Suicide, Skittles and Skates [✓]

Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

That weekend Alex was awoken much earlier than normal by a pounding at the door. With eyes still closed and clad in those famous pink pyjamas, he trudged to see who it was in a sleepy daze.

"It's about time!" Kalila exclaimed, hands thrown up in mock relief.

Alex rubbed his eyes violently to see both Hannah and Kalila standing there, rain drops falling off their clothes. "Whatcha doing here?" he managed to ask in between yawns.

"I saw Kalila about to walk here so I thought I'd give her a lift before I gotta go to work," Hannah chirped, waving goodbye to the two of them before exiting the building hurriedly.

Kalila chuckled, she had known Hannah for a while and although she had changed over the few years, she would always be living in the fast lane. She watched Alex manage a small smile at her laugh before yawning again and turning around to walk back to his bedroom. After slipping off her shoes – which were soaked because of the light rain outside – she followed him, finding him lying face down on his bed, pillow clutched to his chest.

'Aw!' she thought to herself before pulling his duvet off violently as he mumbled curses under his breath, eyes shut tight. "Get up!"

He mumbled something into the crook of his arm, his words barely comprehensible but she managed to guess what he was asking. "It's almost six, get your ass up, we're gonna be late!"

Alex finally lifted his head up then but it was more in outrage than complying with her demands. "You came over to wake me up at six in the morning?" he spluttered with an expression that was so appalled, she couldn't help laughing.

He groaned and fell back on his pillow, eyes automatically shutting almost stubbornly as Kalila sighed.

This would take a while.

---

"I can't believe you woke me up that early just to go to Brighton!" Alex grumbled as he leaned against a window of the train they were currently on. He said it like it physically disgusted him to say the word Brighton, as though it was a rundown alleyway instead of the South coast of England.

Kalila looked up from the sketchbook she was doodling on and poked his side with the back of her pencil lightly. "And here I was thinking you'd be happy to go to the beach like a normal person," she said, grinning up at him from her seat.

He tried to suppress a smile at her eagerness and concentrated hard on still trying to look annoyed, as though the idea of being at a beach instead of sleeping like he wanted to appalled him. "Its winter Lila, who goes to the beach at the end of December?" he snorted, one eyebrow raised high before answering his own question. "Mental people like you, that's who!"

Kalila ignored the little flutter in her stomach at his use of her nickname and grabbed her rather over-stuffed bag before jumping up from her seat. They had gotten on the train from Victoria station about an hour ago and her body was aching from being in the same position too long. Ignoring his remark she pulled him along, holding on to the front of his grey and orange jumper.

"C'mon, this is our stop!" she exclaimed excitedly, dragging him out of the automatic doors before he could protest. Not that he wanted to though, her enthusiasm about getting to the beach was adorable. There was something about the way her dark eyes shone in excitement that made him smile and follow along willingly.

The air that hit their faces was cold, their cheeks tinted red in just a number of seconds. For a minute Kalila wondered if it had been the smartest idea going to the beach smack bang in the middle of December but then she looked over at Alex.