Innocent Murderers

[9] the fine art of drink fighting

Derek is walking next to me, his grey t-shirt brushing my hand every time I take a step. I tuck my hair behind my ears and I can sense him looking down at me.

"You ok?" He asks, I nod quickly. Too quickly.

"You totally like him!" Whispers Rose in my ear. I hear Penny scoff and feel Lucy tense up. My cheeks flush and I walk quicker, the girls following.

"I do not like Derek, he's so obviously Lucy's." I mutter. The small alleyway opens up into the main street, and the group rejoins. Lucy insisted that we spend a day together, since we're going to be spending the next month in close confinement 'like little birds'. Her words, not mine.

"So where first?" Asks Jackson, trying to walk up next to Penny. She elbows him and stomps on his foot. We laugh as he cries out overdramatically. 

"Violence is never the answer!" He calls out as we walk away from him. Penny turns round, grinning maniacally.

"Tell that to violence," She says. Derek fakes a pained look.

"You have got to work on your comebacks!" He protests. Penny turns to him and I have to keep myself from bursting out laughing at his stupidly fearful expression.

"Would you like some fist with that stupidity?" She asks. Aaron lets out a low whistle and I turn to face him. It's the first noise he's made all morning, and we lock eyes.

"Anyway," Lucy says, attempting to clear the tension, "we are at our first stop. Milkshakes!"

Penny groans, Rose, Jackson and Derek look like excited puppies and Aaron smiles. I find myself half smiling too.

"You should smile more." It's Aaron, whispering so close to my ear. He's so close to me I can hear the steady rhythm of his heart. It's in perfect time with mine. Before I can respond, Derek is in front of us, tugging on the front of my Rolling Stones t-shirt.

"Come on lovebirds, they've got chocolate!" I laugh at this, and Aaron smirks. We walk into the very American shop. It's large, but cosy with red and white leather booths, and bar stools across the counter doubling as a bar. There are a lot of neon signs and, surprisingly, the shop is nearly empty. We take seats on the uncomfortable stools, and order our milkshakes. When I get my medium vanilla with chocolate chips, Derek is already halfway through his large chocolate. I look to my left, where Aaron is playing with his dark, almost black drink. I bump his elbow and he looks up.

"Black, very badass." I say, he smirks and puts his finger in mine, scoops some up and puts it on my forehead.

"Technically, it's just vegan chocolate. Oh, and now, you've got warpaint," he says. I gasp, faking hurt and scoop some of his up, putting it on his nose.

"MILKSHAKE FIGHT!" Derek yells. The obnoxiously pink-haired woman behind the bar starts to protest, but there is already milkshake everywhere.

"Ok, you lot, OUT!" She yells, and we bustle out, laughing like idiots. Penny cracks a smile, and there's milkshake dripping from her forehead. I run to catch up with Derek, who's laughing with Lucy.

"Hey, do you insist on having food fights with everything we drink?" I ask. He smirks at me.

"Firstly, its 'drink fight', and second, it's all part of the job." He winks overdramatically at me, and I cringe.

"Ok, never wink at me again." I say. He laughs and goes back to talking to Lucy.

"Hey," My heart jumps, and I spin around to meet the tanned skin of Aaron. He smirks and I frown at him.

"Why did you do that?" I ask, he smiles.

"I wanted to see if you would try and kill me like Pen, or attack me with a 'surprise hug' like Derek," He says. I laugh a bit, and fall into step beside him, my converse scuffing the pavement.