'Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.'
| seventeen |
''Oww,'' Reagen moans as she climbs into the back of my car and sits down slowly, sighing to herself. I slim my lips into a thin line, to prevent myself from laughing. Again.
It's been a couple of hours since her rendition of Let It Go came to dramatic end, but she's still complaining about her tail-bone. We've kept ice on it and she's been sitting still, unmoving for the past two and a bit hours, getting us to get her drinks. She'd eaten breakfast by that time so she didn't want any more food.
The hilariousness of this morning has worn off and Delilah is back to being her silent self, but I can see the change in her. She had truly laughed at something and that was like a breakthrough. At least now she won't hold back and she'll laugh at more things, hopefully.
I pull out into the road, Bumper clicking himself in and we all head off to Brad's place. He texted me this morning, saying we could come round if we wanted, since his parents still weren't home and they had nothing else to do. Plus, Davey wanted to see us. So that's what we're doing.
Bumper turns the radio on, winding down his window and shoving his head out, ''Spring break motherfuckers!''
I snort, keeping my eyes on the road but reaching to wind up his window with the automatic switch on my side. He cries out and then pulls himself back in, Reagen laughing at him. ''Indie! You could've chopped off my head!''
''Yeah, I'll chop you up and feed you to the pigs,'' I roll my eyes at him and Reagen nearly chokes on her own saliva, laughing and coughing at the same time. ''That's Snatch isn't it?'' Bumper asks, referring to a movie we've all watched, once or twice.
''Yep, the English movie where all these gangsters fuck up.'' I chuckle to myself, finding it funny. ''It's actually a good movie and it's funny as fuck, as well.''
''Dude you really do swear a lot, don't you?'' Reagen flicks my head, being sat behind me, she can reach easily. I shrug, turning down Brad's road, noticing the tire marks from last night. ''I can't help it, it's a habit now. It doesn't offend anyone I know, so it doesn't matter.''
''Does it offend you, Delilah?'' Reagen turns to her and I gauge her reaction in the rear-view mirror. Delilah shrugs, shaking her head. ''Not really.'' It looks like she's about to say something else, but she thinks better of it and doesn't, clamping her mouth shut. She catches my eye in the mirror and I offer her a smile of encouragement before joking, ''So, who wants another drift?''
Reagen starts yelling and Bumper shakes his head, chanting ''No, no, no, no, no!''
I laugh at them and park neatly in front of Brad's house, without drifting and ignoring the urge to do so. I wink at Delilah, who's grinning at me and climb out of the car, waiting for the slow pokes to get out, to be able to lock it.
Brad swings open the door and I take in how good-looking he is, with his messy hair and his tired smile on his face, his green eyes shine in the late morning light. He holds the door open for us, his nicely formed arm leaning against it, his eyes watching me. I look up into his eyes and smile, but all he does is wrap his arms around me, hugging me to him, his face in my hair, silent.
We've been hugging quite a lot lately, now that I come to think of it.
''I wanted to thank you for last night, how much you helped me, you and the others. It means a lot.'' Brad says, quietly shutting the door behind me. I shake my head, looking up at him again. He has a weird expression on his face, I can't even make it out. Maybe it means a lot because he hasn't had people helping him like we have before. ''It's nothing, seriously Brad, stop thanking me. It's what friends are for, right?''
