The John Hughes Club

Chapter Seven

"Is it weird being back?" Ash asks, before loudly sucking up his chocolate milkshake through a straw.

Twisting my own straw with my relaxed fingers, I smile. "Yeah, it kind of does. The whole time I'm in Minehead, I'm missing you guys, but now that I'm sat here with you all, it's strangely feeling like I never left." Happily, I start sucking up my strawberry milkshake. I'm happy—I'm amongst my oldest friends, we're drinking our fave shakes, in our fave café in town.

"It's really good to have you back, we're all missing you at school," Maisy whines, dramatically making a sad face at me. "Especially Sam Dimpson."

Shaking my head with a smile, I'll not rise to Maisy's teasing bait. "He wasn't that into me, just as I wasn't that into him." For me, Sam Dimpson is most certainly not the one who got away.

"Seriously, Min, he's been missing you since you left...tell her, Sen." Nudging our friend Senna, Maisy's determined that I'll believe her.

Exhaling a slightly blasé breath, Senna eventually then says. "Yup, he's got the Mindy blues, for sure. He traipses around the school like a dog without its bone, a cat without its catnip, a burger without fries...that kind of thing." She's smirking now, narrowing her playful eyes on me as she's bringing her vanilla milkshake up to her lips.

I've missed her sarcastic wit, I've missed it a lot. "I'm sure he'll get over it." Comes my answer, not really caring whether Sam is missing me or not.

"It's true, Min...he's been asking a lot about you." Ash quickly adds.

Leaning across the table, gently giving one of his cute cheeks an immature squeeze, I'm now laughing. "If he's missing me that much, then why hasn't he been in touch?"

Pushing me away, frowning and laughing at the same time, Ash is wanting to reply. "After what happened, he wasn't sure whether you'd answer or not...and can I just say, I haven't missed you squeezing my cheeks!"

Leaning across the table again, I'm now squishing both of his cheeks between my playful hands. "But they're just soooooo squeezably adorable."

Drawing back, Ash is now frowning, flailing his arms around to stop me getting anywhere near him. "What is it about my cheeks?" He asks, a grin soon there on his mouth.

With him being sat between Senna and Maisy, both girls can't resist getting a naughty little squeeze in as well. "They're just soooooo cute!" Sen sings out, while they're playfully pinching the cheek that's nearest to them.

"They're not cute! At least, not anymore. These cheeks are turning into defined features of my imminent masculinity." Caressing his own cheeks, Ash rises up from his seat, adorning a model-like pout.

Us girls are now all staring at him, staring while he's preening himself, trying to appear all brawn and smouldering in front of us. The thing is, if Ash weren't so damn pretty and maybe was blessed with far more facial hair; he probably could pull off the brawn and smouldering look. As it is, him and his baby face just aren't quite there yet. So with him standing there, trying to be all sexy before us, it soon has myself, Senna and Maisy in absolute hysterics around the café table. "Oh Ash, even when you're trying not to be cute...you're cute!" Maisy tells him between her boisterous laughter.

In the midst of all this laughter, I'm happily taking in this moment. I've missed these guys so much. I've missed our laughter. Our banter. Our teasing. Our jokes that only we ever understand. Each one of these friends, are friends that I hope I'll have forever. Wherever I am, I never want to lose them. "God, I've missed this!" I say between my giggles.

Being the most emotionally intuitive one of our group, Maisy's eyes have now settled on me. "So have we."

"Yeah, we have." Ash admits, staring at me from where he's standing, a smile of fondness everywhere on his mouth.

Quickly followed by Senna. "We really have." Who then just gets up from out of her seat, rushing around to hug me.

"Awwwwwww, it's group huggy time!" Maisy cutely croons.

In moments, I have my three friends all squishing me with their love and affection. It's sentimentally sweet. Sentimentally honest. With the risk of ruining my eye makeup that I proudly applied this morning on account of tears that are now wanting to fill my eyes, it's time to lighten things up a bit. "Okay, enough of that! I'm not leaving here looking like a Walking Dead extra... let's get back to Sam and him supposedly missing me."

"There's no supposing about it, Mindy. I have been missing you."

All at once, we turn to the sound of Sam's voice. "Sam?" I quietly say, altogether stunned to see him.

As I'm looking away from Sam, back to my three friends, Ash and his cute face is the only one that seems to be wearing a guilty glow. "Well if you hadn't been so busy squishing my cheeks, I would have got to the part about Sam joining us."

"You sneaky little cutester." Senna slowly declares, almost impressed with Ash.

"We didn't know, Mindy." Maisy hurriedly explains, her neck recoiling a little as she's throwing Ash an what the hell? glare.

With much confusion, I'm looking at my friends, before deciding to look at Sam. You could say, that myself and Sam kind of had a thing. We'd go out a couple of times, then things between us would ease off. Then we'd go out a couple more times, then things would ease off again. Nothing ever seemed to develop between us. So as soon as I knew that I was leaving Stratford, I called time on whatever our thing was. Surprisingly, Sam took it hard. He wanted us to do the whole 'staying in touch' palaver, which I thought was kind of pointless. The day before I left, we argued and then I began my new life in Minehead, not actually caring about that argument. It sounds cold, I know, but I wasn't about to get all cut up over a boy that I'm unable to deeply connect with...who equally, doesn't deeply connect with me. Which is why, I'm rather confused as to why Sam is even here.

"What are you doing here?" Which is why, I've had to ask him that very thing.

"I asked Ash about you, he said that you were going to be back this weekend, so I asked him where and when...so here I am!" Raising his shoulders with a smile, Sam's looking kind of awkward standing where he is.

Feeling sorry for him, I relent with a black-lipped smile. "Come and sit down, I'll get you a milkshake...what flavour?" I ask, watching him and my friends all taking a seat around the table.

With the broadest of grins, Sam keenly answers. "Chocolate works for me!"

As I'm strolling towards the counter, I'm realising that this wasn't the reunion that I was expecting at all today. Sam isn't a bad lad. He's actually quite sweet at times. He's just not the sweet lad for me. In the short amount of time that I've been at Minehead, it's made me even more surer of that. I've not missed Sam. I've not thought about him. His conversations have never captivated me in the way that Chas so easily can with his. Uh, Mindy Diaz, where did that come from? It's true, though, Chas intrigues me in so many ways, on so many levels. I just know that Ash, Maisy and Senna would absolutely love everything about him.

"Can I have a chocolate milkshake, please? I politely ask the friendly-faced lady behind the counter.

"Coming right up!" She cheerfully tells me with a smile. "Go and sit down, I'll bring it over for you."

"Thanks." As I'm turning, I can see Sam talking with all my friends, and it's then, that I'm strangely struck with the wish that it was Chas sitting with them instead of him.