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Chapter 24 : Knuckle Fetish

"That movie was gold!" I exclaimed in glee when Ian and I exited the cinema hall.

Clark couldn't tag along because of work, so Ian and I went. It was fun hanging out with Ian who didn't mind me munching on the popcorn loudly or slurping my milkshake. On the other hand, Clark would be fussy about me creating annoying noises.

"Look who's here," I heard a voice behind me and I whirled around.

"Oh, you guys," I mumbled and saw a bunch of my friends from school.

All of the them came and pulled me into a group hug. The boys ruffled my hair as if I was a little kid and the girls gushed about how much they missed my company. Ever since I met Clark and Ian, I stopped hanging out with them since most of the time they just gossipped about stuff to which I didn't give a damn about. But sometimes, it was fun to be with them since they liked to have me around as I cracked dirty and silly jokes and always kept them entertained.

Ian was awkwardly standing behind me when each of my friend present there, started to ask me a series of questions which were as follows--

"So what's going on lately?"

"Why didn't you meet us?"

"BITCH, WHERE WERE YOU?"

"Oh, so you got those two hot older dudes as friends now. Whom are you dating?"

"What happened to the pimple on your left butt cheek?"

"Where are you going for college?"

"Guys?" I called out to them calmly, but that didn't work. They went on and on and I desperately wanted to seal their mouths shut with duct tapes. Or throw them under the bus.

"We all missed you so much, the last time we met was at the prom. Why did you forget us?"

"Are you alright George? Are you dying?"

"I'll give you this cream, it will cure that pimple on your butt---"

"Guys, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I yelled and they all stopped. They gawked at me and I sighed. "I'm sorry guys for neglecting you all, I'll catch up with you all soon."

"Uh, that's okay," they all said dismissively and I felt guilty for not hanging out with them lately.

"I'm sorry, really," I said apologetically and paused. "And by the way, Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"I need that cream for my butt," I whispered and everybody burst out laughing.

* * *

"So, did you pack for London?" Ian asked while driving me home.

"Eh, not really," I said casually and shrugged.

"We are leaving tomorrow, you know right?"

"Oh, yeah. Tonight I'm going to do it!" I squealed delightfully and paused."That is my friends from high school are coming over for sleepover. They said that they'll help me pack all my stuff so I don't forget any thing."

I combed my frizzy hair with my fingers, the stubborn knots not untangling.

"Okay, cool . . . George, why didn't you like the name 'Dora'?" Ian asked suddenly and I looked at him.

"Why do you ask that?" I questioned him suspiciously and seeing the innocent glow on his face, I gave in,  "Fine, I'll tell you. But promise me that you won't tell any one else?"

"I won't," he promised and chuckled.

I sighed, beginning bravely, "I own many bras---"

"Sorry, erm what?" Ian looked shocked for a second, caught off guard and I giggled.

"Just listen," I said and he quietly nodded. "Well, I own many bras, but I tend to wear only these four comfy bras repeatedly by washing regularly. Out of these four bras, two are plain cotton white with cute little bows in the middle and the other two have Dora cartoon printed on them, but without any bows. Anyway, that was unnecessary information, so you can forget that."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah, so I was wearing one of the comfy Dora bras that I had ordered online just for fun and Clark saw it while I wore that Dora shit," I explained, tad irritated and Ian shifted uncomfortably on his seat. "Are you feeling weird?"

"Not at all," he said humorously and we laughed. "But how did Clark---"

"Right," I cut him off. "We were not doing any thing, really. I was just changing after that food competition and Clark happened to look. No biggie."

"I do remember him saying about Dora and you getting annoyed, but I thought you both were kidding. Anyway, that's fine. . . Listen George," Ian said, his face suddenly grave and clasped my hand in his. He didn't say anything for a while as silently kept driving.

"What happened?" I asked after a few seconds and gently squeezed his hand. He had a kind of worry etched on his face.

"I---" He was cut off by my phone buzzing and I grumbled. My dad was calling so I grudgingly picked it up.

"Yes, hello dad?" I tried to not let my vexation show by putting on a merry tone.

"Your friends are over here George. They're creating a ruckus, so come here quickly," he said hastily, his voice  sounding distant as other shrill voices overlapped his. Peaches and Kyle.

My dad used to always play along and chat with my friends, but now he was always exhausted. After mum died, he became more responsible and spent all his time and efforts in work or to look after me. I was worried about him and though nobody could replace my mum, I wanted him to see someone else who could make him happy.

"Send them upstairs, I'll come there quickly---"

"Where are you?" he interjected warily. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Ian who half-smiled.

"I'm with Ian, but I'm coming there in a minute okay. Bye then," I said quickly and cut the call.

"So what did you want to tell me?" I asked Ian once I recalled our earlier conversation. "You were saying something before . . . "

"Nothing really." His eyes twinkled as he slowly brought my hand to his lips. He kissed my knuckles softly and smiled against my skin. "Nothing."

"Knuckle fetish?" I joked lamely and Ian tossed his head back, laughing. In the back of my mind, I was thinking---why couldn't Clark laugh like that?