A Week With Ray Summers

Eight

 We were huddled under a tree to hide from the rain. It was half twelve, which we decided was late enough for our picnic. The sandwiches were a little soggy, the crisps crushed into dust; the fairy cakes were squished by the bananas and the bananas were squished by the multipack of beer. But still, it was the best picnic I’d had in years. Sipping beer under the tree, we huddled close, talking about anything that wasn’t to do with Jamie or Cara.

 “I bet you’ve never read Ray Summers fanfiction,” Ray said suddenly, a sly grin.

 “I can’t say I have. Nor do I feel the sudden urge to,” I replied.

 “Ah, come on! Everyone loves a good bit of fanfiction!” Ray said, taking her phone from her pocket and scrolling through an internet page “My favourites…here we are. “Ray Summers Kissed Me In the Rain…” that’s a good one. Oh and “Bad Girls (RayxBillie)” is funny…”

 “Who is Billie?”

 “Billie Sanchez? From the band, Pulse? She sings the song Bad Girls…apparently me and her are meant to be.”

 “Right…”

 “Ooh, my personal favourite. “Stolen Kisses.” It’s borderline erotica.”

 “And you actually read this?”

 “Well duh!”

 “No, OK, I find it weird when people read and write that sort of stuff…about real people? The person who wrote this-”

 “RayofSunshine327,” Ray cut in.

 “RayofSunshine237…is having fantasies about being with you!”

 “Funny, isn’t it?”

 “No!”

 “So you don’t want to hear it, right?”

 “Uh, wrong! Read me some of this twisted story. It had better be extra raunchy.”

 Ray grinned and cleared her throat “OK, let me read you the blurb…Tessa-Evangeline hates Prophecy. Their music is too loud, and let’s face it, Ray Summers isn’t anything special…right? Or so Tessa leads everyone to believe. Under the radar, Ray and Tessa-Evangeline are having a passionate affair, right under the nose of Tessa’s possessive boyfriend and the media’s prying eyes. But how long can they keep it up? How long can they survive on stolen kisses, when all they want is one another?”

 “Phwoar…heavy stuff.”

 “I know, right? OK, let me find you something raunchy…hem hem…this is the night when Ray… me and Tessa meet for the first time. The hotel room was warm, though outside the snow was falling thick and hard. I’d knocked on the door to the room, but no one replied, and a sign on the handle indicated that room service was wanted. I pulled my trolley into the room, stacked high with towels and mini shampoo bottles, ready for stocking up the bathroom. It was evening, but outside was still flooded with light from the flashing cameras below, hoping to snap a picture of Ray Summers. They won’t get what they want I thought she’s not even here.”

 “I took some fresh white towels and headed for the bathroom. The door was ajar, and the light had been left on. I walked into the room, and gasped in surprise. There, in the bath amidst a lot of bubble bath was Ray Summers.”

 “Oooh, plot twist,” I said.

 “I know, right?”

 “Sarcasm…”

 “I know, Frey, I know. You’re not easily impressed, are you?”

 “Just keep reading…”