Pinball

iii - cocoa

dedicated to voyageur, who is one of my favourite authors. seriously, go check out illuminate – how to light a soul, it’s so, so, good. (see external link)

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iii – cocoa

Getting up the next morning was a struggle. Thoughts of you and the pinball machine and him clouded my mind, and I was only able to get a measly four hours of sleep.

“Eliza!” I could hear my mother screeching from down the hallway, probably in the kitchen watching over a pot of something on the stove, unable to leave the room to wake me up properly for my shift for fear of burning whatever she was cooking.

I didn't want to wake up though; I didn't want to do anything other than stay in bed for the rest of the day.

So I buried myself deeper in my covers, trying to fall asleep again.

But of course, that was impossible. My door burst open, and someone came in, screaming, “Liz! Your mum said you have the day off today!”

I groaned. It was Paige, my best friend, who was really just a bundle of energy squeezed into a human body. She was Asian, and exceptionally pretty, and her family had moved here to Northfort a few years back. We met at the skate park one day, because she was picking up her brother, and we kind of hit it off after that.

“Go away Paige,” I mumbled incoherently into my pillow.

“No! We’re going out today, whether you like it or not,” And then she pulled the covers off my now shivering body.

“Paige!” I cried, trying to get my blanket back from her grasp. But she was too fast, and I was too sleepy, and she threw it across the room. It landed in a heap beside my desk. She knew I wouldn’t get off my warm bed to go fetch it, so just watched me with an amused expression. “That was not nice!”

“Who said it was?” She grinned, while I rolled my eyes. I was going to lose this battle, she could tell.

“Get out,” I said, standing up and rubbing my eyes. She left the room, cackling like an evil witch (great analogy, I know), and I walked over to my small wardrobe.

Today’s outfit consisted of a pair of dark jeans, a band t-shirt, an oversized coat – which, coincidently, looked kind of like the one you wore yesterday – and a pair of blue and black sneakers.

I would have dressed better if I had known I was going to see you today.

After brushing my teeth in the bathroom down the hall, I made my way to the kitchen, where Paige was perched on a stool by the bench top, talking animatedly to my mother.

“–and I heard that Mrs Fisher from down the road just –”

“Paige,” I cut her off, shaking my head. I didn’t know how she was so comfortable with gossiping about others, especially to my mum of all people. “Are we going?”

“Yeah, sure,” she hopped off the stool and grabbed my arm, dragging me out of the room. “Bye Mrs Holdsworth!”

“See you both,” mum replied, smiling slightly.

“Thanks for the day off mum!” I cried, hoping she had heard me, since Paige had somehow managed to pull me all the way down the stairs and into the arcade in a span of ten seconds. She let go of my arm (thankfully), and made her way to the front door.

“Where are we going?”

“To grab a bite, I’m starving.”

The wind whipped at out uncovered faces when we stepped outside.