Farm Stay

Chapter 4

The five of us walk through the shops, Henry with his arms around my shoulders and the girls snickering at me. It gets annoying, the looks they give me, but I have to admit Henry is pretty comfortable to be with. I wouldn't mind having a boyfriend like him.

As we continue our hike, people give us weird looks, but we just return them. Some of them can be quite funny.

"How about some chips?" I ask everyone. They all give me pleading looks. "Alright. Maccas, KFC, Hungry Jacks, Red Rooster or Chicken Treat?"

After a few moments of silence, Hillary speaks up. "Um, sorry. What are you talking about?"

No way, this family is unbelievable. "Okay... Maccas is short for McDonalds, the cheapest fast-food place around here. KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken, best known for their ... wait for it ... chicken! Hungry Jacks is where the 'burgers are better,' that's a direct quote. Red Rooster has the best chips, and Chicken Treat is probably the less busiest therefore the faster fast-food place. I think that pretty much sums is up."

Henry frowns before making a call. "I vote Red Rooster, because we are sort of going there for chips."

"So what if there are cheaper options than chips?" Sally asks.

"Yeah, Maccas has soft serves for thirty sense, or choc waffle cones for a dollar, or frozen coke for a dollar. Or chips. I'll be paying, so choose your pick," I tell them.

"But I'm your boyfriend, shouldn't I be paying?" Henry tries to argue back.

"Do you have a bank full of money?"

"Well..."

"I thought so. Now that's out of the way, what would you all like?" I ask again.

Amber wants chips, Sally decides on Frozen Coke, Hillary picks a soft serve and Henry says whatever I'm having - a choc waffle cone. We head off together towards Red Rooster to order Amber's chips first, then order our food before picking up Amber's.

•••••

We all take a seat at a table outside Red Rooster, although Henry wants me to sit on his lap so I comply. He has a comfy lap, too. We all have our snacks with us, so silence takes over as we devour them.

Hands block my sight, and someone behind me yells, "Guess who!"

I recognise the voice immediately, and squeal in surprise. "Linka! Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

As I turn around, my best friend comes into view. Still her beautiful self, not a flaw to be found. But I can see she's dyed her hair a bright purple, which suits her jet black eyes and pale skin.

"How about it?" she asks, following the direction my eyes are looking. "Mum completely disagrees, but mums will be mums. Trixie liked it, though."

"Of course she does - that dog seems to be robotically programmed to clone whatever you think or do. But yeah, it is nice," I say. "Compared to my ginger hair, don't change a thing."

She laughs a little, before realising I'm accompanied by a rather large bunch of kids. "Um, since when did you have two boyfriends?" she asks, looking at Henry with disgust.

"You know I told Justin it was a relaxed, on-and-off, friendship, non-romantic relationship," I sigh. "He's probably hooked up with a few girls already, and all I'm doing is pretending to be Henry's girlfriend for our shopping trip!"

She rolls her eyes and grabs my arm, ready to yank me off Henry and have a little 'chat' with me. But Henry wraps his arms protectively around me, holding me back. "She's busy eating a choc waffle cone," he says with a frown.