Read to Me

Chapter nine- tie dye

‘WAKE UP YOU LAZY LITTLE SHIT!’ a voice yelled.

I opened and closed my eyes, still adjusting to the bright lights seeping into my vision.

‘What the..?’ I asked, my voice laced with sleep as I had fallen asleep on the couch after I had breakfast. I was still tired after my nightmare so I had almost collapsed after I had eaten. I looked in the direction of the rude person that had awoken me to see a swirl of rainbow colours. Only one person I knew dressed in so many different colours. Gabby. I didn’t even have to be able to see her to know she was grinning widely at me. Gabby was one of those people who if you didn’t know her well, she would seem like a sweet, polite, innocent little girl. And she was little at 5’4, making my 5’6 not look so bad. Of course that never stopped her from calling me a short-ass as often as she could. I had known her since year four when she moved to our primary school. We became friends as I was the only one in our class who agreed to try some vegan food she brought to school one day. Children are very fussy eaters and good luck if you can willingly get them to try something new, especially if it’s vegan and the majority of the people in the class had to have it explained to them. Apparently this action deemed me good enough to be her friend, because we had remained best friends since then.

‘How did you get in my house?’ I asked her.

‘Your mum let me in.’ she said in a ‘duh’ tone.

‘I’ll have to remind her not to let screaming people into the house to burst my eardrums.’

‘Oh haha’ I could hear the sarcasm in her voice. ‘Fine then. I’ll just leave you here alone then to wither away in self-pity because I’m your only friend, who has left because you were being so terribly rude to me.’

I threw a pillow at her. ‘For your information, you are no longer my only friend.’ And yes, before I met Caleb, this ball of tie dye shirts was my only friend. Apparently spending the majority of lunch times in the library reading didn’t gain you many friends. I probably didn’t even know half of the people in my year level.

‘No way. Shy Stuff made a new friend?’ I glared at her. ‘How is this possible? You have trouble talking to anyone you don’t know.’

I shrugged. ‘My mum brought over a friend and her son. His name is Caleb.’ I recounted the previous visits of the velvet-voiced boy to my best friend until I had finished, she was being unusually quiet.

Then she giggled. ‘Tate has a crush! Tate has a crush!’ she sung. ‘Tate and Caleb, sitting in a tree,’ she jumped on my bed ‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G!’ I threw my weapon of choice, a pillow at her, which stopped her from singing.

‘Stop it Gabby. I do not have crush on Caleb. I haven’t even known him for that long. The very thought is absurd.’

‘Sure. Just keep telling yourself that.’

I rolled my eyes at her. She was the type of person to jump to conclusions easily and loved the thought of me having a love life. I guess she was considered as a ‘fangirl’ in some ways.

‘Oh, before I forget, my parents made you a tie dye shirt. Said something about even though you can’t see now, the swirling colours of the rainbow are still vivid around you. Something poetic like that.’ She said carelessly.

I smiled at this. It was a sweet gesture. I really did like Gabby’s parents, when I was sick in primary school they always sent Gabby over to my house with a box of homemade cookies. When I broke my ankle in the beginning of high school in sport, I was on crutches for a couple of weeks, they came over to my house with Gabby and taught me to tie dye for the first time. We got dye all over the bathroom and the towels. I still have the shirt I made, I use it as a pyjama shirt.

‘Thanks Gabby. Tell your parents I love it.’

‘Will do. They’ll be happy to hear it. Don’t worry though. I won’t tell them if you never wear it.’ She shrugged. Gabby thought her parents were embarrassing and she never believed that I loved everything they did for me. They were like a second family for me. We had a joke that whenever I went over to their house I would walk through the door and yell ‘Mum! Dad! I’m home!’

‘Pass it over here.’ I stretched my arm out towards her and she proceeded to throw the shirt at my face.

‘Thanks.’ My voice muffled by fabric. I then tugged off my shirt whilst Gabby wolf whistled me, making me laugh, and laughing whilst trying to take of your shirt is not an easy task. Once I finally got my shirt off I picked up my new shirt and put it on.

‘Well? What do you think?’ I asked.

‘You look like a human packet of skittles.’ She deadpanned.

I narrowed my eyes at this. ‘Thanks. I’m keeping it on.’

‘Whatever floats you boat.’ She shrugged.

Then there was a knock on my bedroom door. ‘Tate?’ my mother’s voice rang. ‘Sorry for the interruption, but you have a phone call.’

‘Come in!’ I told her.

She walked through the door and handed me the phone. I took it and placed it up to my ear. ‘Hello?’ I asked.

‘Tate? Hey.’ I could hear him smiling through his velvet voice.

‘Caleb? Hi.’ I smiled. My smile fell as Gabby walked up to me and grabbed the phone off me. Oh no.

Hello! Hope you like the chapter. I'm trying to make them longer, so bear with me. Sorry about the late update, school has been busy. I know lots of authors on here say that, but it has, I've honestly been too tired to write. But hopefully I'll be back on track soon.

If you liked this chapter leave a vote or comment to let me know what you thought? Thanks, I really do love all my readers, even if it's not that many. You guys are the bee's knees.