Bubbles

Chapter 14

Lucy

"Please, Lucy."
"Where are we going?"
"Just the beach."
"Again?"
"You can meet Ozzie, if you go. And Anna, if she comes. I don't really know her but she has those eyes that show she cares. I haven't asked her yet. She likes sandwiches."
I wrinkle my nose. It's been a while since I've hung out with a bunch of teenagers.
"I'll think about it."
She waits a couple of seconds. "Have you thought about it yet?"
She's so adorable.
I agree to go before I know what I'm doing.
"Okay. If you want to pick me up, come at half six. I'll be at Tesco. If you're busy then, come at seven."
"Why would I be busy at half six?"
"You might be seeing your girlfriend or something."
Penny gasps a little, like she's choking.
"I broke up with her, about a week ago. Are you okay?"
There's a pause, and I can tell she's biting her lip.
"Sure." Another pause. "What was she like, Lucy?"
I snort. "Bitchy."
"How?"
"She always thought I was cheating, she never trusted anything I said, she backtracked, she backstabbed, she wanted to change who I was... She wanted me to get rid of my bike!"
I shake my head, frowning at the memory.
Penny sniffs a sympathetic sniff. "Why did you stay with her?"
"She was manipulative. And good at sex."
There's a clatter on the other end of the line and some distant mumbles.
"S-sorry. Dropped my phone."
I smirk. "Does the word 'sex' scare you?"
"No, of course not. I just... No." She stutters, lying badly.
"You know, I just love all that sexiness of some sexy sex, Penny."
"Shut up, Lucy."
"Sex!"
"Bye."

I swing my bike into Tesco's carpark, leaving skid-marks on the road.
I see the vague silhouette of Penny's blonde hair near the cash machine as I swerve past a van and pull up to the kerb.
I tug off my helmet and run my hand through the curls of my hair. She's not wearing her usual dress-and-white-Converse attire. Instead, she has scruffy, ripped-looking short shorts and a baggy black hoodie with some kind of logo on the front.
I blink at this, unused to seeing so much of her legs. Her gorgeous, tanned legs...
They're moving towards me now, a singular carrier bag banging alongside them.
"Lucy, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Uh..."
I shove my helmet on again to cover the blush.
"You still haven't got proper protective gear for biking. You really need to, you know. You might break your kneecaps, and-"
Grabbing her arms and pressing them around my waist, I flip my visor down and fly away from the disapproving glares of the public.

I approach the gaggle of teenagers with caution, letting Penny lead the way.
A blonde boy waves at us.
"That's Ozzie," Penny informs me.
"Heyy, Penny! Who's this?" the boy calls.
I don't like the way he lengthens the pronunciation of his 'hey'.
"This is Lucy," Penny says, grinning at me.
I don't like how close he is to her.
"Nice, have you brought anyone else?"
"I messaged Anna on Facebook, but I don't know if she's coming or not because she didn't reply."
"Cool, cool. What's in the bag?"
Stop looking at Penny's boobs, dude.
"Coke and oranges."
"Awesome, Reuben loves oranges."
He takes the bag and saunters over to a tall, skinny guy with short ginger hair.
"Look what Penny's brought, babe! We can show them that cool thing with fire and the acid in orange skin."
Nerd. Wait, 'babe'?
Ozzie kisses Reuben's cheek.
Oh. He's gay? Now I'm so crazy that I imagine people doing shit they aren't doing.
Unless he's bi...
I grab Penny's hand and pull her to me, going to whisper in her ear.