Keys of Life

Chapter Fifteen: Keenan

Chapter Fifteen: Keenan

             

   Okay. The whole lets-have-a-dance-in-the-garden thing wasn't the best idea I've ever had. I got soaked and quite possibly caught pneumonia.

    I still can't muster up enough annoyance to care. The pitter-patter of rain plopping onto the wet blackness and the dazzle of Faye's smile made everything worthwhile. It was the little things that counted, like when someone gives you a day ticket for the bus, or when a friend buys you a cupcake just for being you. A random act of kindness. That's all.

   I dived into the shower, letting the warm water wither my hands to prunes and a cascade to tumble in a rolling shimmy down my back. It danced over my skin, the tingling of cold in the presence of warmth running along my spine. I heated up, ever so slowly. Eventually, I moved from the glass cage surrounding me, stepping out into the cool air with a billow of steam, dripping water onto the white tiles and wrapping myself in a towel.

   I needed to go soon. I couldn't mooch off Faye and her family forever, no matter how tempting the idea might be. They had lives to lead, lives that I had no right to be a part of. I conjured up the image of her vibrant green eyes, eyes that could part the veil of lies and deceit that nobody could help but weave around themselves. She seemed to pass through it all, clacking the sharp spikes of her stilettos as she went. She was a clear-cut figure of a diamond amongst the dancing ghosts of mist and mystery.

   I got dressed and made my way downstairs, seeing Faye already ensconced in the smooth cream of the sofa. She wasn't doing anything in particular, just flicking the channels of the TV and glancing at the clock.

   "Hey," I said as I approached tentatively. She jumped, a hand flying to her chest, before gracing me with a smile and a small laugh at her own fright. She didn't need to say anything else. I could have a conversation her eyes - they told me so much more than her tongue ever did.

   We hung out for a while. No conversation. Just a kind of harmonised silence.

   "Do you want to go out?" she asked suddenly, the cracking of her voice breaking the lazy stillness. For a minute I thought she meant as ... as a couple, but then I realised it was just another awkward phrasing of words, no deeper meaning running behind them.

   "Where?" I questioned. I was cautious. Any girl who thought that dancing in the rain was a normal way to pass time wasn't going to have any notion of fun widely accepted by society.

    "Ice-skating. Bungee jumping. Shopping. Coffee. Whatever. You choose." Scrap that theory, then - except for the bungee jumping.

   "I could murder a milkshake." I was craving the sticky gooeyness of chocolate and ice cream mixed to a heavenly combination of sweetness. Who cared if it was supposed to be for kids?

   "Okay," she grinned, her lips parting to reveal two evenly spaced rows of white teeth. "I know just the place." She was taking far too much glee in the thought of it. Now I was worried.

***

   Faye led me onwards, skipping lightly up the steps. Facing me was a tiny shop-front, squashed in between an estate agents and a posh boutique. The glaring turquoise paint and bright pink door made it look slightly odd beside its uptight neighbours, an ugly duckling caught in a rainbow.

   Faye beckoned me through the door. I was immediately confronted with more shocking shades of blue and the colour of raspberry sauce. Pictures of cows glared at me from the walls, similarly to the girl at the till. A huge blackboard was filled with white writing, words jumping out from the endless list of letters.

   "This is my favourite milkshake place, ever," she informed me with a quiet sigh of anticipation, looking blissfully happy amongst the vivid colours. Faye glanced back to ask what I wanted.  

   "You pick. I'll have whatever you're having." There were just too many flavours to choose from. It was like a kind of torture - everywhere I looked there was a new choice, a new option. So many possibilities, swirling together into a mush of abundance and freedom. A lot like life, I suppose.

   I grabbed a seat on one of the lime green chairs, stretching my legs. Faye came back with the milkshakes, an evil grin on her face. I'd have to get the bill for them later.

   "What is it?" I asked, nodding to the brown concoctions in front of us. I didn't quite trust her, despite her innocent appearance. 

   "Galaxy caramel..." Her eyes glittered with mischief. I took a sip of mine at her encouragement. My eyes bulged, and it took all of my self-control as a respectable member of the artistic community to keep myself from spitting it out in a jet of putrid tasting sludge. Faye took one look at my face and erupted into laughter, giggling like a mischievous cupid. "Of course, yours is marmite," she continued.  

   "How kind of you to say so," I said sourly.

Yet I couldn't help but break into a smile.