Devil's Food Cake [✓]

47 | final exam

Three days later, Louisa and I sat on the roundabout in a near empty playground, sharing some sugary strawberry laces we'd got from the corner shop for old time's sake. This was our way of informally celebrating the end of exams. For both of us, it had been our final day of exams. She had finished with her French written exam and I had completed my final geography paper.

I watched as a little boy in a red Spiderman cap ran around the playground while his mother kept a safe eye on him by the benches nearby. We'd come here by ourselves when we were in Year seven and Year eight. We'd stopped when we'd got older, mainly because it would have looked totally weird if we hung around a playground. Plus, we'd outgrown most of the rides and apparatus.

Louisa was now eating a giant strawberry. 'What's up with you and Jonny?'

I nibbled on a strawberry lace. 'Hm?'

'You used to mention him constantly.' Louisa looked thoughtful. 'And now it seems like you've forgotten all about him.'

I stared at her, surprised that she had bought him up so suddenly when previously we'd been nattering about the questions in our exam papers. It seemed to come out of the blue.

'Didn't you say you were bored of Jonny talk?' I said, happily munching on some M&Ms. 'I mean, I'm happy if you talk about your boyfriend. Whatshisname?'

She gave me a sideways glance. 'Me and Whathisname, otherwise known as Steve, are taking a permanent sabbatical actually. I broke up with him.'

'Oh. I'm sorry,' I said, offering her my bag of sweets, which she gratefully accepted. 'When was this?'

'Steve was annoying the shit out of me. He cared more about his ego than me. Funny thing is, that he actually wants me back, but I'm pretty much over him already. I can't believe I found him attractive. Looks are so deceiving,' she laughed a little. 'I want to date an older guy. I've got my eye on a guy I see at the place I work.'

'By older are we talking extremely older?' I asked. I didn't mind that she was taking most of my sweets; she said I always picked the good stuff. It made me happy to know I was making my best friend happy, especially when she seemed a bit glum.

Louisa gave me a light shove. 'No, I'm not talking OAP old. But I wouldn't mind having a sugar daddy. I think there are sites for that. I'm actually thinking of joining one. I got an email the other day.' Her golden-brown eyes gleamed with humour.

'Please tell me you're joking.' I dropped a few M&Ms onto the ground and watching them roll away.

'I don't know. It might be fun, but I'm not sure if I could handle the creeps...' She grinned. I shook my head and made the sign of the cross, much to her delight.

'I'd probably turn Mata Hari on them,' she said. 'Nothing kinky about it.'

'I can see that,' I agreed. We watched the Spiderboy swinging on the monkey bars and his mother taking pictures of him on her phone.

'He's cute. He told me he's in college. Studying dentistry.'

'Fancy.' I winked at her. 'Is he a regular customer?'

Louisa had previously worked in a card shop until it had closed down three weeks after hiring her.

Now she had got a weekend job in an American-style diner as a waitress. She absolutely hated it — one of the worse aspects was smelling like a walking, talking hamburger.

She considered the question. 'Does it count if he comes in every weekend when I have a shift?'

I laughed. 'Absolutely! Why else do you think he's a regular. The waitress— you— are probably the highlight of his week.'