Joker

FIVE - Amaya

"It has been one day and I'm already so done with this year."
"Aiden, quit it with the whining will you?" Avery snapped.
"Alright, school-loving nerds." Aiden knew Axel wanted to speak, and shot him a stern look, warning him to watch his words. To this, Axel smirked before he began speaking. "Listen GOLDEN BOY," Axel's emphasis on 'golden boy' made Avery and I giggle. "Just because you can't sit through a single lesson without falling asleep-"
"Oh, shut up. You can't get through a day without a-" Aiden tried to retaliate.
"Let me finish! Just because you can't sit through a single lesson without falling asleep, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't make the most of our last year together!"
"Can we just stop squabbling? Like Axel said, this year is the last year we'll all be together before we go our separate ways. Doesn't that mean something to you?" I barely even realised I was speaking.
"She's right." Avery smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Of course you agree with her, she's-"
"AIDEN!" We all shouted.
"Jeez, okay! No bickering."
"Well that's that sorted. Now what?" Axel asked. I looked at Avery, and I knew we were thinking the exact same thing. We turned to the boys, smiling. "Oh, I am so in." Axel said with excitement. "Aiden?" We awaited an answer as we stood in silence. "Fine."

Faintly, gentle music played in the background of muffled conversations. Perching on the comfortable, cream stools, we each took a menu from the centre of the small, round table in front of us. The ice cream parlour may not be large, but it certainly was beautiful. Tiled floors matched the stools, as well as the walls, cabinets, ceiling and lampshade. A soft curve in the ceiling was decorated with bright, pink lights that in bold capitals read "TILLY'S ICE CREAM". A rainbow of flavours, although sitting quietly behind me, did not fail to make themselves noticed. Oliver, one of the waiters we're practically friends with strode over to our table. He's young, maybe late teens or early twenties, average height, I'd say about 5 '10, and good-looking. Well, at least that's what most people would say. Personally, I don't find those ocean-blue eyes to be compelling in the slightest, but who am I to judge? "I haven't seen you guys in a while! The usuals?" Oliver's voice was still high-pitched, although I could swear it was lower than last time I'd spoken to him.
"Yes please, also how's Ophelia?" Aiden smirked. Avery gasped and slapped her brother's arm. "What? I didn't do anything!" he grinned.
"Leave his poor sister alone. She's way out of your league."
"She's doing just fine." Oliver chuckled dryly. "I'll be right back."
"Thanks, man." Axel called. Oliver gave a large smile in Axel's direction. He'd always been the closest with the twins out of all of us. Afterall, he's known them for far longer than the rest of us have, and he's the only one who's actually gotten to know Ophelia. Sure, the rest of us have met her, but we don't know the first thing about her, other than her name, obviously.

Everytime we come to this place, the ice cream keeps getting better. We each took out the money for our ice creams and were just about to leave when a group of 3 boys burst through the door. Through the transparent door behind them, I spied 3 motorbikes parked carelessly in a line. Immediately, I knew who they belonged to. The tallest, and probably eldest, of the group stepped forward. Despite only being around Oliver's age, his voice was dark and gloomy. "I'm looking for Olivia." In the corner of my eye, I saw Axel's face flush with panic and his head whipped around frantically as if he were searching for someone. Despite all of the confusion in the air, I could smell the strong, familiar scent of trouble. When nobody responded to the biker's demand, he huffed loudly. "I said-"
"We know what you said," Axel stood up. "Clearly, no one here knows who Olivia is, so you can leave."
"Did you just talk back to me?"
"No, I'm just telling you that there's no Olivia here, so you can leave."
"Axel-" Avery warned. Beneath the table, her leg was bouncing up and down at record speed. I rested my hand on her thigh in an attempt to calm her down and she flashed me a quick smile before turning back to Axel. Silently, the biker looked him up and down. Then, he took a step forward and swung his fist right at Axel's face before scoffing and turning to leave with the other two following him like minions whilst muttering something under his breath. Aiden, Avery and I had hardly processed what had happened until we were sitting at his side, helplessly watching deep-red blood gush from his nose, some small drops landing next to his head. He lay on the floor, groaning under his breath. "Axel! Oliver looked mortified. "I'm so sorry, I-" Axel smiled comfortingly and shook his head. "Dude, are you okay?" Aiden asked.
"Yeah, I'm all good. It's just a nosebleed, chill." Axel tried to ignore his injury, but that didn't stop the rest of us from being worried. Oliver handed him some tissue to clean himself up with. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my phone to check the time: 15:48. "Uh, guys, I know now's not the time, but I need to go."
"It's cool, go sort your brother out; I'm sure he missed you." Axel beamed.
"I'll see you all tomorrow?"
"Text us when you get home so we know you're safe." Avery kissed me on the cheek and I said my goodbyes.

As I turned the corner, my heart was in my throat. I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding when I saw Noah walking towards the house. "How's that for timing?" I called to him. He didn't respond, only sprinted towards me to hug me. "You okay?"
"Yes! I've had the best day!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah!"
"Well then, you'll have to tell me all about it, won't you?"
"I will, but I'm so hungry."
"I think I have just the right thing for that." I placed my bag on a hook and slipped my shoes off. Stood in the kitchen, I asked Noah to guess what he thought it was I was getting. "Is it pizza?" I leant down and picked a pizza base from the cupboard, whilst telling Noah to come and see. His face lit up at the sight of the box in my hand. "You're so good at this game! You know, I think you might have a sixth sense." I told him.
"Can I help you make it?"
"Sure. Wash your hands."

"So I'm guessing DT and Science are your favourite subjects then?" I asked as I finished my last piece of pizza. Noah, with a mouth full of pizza, enthusiastically nodded his head. "I'm not surprised after that gift you made for me. What were your teacher's names again?" He swallowed his food and I took his plate to the sink. "Mr Camburn for DT and Mrs Elles for Science. They're both really lovely, aside from the fact that Mr Camburn can be a little strict sometimes."
"I'm sure they're going to help you do really well."
"Can we play chess now?"
"If you get the board, yes." Noah raced up the stairs at the speed of lightning. Making my way to the living room, I caught a glimpse of the box Noah had made for me. Even after all these years we've spent together, I still sometimes forget what a wonderful brother he is, and I honestly wouldn't trade him for anything.