James Mandarin

Hollie

Hollie is mad.

I can see it from the look in her eyes, the dullness of her hair and her empty hand. She gives Ben a scowl as she walks past and plunks herself at her desk. I keep on shelving some new releases, which I hate to say, are teen fiction.

A customer walks in: a man with blue hair and green shoes. He passes me a brief smile before heading over to Hollie. I'm about finishing my shelving when I hear Hollie yelling. "You want to bring the book back? You've only read the first five pages! You even doggy eared the bloody book! You useless dimwit! You never doggy ear a book. There's something known as a bookmark."

I stand at a distance watching in awe. Hollie is never mad. She's either tired or over-excited about something. I quickly steal away into Ben's office and steal an Ice Tea from his fridge before placing a five dollar note on the table.

I return to find Hollie ranting at the man. "Do you know how much sleep I received? Two! Yes, two hours of sleep, just because I had to finish a stupid media assignment! Screw uni!"

"Sorry to interrupt," I say, cutting Hollie off at the crucial moment of her speech. I hand the book over to the man and say, "come back later and we shall hopefully be able to exchange the book for you." The man nods, too traumatised to say anything. He takes the book from my hands and walks away, shuffling his feet on the carpet. I turn towards Hollie and place the bottle of Ice Tea in the table. I watch as her eyes widen and lips curl into a small smile. "Where did you get it from?" She asks, staring at the drink as if it's poisoned.

"That is a secret I'm not willing to share," I reply with a wink.

Hollie mutters something under her breath before lunging at the drink and taking a big gulp. Her body unwinds as she becomes alive once again. A smile appears on her face and her skin appears brighter. Her hair once again shines like fire and her eyes shine brightly. "That's much better," She says under her breath. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I reply as I walk away.

* * *

Hollie and I sit on a bench in the park eating subway sandwiches. The heavenly taste of the meat lovers' sub fills my mouth while Hollie bites into her tuna sub.

"How's school going?" She asks after taking a sip of her drink.

I shrug my shoulders. "It's alright I guess." I'm barely surviving. High school is difficult and so is Year Twelve. I wonder if teachers understand how much pressure we're under as final year students. We are expected to study every night, keep on top of our homework and assignments, have jobs, maintain a social life and gain the marks necessary not only to enter university, but fulfil the perquisites needed to do the courses we want to do.

"How's uni going?"

"Yeah, it's good," she replies, staring absently into the distance. "I'm just tired."

"I can tell."

Hollie turns to me and smiles. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

She shrugs, "I dunno... You always seem so calm and happy and I'm not."

"Well, I suppose there's always a rainbow in the sky at the end of a stormy day." I offer her a small smile, which she returns.

It's easy to lie to close friends.