Fifty Dates // Calum Hood

One

                                                 17th June 2013

                                                            Rae

     My thumb hovers over the home button of my phone for several more seconds before I press down on it, sighing at the time displayed on the screen in bold letters: 9:38pm.

     With the sun turning a darker shade of orange against the soft pink background of the sky and the air beginning to get cooler than it was just a couple minutes ago meaning that the sun was officially beginning to set on another summers day. I inhale a deep breath of fresh air and hold my breath for a little while longer than what I normally would before I let it all out again in a deep sigh, pushing my phone inside my pocket as I do so.

      “Whatcha thinking of Rae?” Alice, one of my two best friends, asks me.

     I study her for a short period of time, noticing the way one eye goes much smaller and lips go thinner when she smiles; the way she purses her lips and puffs out roughly four breaths of air to try and blow her long dirt blonde locks out of her face. I notice how uneven her eye makeup is with one eye being darker than the other and I notice just how much foundation she applies to her face when it’s not really needed.

      “Rae?” She questions again, much more curious than the first time.

     I shake my head and mentally tut at myself before I snap the words, “Never you mind,” straight back at her.

      “Suit yourself.” She snorts and roughly shoves the plastic spoon she’s been holding for a while into her mouth after dipping it into her vanilla ice cream pot that is slowly melting in the remaining sun rays.

     I roll my eyes and push my hands into my unzipped leather jacket pockets, turning to my right to watch the forever growing crowds at the funfair tonight as they buy a ticket from the tiny booths at the start of the fair.

     Alice taps me repeatedly on the shoulder until I eventually tare my eyes away from the bunch of pre-teens entering into the fairground to look at her with my left eyebrow quirked a little in questioning.

     Without a word, she raises her right arm and points off into the distance. My eyes skim across her  arm and to the tip of her index finger, my eyes finally resting on what she’s pointing at; Emily, my other best friend.

      “Do I get a prize for finding her?”

      “No,” I reply and begin walking over to Emily, the back of her bleach blonde hair guiding me to her, her hair being her only distinctive feature.

     She stands with a group of older boys. All of them, including Emily, laughing and joking amongst themselves. Emily’s laugh is cut short as I pull one of my hands from my pocket and tap her roughly on the shoulder. She whips round to face me in record time, her eyes wide in surprise.

      “Hey!” She drawls and pulls me into a tight embrace which I react to by squirming in her arms until she releases me.

      “Hi,” I say plainly and peer around her and to the boys behind her who are all looking at us, curious and a bit wary.

      “Who are your friends?” I ask Emily once I regain my usual posture of standing straight with my hands in both of my pockets, looking her directly in the eyes.

      “Oh just some people, no one important,” She tells me and spins round to face them, flashing them one of her awkward smiles as I move around her to stand to her left.