on her tirade. “Your hair is beautiful, and it’s silver,” she states. “Plus, it’s long and thick. Hell, you had this look even before it became fashionable. Now everyone want’s grey and silver hair.”
I chuckle at her and squeeze her cheeks. “Love you, Emmie.”
She smiles at me. “Come on, nutcase, let’s go play some games.”
A few minutes later, we’ve changed up some notes for coins, and we’re ready to go. It’s only when we turn the corner, heading towards the pool tables we spot Taya and Jacobi with the rest of their crowd, and they’re staring straight at us.
It’s strange. I could sense her walking into the arcade before I even saw her mop of grey hair through the sea of people. My nostrils flare with the anticipation of her being here, my shoulders tensing as I take my shot and send the cue ball flying over the edge of the pool table and thumping down onto the floor. She’s already causing me trouble, despite the fact I told her to stay away. I need to put a stop to this.
Dropping my cue onto the table and conceding the game, I pull Taya to me, her body flush against mine, and devour her mouth. A couple of the people around us whistle at the display of public affection. Backing Taya farther over the pool table, I kiss her harder and harder before pulling her up and letting her go.
She stands in front of me, silent, with shining eyes. “What was that for?”
I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly. “No reason, just because I can, and you look hot tonight.”
She does look hot. Taya wears her clothes like a second skin; they cling to all her curves. Juniper is all dressed in black, but Taya is wearing a bright pink skirt, barely covering her backside. Her top is white and declares her a ‘Princess of Brooklyn’ which is a place I happen to know she’s never been.
“In that case, you can do it whenever you want,” Taya responds.
“Don’t worry I plan to and a lot more,” I tell her.
I kiss Taya again before pulling away and peering over my shoulder at where Juniper’s standing. Her eyes are wide, staring in shock at my public display of affection. I place my hand on Taya’s backside and give it a little smack. Juniper looks down, anywhere but at me.
Leaning in to Taya, I whisper into her ear, “It seems we have interlopers who shouldn’t be here.” I nod towards Juniper and her equally annoying friend Emmie. “Why don’t you show them just what happens to people who enter our kingdom uninvited. We may have to tolerate them at Caspian, but in here the rules are different.”
“I can’t think of a better evening’s entertainment,” Taya smirks.
Taya calls two of her friends over. They’re carbon copies of my girlfriend in their short skirts and matching idiotic tops from countries and places they haven’t been. The three of them strut purposefully over to Juniper and Emmie while I sit on the edge of pool table and watch intently at what’s about to unfold.
A flash of guilt hits me, but I suppress it. I can’t allow Juniper to beat me. I have to win against her. I have to come out on top when it comes to her. She’s nothing to me but gum on the bottom of my shoe, destined to be ground into the harsh surface of concrete until she’s nothing.
“What are you up to?” my friend Lucas questions, appearing at my side.
“Nothing,” I respond with a smirk, just as the girls reach where Juniper and Emmie are sitting.