A couple of days later we were at Freddy's for a change. It was in the 80s and we'd spent the afternoon in the pool, with the exception of Evie. She didn't swim unless it was over 100°, and even then she had to be in the mood.
Instead she lounged with a book in the shade to protect her porcelain skin, not that any of it was exposed. She was an anime character with a lavender wig and cat ears and sky blue tights. Freddy was enthralled and kept losing track of the conversation because he was stealing glances at her. She was unperturbed though she noticed.
"So we should watch The Last Unicorn," she said when we got out and were were toweling off nearby, trying not to drip on her.
It was five and I was ravenous and slightly exhausted from all the effort of keeping my eyes off Freak in her swim suit, because damn.
Loving your unattainable friend is never a good thing. I highly do not recommend it.
"That sounds sad," Freddy mused, pulling a t-shirt on.
"Uh, you've seen it a thousand times," I assured him. "And she made you dress up as the Red Bull for Comic Con once."
"Really," he said, intrigued.
The Last Unicorn is a precious animated film from 1982 based on Peter S. Beagle's classic book. He was one of my favorite authors. The book itself was written in the sixties and is unrivaled.
We changed in Freddy's various bathrooms and met up on his enormous bed, which was loaded with snacks as usual. I accidentally-on-purpose ended up next to Freak in the row of pillows against the headboard, with Cam on the other side of me.
Freddy was setting the movie up to play from his computer. "Okay, so here's one: You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?"
"History," Erika and I said immediately. I held out my Hot Tamales box and she bumped it with her Junior Mints.
"What's harder to catch the faster you run?
"Your shadow?" I said the first thing that I thought of.
"Your breath," Erika and Cam said, and she smirked at me.
"Shut up," I told her.
Freddy waited to play the movie while he tried a few more. "The more you take, the more you leave behind."
That one stumped us.
"Evie's cheating by not playing because she knows the answers," Erika complained.
"Evie, is this true?" I asked mock-severely. I knew it was.
She looked at the ceiling and whistled innocently. "Maybe," she allowed.
"She's cheating by b-being smarter than the rest of us," Mo pointed out, teasing her. "Tell us, Evie."
"Footsteps," she said, opening a bag of Pirate's Booty.
We groaned because it was so obvious. But they all were once you knew the answer.
"A seven letter word containing thousands of letters."
We rushed to be first, regardless of actual thinking, apparently.
"Alphabet!" Cam spit out.
"Infinity!" I said, then realized what I'd done and also how long the word was, besides. I shook my head. "I fail at life, never mind."
"Yeah you do," Freak told me emphatically. She looked at Cam. "Alphabet? Really? Did you bump your head too?"
YOU ARE READING
I'll Be Holding on to You
General Fiction"Who would you live for? Who would you die for? . . . And would you ever kill?" Some people are just born with tragedy in their blood. Dorienne and her best friends definitely fall into that category, and have spend much of their lives recovering fr...
