Sweet Dreams

Tess and Zoe walked up to Caitlin and Jess.

"You two are good to go," Zoe smiled.

"Not yet we're not!" Caitlin smiled back, "My friend Mills is coming to meet us here."

"Ah," Zoe smiled.

"Half an hour ago." Caitlin finished with a sigh.

Tess and Zoe laughed a little, looking amused but pitying.

"You're both welcome to visit us any time, by the way," Caitlin smiled, handing over a piece of paper with an address neatly printed on it.

"Thanks," Tess smiled, reading the address.

…..

A few minutes later, and Mills arrived.

"Hey!" she called to Jess and Caitlin.

"Late again, Mills?"

"Yes, KitKat, late again. But I come bearing gifts!" Mills handed them a bag with a change of clothes for them both, and a get well soon bag of sweets for Jess.

"Go on then Jess, go get changed in the ladies yeah? I'll be there in a bit." Caitlin smiled, before turning to face her friend. "Mills, sweets? You know sugar isn't good for her."

"it's not good for any of us, KitKat- and besides, they're sugar free."

Caitlin laughed and hugged her friend.

"I guess I owe you that McDonalds…"

"Yes, yes you do." Mills replied.

"Or we could try out that new diner in town?"

"Mm," Mills mused, "Sounds good."

…..

When the two sisters had changed, and thanked Tess and Zoe once more, they headed from the ED towards their cars. Mills got into hers, a pink KA, while Caitlin steered Jess into their mother's old silver convertible.

"Can we pull the roof back?" Jess asked.

Caitlin sighed and rolled her eyes, pulling back the black, material roof to reveal the clean leather seats.

"Why did we keep mum's car, not dad's?"

"Because dad's car was the one they crashed in, honey, it was wrecked. The compensation money paid for mum and dad's funeral and gravestone, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah." Jess sank into a deep silence.

…..

They didn't talk much for the ten minute journey, so Caitlin turned the music up loud- it was Price Tag by Jessie J this time.

"I like this song," Jess smiled.

"Only because the singer's name is Jessica," laughed Caitlin.

"Yeah."

The silence resumed.

…..

When the three arrived at the diner, they had to park at the side of the road, because there were no car parks nearby. The diner looked small and cosy, and as they opened the door a little bell chimed to welcome them.

The floor was checked black and white, and the white walls were covered with paintings of celebrities from the 1900s. The tables were black, and surrounded by red and white leather sofa chairs; the counter and windowsills were painted in a matching red colour. Jess, Caitlin and Mills looked around themselves, impressed. They chose a table and sat down gratefully, picking up the yellow menus on the table.

"Mm, can I have a chicken burger with French fries, please?" Jess asked.

"Sure you can, Mills?"

"Um… oh! There's so much choice… but I don't eat much… just a side of curly fries, please."

"Yeah, I think I'll have that too." Caitlin nodded. "What about drinks?"

There was a list of different drinks, like fizzy and cups of tea.

"Ooh," Mills smiled, turning over the page to see that the back cover was dedicated entirely to milkshakes.

"Ooh, indeed." Caitlin agreed, "I'll be having the oreo milkshake then!"

"Can I have a coca-cola float, please?" Mills asked.

Caitlin nodded. "Jess?"

"A marshmallow milkshake please!"

…..

It took a while for the food to arrive, but when it did they were amazed. Jess's burger was huge, and there was a massive pile of straight, glistening chips beside it. The bowls of curly fries were enough to feed a small army, and have some left over. But it was the drinks that really stunned them.

The Oreo milkshake was a tall glass filled with pale brown milk, flecked with dark brown dots… Oreo crumbs. The top was covered in a tower of thick cream, a biscuit sticking out of the top. Jess's was similar, but with a pale white drink and the top scattered with marshmallows. Mills's float was huge, with a massive scoop of ice cream on top. It fizzed up and bubbled over, and all three laughed out loud. Caitlin thanked the waiter and they all tucked in.

…..

When they finished, Caitlin and Mills hugged each other goodbye.

"See you tomorrow KitKat?"

"Afraid not. No classes for me, luckily. I was hoping to make use of the IT suite and Library- no chance of that now, eh? Oh well, it's the meeting with Jessica's lovely Teacher the morning after tomorrow, so I'd better get my research done."

"How?"

"Go to the school and get a look at the CCTV footage." Caitlin smiled.

"Will they let you?" Mills frowned.

"Yes, but they won't want to!"

…..

Meanwhile, at the ED, Tess and Zoe were about to leave. Just as they did, a man of about twenty entered the ED, drunk and loud.

"Oi, you!" he shouted to Noel.

"How can I help you sir?"

"You can tell me where my bloody girlfriend is!"

"Hey!" Zoe shouted, marching up to him. "What is your problem?"

"My problem is…" he poked a finger at Zoe, "That my mate says my girlfriend was here, and I wanna find her."

"Well, if you just tell us her name then we could tell you!" Tess ran over to join Zoe.

"Caitlin," the drunken man shouted, "Caitlin Smith."