Playing with Fire

2

After the attack a few months back, I tried to get my life back on track - bearing in mind it was never going to happen. However, I managed to meet up with my "sister" (who is the same age as me), Natalie Whitehall. She is not my sister. She is like one to me. We were both raised up together, but we do not call ourselves biological siblings

I wait outside of Natalie's house, wearing a white shirt, jeans and black trainers. I grab a black rectangle which they call a phone and I scroll down my contacts to find her name. I press Call and put the block towards my ear.

And. I wait for her to pick up.

"Hello?" Nat says through the phone.

"Hey, it's Lawrence," I tell her.

"Oh, L! Are you okay?"

"No. I am waiting for you."

"Where?"

"Right outside your house."

"OH MY GOD, HOW LONG?"

"Around ten minutes. Had to keep myself occupied by listening to... " it took me a while to make out the words on my screen. "Maroon... 5's... Songs About Jane." 

"I'M COMING RIGHT NOW!"

And she hangs up.

I mouth "Finally!" under my breath and I put my phone in my pocket and behind me, the door opens and Nat stumbles out, trying to flatten her hair.

"L, I. AM SO. SORRY!" she apologises breathlessly. Her brown hair stuck up all over the place but she holds a hairbrush in her hand, trying to flatten it.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "10 minutes ago-"

"I KNOW! I KNOW!!!" Nat shoves her brush in her bag and looks at me. "Want to go to the park?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Up to you."

"No, it's your day, not mine." she shoves me with her right-hand whilst her left is grasping hold of her bag.

It was not "my day" at all. It was mine a week ago. But I take it in. I accept it.

I roll my eyes and shake my head slowly. "Okay, fine."

I walk ahead of her, hands in pockets, looking around me. I see people marching-in-a-way down the London streets, some cars driving on the roads, bikes pedalling past pedestrians and other external vehicles.

Nat grasps hold of my shoulder.

"Lawrence! Look!" she points at a shop which has a mannequin wearing a long flowing black and red dress, her hand on her plastic hip, one leg bent - posing like the stereotypical feminine model.

"Why are you pointing at the mannequin?" I ask her.

"No! No one gives a crap about the mannequin! It's the dress!" she began bouncing with excitement.

I can't stop myself from smiling, almost laughing, at her. "No. It's too long for you. It looks like it can fit a 6-foot person." I admit to her.

"Big sizing of clothing is the best! They have too much room in them!" she answers back. "I brought this jumper and as it's practically a third bigger than my usual clothing, I would just buy a size 7 for shoes because of its room-"

"And you can see slide up and down your feet. No. You buy them to show superiority-"

"NO I DON'T! I just love the room!" Nat grabs her bag and swings it over my head.

I sigh.

"Okay, you win. Let's go into the shop and check if it's for sale," I give in.

"Always win at arguments!" she pounds her fists into the air like a right idiot. She runs to the doors but sees me walking. Slowly. Dreading to go clothes shopping.

"Come on!" Nat opens the door for me.

I stop in front of her. "I'll wait outside for you."

"No... You're coming in with me."

"No. I'm staying outside you git."

She places a hand on her hip. "Really?"

"You know me. I detest clothes shopping." I tell her.

Nat rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she prods her index finger on my chest. "Just this once."

She turns around swiftly and walks into the shop, leaving me behind.

Everywhere feels extremely quiet than usual, everything is going at normal speed but it's all silent.

Am I going deaf?

I shake my head and suddenly, I hear a weird voice, all distorted and the pitch is increasingly low.

COWARD. CHEAT. TRY AND FIND ME. HIDDEN. INSIDE YOU.

I feel my legs slowly sway, my head pulsates as if my head had a heart. My balance loses completely and as I crash onto the concrete, my vision turns black.