The Arrangement

Chapter One

OCTOBER: SENIOR YEAR

Hugo Matthews is my best friend, it's a revelation that isn't new to me but I try and keep it under wraps because no one believes that a boy and girl can be just friends. Granted, I wouldn't mind him rocking my world but that's neither here nor there.

A side note, if anyone dares tell Sophie Green this titbit of information then I'll kick you in the head and no, I don't mean ass, thank you very much. The head is the best part of the body to kick and so my kick will be aimed there, years of having men bend me in half like a pretzel leaves me pretty confident in my ability.

Anyway, I got side-tracked. The point is there is a million and one things about my friends that I love but there are few people that get me completely, Sophie, Hugo and Bentley are the centres of my soul. It's different to having other best friends, they're part of my lives and I would never, ever want them to leave but those three are like, in me. Forever kind of in me, where I know that if they leave, I'll be ripped open and never the same.

It's the wind whipping through my hair, the adrenaline that rushes through me as my grip on the small wheel tightens and my foot presses down on the tiny accelerator, and I hear the squeal of the go-karts wheels on the sun lit cement as I peel around the corner after Hugo.

The deep sound of his laughter echoes down the track, amongst the high-pitched revs of the multi coloured karts that continue to race behind us. The sound makes my chest fill with warmth and the grin stretches across my face, it's the letting go with him that pulls us so close together and the fact that my classes are going on in the background doesn't seem to bother me today.

We might be kindred spirits, ones that crave the feeling of freedom that comes with the adrenaline rushes we crave but we aren't irresponsible. Okay, maybe he didn't have to do more than bat his eyelashes and make a small plea, but the fact remains if I had any important classes on today, I would have said no.

Does Hugo believe this? Not a chance, his ego enjoys getting me out of the house and away from alcohol and textbooks too much. It might not be wise for me to admit that he could probably convince me to do just about anything for him. In defence, you wouldn't have been able to say no to the look in those coffee eyes either.

With everything going on with his family and the court dates all looming closer with increasingly vile phone calls from his Father, however interspersed they may be. If it was acceptable, aka Hugo let me, I would be answering those calls with more than a couple choice words for him. It feels like a betrayal of friendship to turn him away when he needs an outlet for all the chaotic and painful things that like to swarm around in his head.

I don't pretend to understand, there's no relating to something that deep and I don't want too, seeing the amount of pain that the people I love have gone through gives me an appreciation for the life I have had. Perhaps that makes me selfish, but I don't like to turn off the way I am feeling to make it more comfortable for someone else, not that I have ever felt pressured too.

"How does second place taste?" Hugo grins, arm sliding across my shoulders and pulling me into the warm side of his chest.

Tossing our gear back into the returns box that sits beside the exit door, he steers me out of the building and into the warm sunlight that continues to shine over this late October day. It's not shocking that I prefer summer over winter, it's not like I enjoy getting naked outside and having my nipples feel like they might fucking fall off and that would be a devastating loss to the male population.

"Tastes like raspberry candy" I grin, winding my arm around his waist and letting our feet fall into synchronised step through the carpark. Despite the intense race he still smells like smoke and marshmallows, a combination of both our signature scents, it's a comfort that I don't find in many other people.