Just don't go

Chapter 3- Flashback

22 HOURS EARLIER

"Missy, give me the remote, I want to watch Big Brother"

My little sister glared at me and shook her head in denial.

"No I want to watch teletubbies, it's a funny episode!"

"You're 9 years old and you still watch the teletubbies. What a baby!"

"You're 16 years old and you stay inside all day. What a loser!"

I sighed in defeat. It was a Friday afternoon and I wasn't at school. It was summer vacation, so it was hot outside and all the normal kids were out playing and enjoying their time off school, and so far I was spending my holiday splashed out on the sofa, trying to stay shaded from the extreme heat of the sun. I glanced at the clock. It was half 2 and I hadn't moved from that particular spot since 8 o'clock the previous night. In my opinion, it was way too hot to be outside, sweating and baking like a pot pie.

"Elizabeth, please get off your backside and do something productive for once!" my mother begged.

"Mum, be realistic, I'm not stepping one foot outside this house in this heat"

"You moan if it's cold, and you moan if it's hot! We can't win with you, can we?"

She pushed my legs off the sofa and carelessly plopped herself in-between me and my sister.

I groaned in anger.

"Mum, I just want to relax and you're taking up all the space!"

"Go call up Tegan and go shopping or something, or at least sit in her garden. You love her garden!"

"Too tired" I replied, whilst forming an over-dramatic yawn to empathise my point.

"And I have no money" I added

"Okay then, you can do the chores" She threw me a pair of rubber gloves.

Suddenly, I found a new lease of life and managed to haul my body off the sofa.

"No thanks"

"Here" She smiled, holding out a £20 note.

"Buy an icepack or something to keep the heat away"

I laughed, admitting defeat. I  took the money and went up to my room to change.

************

"Hey Liz"

Tegan grinned at me as she opened her door to let me into her house. She modelled a floppy yellow sun hat, neon green sunglasses and a noticeable amount of sun cream. Her outfit consisted of a short skirt and a crop top, and she was already sporting slightly tanned skin - obviously soaking up the heat, much unlike me. I was wearing an outfit similar to her, and had tied my brown hair into a tight knot above my head to let the slightly cool breeze hit my neck. I slid my sunglasses down onto the bridge of my nose and started to apply a minimum amount of sun cream. My skin was already pretty tan, and it never burns. It just gets darker.

After a few hours of laying under the sun and drinking tropical juice, I began to feel pretty ill. I went inside and rubbed damp tea bags onto my skin - my secret to not burning under the heat.

After I had cleaned myself up, I went back outside to see if Tegan needed another juice. Instead of laying in her previous position, she was now walking towards me.

"You coming in?" I asked her

"Yea" She replied simply, a strained look on her face. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

For the next couple of hours, we had a movie marathon and ate chocolate and popcorn. I called my mother and told her I was sleeping over.

************ 

The next day we spent some of the morning laying around. Then, at about 8 o'clock, Tegan said she wanted to go out. I agreed to come with her and we both got dressed in our summery clothes, ready for a long day shopping. 

We walked to the bus stop and got on the bus to Middleton - the best shopping centre around where we live. When we got off the bus at Middleton, we made a beeline for Hollister, because we knew there would be a major summer sale going on. When we were almost there, we walked past a group of 5 or 6 boys (I don't remember looking, I just heard many voices) who wolf-whistled at us,so we laughed a little and sped up because it was mildly embarrassing to know that boys were looking at us. However, it was flattering because I'd never had boys look at me like that before. If I had, I would never had forgotten. It was such a great feeling to be admired.

As we were coming out of Hollister, after a few hours of heavy shopping, we had to pass the boys again. I noticed one of them at the rear of the group, who was actually Tegan's older brother, Jamie. He was just one year older than us, but I still admired him because he usually seemed so mature.  I told Tegan, and she immediately stormed over to the boys. I instantly regretted it. I hovered behind her, slightly fearful of the gang, unsure whether to be angry with her for betraying the friendship secret trust (to not act instantly on each over's sightings). The boys just laughed, including Jamie, but eventually he departed from the group. He was furious with Tegan and dragged her to his car.

I cautiously followed. Tegan was kicking at him and screaming. She was really mad at him. Eventually, she calmed down and apologised. We both sat silently in his car, me in the back and them in the front (she called shotgun).

We soon stopped at a traffic light.

"Hey Liz, are you OK? I'm sorry about that back there, we didn't mean to..." Jamie began, before being interrupted by an angry Tegan.

"Hey, you should be apologising to ME too, not just HER! I had to go over there and shout at you!"

Jamie sighed and turned on the radio over her ranting, giving me a cheeky grin in the rear mirror.

I smiled back.

Tegan started to sing loudly and obnoxiously along to the pop song. Jamie laughed slightly and tried to ignore her, but eventually started singing along too.

"That song is super annoying, Tee" I chuckled from the back seat.

After another verse, I started to sing along. When I say sing, I mean wail completely out of tune to the music. 

We were having such a blast that nothing else in the universe seemed to matter.

We didn't even see the truck.