String of Fate

Chapter Thirty Six

The daily podcast from my favourite DJ ended and I wished that it was the next one already. He was a good advice giver who I trusted, even though I had never met him. I really did want to meet him but no-one knew anything about him, other than the fact that he was a guy, however, he had let slip that he also attended the school that I was in. Maybe I knew him. Not only did Smiley give great advice, but he also had a great taste in music. I could listen to the hour-long podcast without ever feeling the need to skip a song.

Now that the podcast was over, I immediately downloaded the podcast and copied it to my MP3 player with all the others to listen to whenever I got the chance. It was what I always did once a podcast was over. I had almost all of them stored on my phone. It was so I could listen to them on bus rides or long car journeys. They would always come in handy.

"Hey, Milly, can I come in?" My best friend, and neighbour, Lewis asked from outside my bedroom door ten minutes after the podcast had finished. That was right on cue for him. He never listened to the podcast with me but always came ten minutes later to talk about it. It was like a tradition that we now had. He'd let me enjoy the podcast in peace, and then we'd talk about it.

"Of course!" I called back, looking from the laptop screen as he came into my room. He shut the door behind him and took a seat at the end of my bed, where I was leaning against the headboard with a mound of pillows behind me for comfort.

"So, what did you think of this podcast?" Lewis questioned, just like he always did. I almost laughed at how eager he sounded. He was really interested in my thoughts on Smile's podcast every day. It was like he hoped that the podcast would get some sort of approval from me.

"Awesome as usual. I agreed with what he said about Mrs Taylor. Her marking is always way too strict." I explained, glancing down at the document of notes that I had made. I started doing to as a habit when Lewis frequently asked for my opinion. "I mean, everything has to be worded perfectly and say everything properly. I know she's the English teacher but it's just so annoying. Smiley gets everything spot on about her all the time."

"I know exactly what you mean. She always complains about the spelling, too. Not everyone has a built-in spell checker in their brain. That's what we have word processors for." Lewis joked, making me laugh, too. "I mean, she's the one that is mean to teach us these things, but it seems like she just reprimands us for getting it wrong and doesn't actually teach us because she's too busy on her phone checking social media or whatever she does."

"She's probably buying stupid outfits for her Chihuahua." I said, thinking about the time she had been raving about buying a pink dress for the dog in order to take her dog as a plus one to her cousins wedding. She had been devastated when she had found out that dogs weren't allowed at the venue unless they were guide dogs. "That poor thing must be traumatised from living with her."

"I know! A dog shouldn't be dressed up." Lewis agreed, getting comfier on the bed. I knew he was going to be here for a while because he always did. We were up late most nights chatting about meaningless things to pass the time, but we were just great together. There was never an uncomfortable moment when Lewis was involved. "If she wanted something to play dress up with, she should have just bought a doll. It would probably work out easier to get outfits for anyway because she must spend a fortune on all those customised dog outfits. Anyway, crazy teacher aside, are you looking forward to the next podcast?"

"Of course I am! I love listening to the daily podcasts. Do you want to listen to the podcast together tomorrow, though? As a birthday present to me." I queried. I was turning sixteen tomorrow and wanted to spend time with Lewis. We'd always spent our birthdays together. It would also be the first time we'd listen to the Smiley podcast together. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I wanted to be able to listen to it together and as it was my sixteenth birthday, I was hoping a little that we could stay together for the podcast.