Racing the last few feet while laughing, Willow squeezing her hair out once she got under the covered entranceway to the bowling alley. “Well, with luck this’ll kill the humidity and not add to it,” she said, rubbing her arms dry.
Rune snorted as he shook his head. “Knock on wood. Mom actually hung some Terubozu upside down in the window, because even she’s sick of how hot and humid it’s been. Of course, with the way this year’s gone, it’s going to rain straight for a week now.”
“And I thought I was cynical.”
He grinned, holding the door open for her. “You ought to know by now that I’m by far the darker of the two of us. Why, even my hair is darker, as if in reflection of my soul.”
Willow’s eyebrows rose as she walked into a blast of air conditioning that raised instant goosebumps up her arms. “Are you deliberately trying to sound like some weird Goth-Emo stereotype hybrid, or was it an unhappy accident.”
“I’ll have you know it was a happy accident.”
She chuckled. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You’re just jealous,” he said, falling into step beside her as they headed towards the front counter. The slightly sunken wood floor was hemmed in by steps a few feet up to the raised middle section that held tables, chairs, and the lane screens. “My clever replies are so beyond anything your feeble mind can come up with, that you’re forced to insult me for lack of anything else to say.”
“You know I can hit you, right?”
“See, you even threaten violence. Why I ever became friends with a Neanderthal, I’ll never know.”
Willow laughed again. “If I’m a Neanderthal, then you’re a stick with delusions of humanity.”
Coming under the scrutiny of the clerk called a truce to their taunting. A few minutes and twelve dollars later, they were sitting side by side, lacing up the clownish looking bowling shoes. Rune glanced at her, and shook his head. “If Science doesn’t work out for you, you could always become a clown. You certainly have big enough feet for it.”
“Your shoes are one size bigger and we’re the same size!”
“But I’m a guy. Guys are expected to have big feet and hands. And you know what they say about guys with big feet…” He said, smirking.
“Hate to burst your bubble, but they’ve proved there’s no correlation. But nice try.”
This time Rune laughed. “Alright,” he said, standing. “Are you prepared to be blown away by my raw, natural athleticism?”
Willow grinned. “Bring it on.”
Settling into lane number five, Willow hefted her purple ball while Rune cradled his blue one. He’d insisted on a ladies first principle, so she approached the end of the lane, shaking her head over Rune’s odd flashes of chivalry. She wondered if it had anything to do with being raised by a single mother…
Willow brushed the thought away. Her gaze locked onto the pins in front of her, she brought her arm back, then swung it forward. Releasing the ball at the moment of her upswing, she watched it speed along towards the white and red targets ahead. Her aim, honed during lessons with Andre and throwing rocks at stuff in the woods as a kid, was good. Every pin fell to her ball’s assault.
Rune whistled. “Nice! Man, I’m glad we didn’t decide to bet on this. I get the feeling you’re going to school me.”
She flashed a grin at him, ignoring the bit of guilt that came with the knowledge that the curse made her naturally more athletic. “Bet you wish you hadn’t made all those comments about me being stupid earlier.”
“No. They’re still true,” he said, eyes dancing as he took his spot at the end of the lane.
“Don’t choke,” she called in a singsong voice.
Rune flipped her off, making her laugh again, before focusing on the pins in front of him. His ball, when he released it, flew forward at an angle that she thought would take it into the gutter. But it wobbled as it rolled, turning enough that it clipped the edge of the pins’ formation, taking out five of them.
Willow shook her head and rubbed her arms against the chill that was still with her. The high-powered air conditioning was way better than sweating, so she wasn’t about to complain. At this point, it was almost a novelty to feel cold. Smiling at Rune as he came to collect his ball from the machine beside her, she said “You underestimate yourself. That wasn’t bad.”
“It’s okay,” he said, faking a mournful tone. “You can say it. I suck. The only times I hit anything is by fluke. Thankfully I’ve always been more interested in the cerebral pursuits. Though that might just have been me knowing what I’d do better at.”
“Well, you could have been all muscles and no brain.”
He chuckled and snagged his ball. “And you could be a tiny, quiet, ladylike girl.”
“Bizarro us would never have become friends.”
“Bizarro me would probably have tried to get into your pants.”
“Thanks for that,” Willow called after him wryly. Rune only laughed as he set himself for his next throw.
Despite his predictions, Rune only lost to Willow by fifty points. As they set themselves up for the next game, Willow couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. It was nice to have a friend.
YOU ARE READING
Silver Bound Girl
FantasyWillow's a Byron and they aren't just your average family. Not just because there are so many of them, but because they have secrets and traditions far outside the norm. Like spending as much time outside as in, and doing everything to keep rumours...
