Gravity

Chapter 11 - May 2019

Something weird happened the very next day.

It started off in the morning when I woke up and text Joe to tell him that my chat with Evie had made me feel a lot better and to ask how the class thing he went to was.

Shite. Need a beer.

Not the reply I was expecting. I also didn't expect the message I received from Stacy that morning.

Hey! I'm having some people over to my flat tonight if you fancy it?

Hell yeah I did! Of course, I replied in a much more chilled out manner.

I agreed to meet up with Joe at lunchtime for an early couple of pints while we watched the football, before taking a walk up the hill to the supermarket. I needed to get something to take to Stacy's and Joe just needed more beer.

"Netflix and a crate of beer. Better kiss goodbye to this when the baby comes," He grumbled, picking up the cheapest ten-pack we could find.

"What do you know about wine?" I asked thoughtfully. Though I would have loved nothing more than to grab the same beers as Joe, I wanted to go for something more . . . classy.

"I know its rank. Why?"

"I want to show Stacy that I'm not just a cheap beer guy, you know?"

"That's really dumb. But I get what you mean," Joe shrugged. "But all I know about wine is that you get it free with the meal at a wedding. Red, white and rose' is really all I've got."

"I'll go for white. Even free, red and rose' are bogging," I told him.

I'd never realised before how hard it was to choose a wine when you had no prior knowledge of what you went for. A smart person would have asked Stacy what she liked, but we know by now that I am not a smart person.

"What about this one?" He asked, picking up a fancy looking, dark bottle, hiding the contents inside.

"How much is it?"

"Fifteen," he said, consulting the tag on the shelf.

"Put that away! I'm not made of money, Joe!" I barked before picking up a bottle of my own. This one I could see right through. "It's only three quid!"

"You don't want her to think you're cheap do you? If she's into wine then she'll know straight away."

It was a fair point so I put it back on the shelf and resumed my search before finally setting on another choice.

"What about this? It's six pound and has a kangaroo on it. That has to be good right?" I asked. Joe thought for a moment before deciding that he couldn't argue with my logic this time.

We headed for the checkout but stopped in our tracks when a lemon came flying towards us. Seriously.

"The fuck?" I cried, startled.

We looked over to see where the projectile had come from and saw two young teenage boys laughing before running off.

"Oh yeah I remember when my balls first grew too!" Joe yelled at them, making sure they could hear him no matter where they were in the store.

"Dude, you can't shout at kids!" I warned.

"I can this time. It's my next door neighbours' kid. He's a little shitbag. Honestly, if my kid turns out like that I'm putting him up for adoption".

"You're gonna be an epic parent," I smiled gleefully. "Remember when we wanted to be as "cool" as that when we were kids?"

"Ugh don't remind me. I'm ashamed of former myself. Current me would force young me to eat that lemon whole."

If you haven't already, then get yourself a best friend you can drunkenly wonder round the supermarket with. Highly Recommended.

*

Believe it or not, the airborne lemon wasn't the weird thing I was talking about. That came after.

Joe and I went our separate ways and I was walking home to get something to eat before freshening up for going to Stacy's. Just as I turned the corner, into a much windier direction, I saw someone that I recognised instantly, Sam Brown.

Sam was a kid in my class at school and he was one of those people that you wanted to hate, but you couldn't somehow. It was a hate him 'cause you ain't him type deal.

He had massive shoulders that made him look much older than he really was, thick bushy eyebrows and bright blue eyes that the girls in our year couldn't resist. Our class pictures seriously looked like a bunch of plant stems standing next to a rugby player. I'm no scientist but even I know that the genetics in that boy got messed up somehow.

Even the way he spoke was totally different to everyone else. He said things like coat instead of jacket and school outfit instead of school uniform. You could tell he was a little posh and his family came from money, but worst of all, he was actually a decent guy.

We definitely weren't friends but if you happened to be walking alongside him down the corridors in school, he'd talk to you like you were his BFF.

Basically, I hate perfect people.

"Alright Sam?" I tipped my head to him, thinking it better to be friendly rather than jealous this time.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually seen him so it was weird to me that now a second ghost from my past had appeared seemingly out of thin air. It's like trying to catch a bus; you wait forever for one and then loads arrive at the same time.

Sam simply nodded back to me and carried on walking, his expression giving away that he literally had no clue who I was.

"Jesus Christ Mike," I laughed to myself.

I may have finally been going to Stacy Sinclair's for a party, but I was made sure in that moment to remember my place in the popular hierarchy.

__________________________________________________________________________________

So I'm dropping a kinda surprise chapter here. Its short as hell but basically I have a feeling that Stacy's party is going to be a long one, so I'd rather break things up a little bit. I hate reading massive long chapters so don't want to write one and force any potential readers into one! 

I hope you enjoyed this little fun one. I wanted to give Joe a little bit of love since Evie got the last one, and Stacy is going to get a lot soon too. Do we like Joe so far?

Anyway, there's gonna be one more short flashback chapter and then its time to partaaaaay!

It's coming soon!