How The Light Gets In: Chapter Fourteen
I don't own Rookie Blue
Please enjoy.
Unless i'm reading an assignment or doing a paper or taking a test, i'm thinking about you.—v.c. andrews
After a few more shy kisses – seven kisses, seven perfect kisses all chaste and sweet and slow that Gail imprinted the feel of into her memory because she never wanted to forget them – they fell back to sleep. The sun had long since risen but they were wrapped up in one another and exhausted. Thrilled, of course, and slightly off kilter with everything that had happened so quickly so they laid down next to one another silently.
Holly, swallowing her nerves, touched fingers lightly to the back of Gail's hand and slid them into her hold. Gail squeezed. Then she shifted onto her side and let her eyes skitter over Holly's features. She had questions. So many questions. But, when she pillowed her head on Holly's shoulder and closed her eyes, she realised they could wait. A yawn. Holly played with a few strands of hair that refused to lie flat. And finally, finally, Holly's head drooped and her cheek squished where it met the top of Gail's head and she fell into a deep sleep.
That was how Anne found them an hour or so later. She couldn't help but smile. It was innocent and sweet and they looked, she thought, like rather a beautiful couple. They were still holding hands. But they were also still young and underneath her roof and she had to torment Gail just a little for turning up drunk and for thinking it alright to sleep in the same bed as her daughter. So Anne clanged a wooden spoon hard, loud, and repeatedly against a pot.
Gail fell out of the bed.
"Good morning, my darlings."
Holly opened bleary eyes – she was a heavier sleeper than Gail, clearly – and then, frowning, patted the bed next to her. "Gail?" She reached out further but the space was empty. "Gail?"
A blonde head popped up and, groaning, hauled herself to her feet.
"Ugh."
"Gail," Holly said again, relieved.
"Good morning," Anne interrupted.
Gail blanched white – an impressive feat for such a pale girl – and then turned slightly green and she backed into the wall behind her, stumbling slightly. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Holly came awake then. She blinked sleep from her eyes and pushed up onto her arms. "Mom?"
"Breakfast is ready. But I see that you two are having plenty of fun," she said, grinning. "Hmm?"
"Mom," Holly hissed, eyes darting over to Gail who hadn't moved and still looked green. "Gail?" Gail croaked a little. Her shoulders were hunched and eyes fixed on the ground. "Gail?" Holly shuffled to the edge of the bed and reached out but Gail wavered in place, leaning away from the hand.
Anne waved a hand at her daughter and Holly sat, quiet and still. "This is new," she said, coming forward slowly to examine Gail's hair. Gail still didn't move. "Holly has very steady hands, you know, and they will be wonderful for suturing eventually but cutting hair?" She made a small sound in the back of her throat, a tut almost, and reached up to touch a jagged end. "Not so great."
Holly pouted, offended. She thought she'd done quite well, given the circumstances. "Hey," she protested.
"It's true." Anne examined the girl – she looked like an albino hedgehog. Adorable, yes, but given that she was human and not a hedgehog, possibly not fit for society. "That's alright. I'll take you to get it fixed after breakfast."
Gail looked up then, blue eyes wide and confused.
"Well, I'm certainly not taking you right now," Anne said to that expression. "To be perfectly frank, sweetie, you need a shower. And some food in you. Go." Gail shook her head slowly and turned to peer at Holly. The light was making her eyes hurt a little and her head was pounding and she didn't know what was happening or why she wasn't being yelled at or banished from the house. Holly's mother was confusing.
Holly didn't help one bit. She just stood and kissed Gail thoughtlessly on the cheek before pushing at her hip until Gail was walking into the bathroom because now that she thought about it, Gail did sort of smell like a distillery. "Go on," she said, nodding.
Gail disappeared into the bathroom with many a backward look but, trusting Holly, left the two of them alone.
"So," Anne said immediately, perching herself on the edge of Holly's bed. "This is interesting."
Holly groaned. "No, please don't."
"Shush. I'm your mother. Tell me everything."
"No."
"You have to."
"No, I don't." Holly folded her arms and scowled at the ground.
"Oh yes you do, young lady, because thatgirl turned up at my door last night drunk off her ass and asking to see you and not only did I let you two figure out whatever it was, I left you two alone. Not many mothers would do something like that."
"I know but,"
"And need I remind you that this is my house?" Anne asked, really getting into the swing of the whole 'lecture mode'.
"No but,"
"No. So. Tell me everything."
"I don't really know anything," Holly admitted. "Just that she left with Dov and something happened and then she showed up here three hours later, fully trashed." She held up her hands in surrender. "That's all I know, I swear."
"Hmm." Anne examined her daughter's face but it was open and honest and she believed her. She nodded her acceptance of that and they sat together for a little while before Anne said, "I like her."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. I do. I think she's sweet in a very…" she hesitated, not wanting to say the words secretive or hidden but thinking them very loudly.
"I know." Holly shrugged. "She's weird. It's kind of cute though."
"And you like her?" Anne asked.
"Yes." Holly ran her hands through her hair. A few strands fell teasingly in front of her eyes and she huffed, moving to grab a tie. She pulled her hair back in a pony tail. "I like her a lot, mom." Her mother nodding, mulling that over in her mind for a moment.
"You know, Holly," Anne said, patting the bed next to her. Holly flopped down next to her mother and let herself be wrapped in a one armed hug. She leant into her mother and Anne turned slightly to look down at Holly. "She seems to me a little like a stray cat." Holly grinned at the image. "And now that we've fed her, I don't think she'll ever leave."
"I don't really want her to," Holly said.
"Lucy would agree with you there." The two – alike in so many ways – shared a smile because they both knew how completely thrilled little Lucy would be with the idea that Gail would be around all the time. "I just don't know how practical it would be," Anne admitted very quietly after a moment or two. "I'm not saying that she can't stay, just that we can't," she continued, knowing that Holly would be on the same wavelength as her. And Holly nodded, confirming that. Their mouths twisted a little in thought. "But the idea of just letting her leave," she sighed. "I'm afraid she hadn't had a very good time of it lately. Am I right?"
Holly hesitated. "I don't know. She hasn't really told me anything."
"But it's about her mother."
"You were eavesdropping last night?" the girl accused, eyes narrowing.
Anne brushed that away with a simple, "It's a mother's right to worry." She had respect for Gail – even drunk, she had expressed concern for Lucy and Holly and had been nothing but polite to Anne – and didn't think that she would ever purposefully hurt Holly, but she had been drunk and that had made Anne nervous. So, yes, she had listened closely to them and hovered nearby.
"Right." Holly rolled her eyes.
They sat for a time quietly, the only sound the pattering of water coming from the shower and the occasional curse as Gail tried to figure out the way the dials worked.
"We can't keep her," Anne said. "I just don't have the money."
"I know, mom." Holly slid her hand over to cover her mother's and she nodded. "It's okay. Gail will be fine. And we will be fine. I promise." Anne nodded. "It's like you always tell me. Let's get through today. It'll be an amazing day. You'll see." She nudged her shoulder and waited until her mother smiled. "You'll see."
"You really don't have to do this, ma'am," Gail said, trailing along behind Anne. "I mean, it was my fault. And you already hosted that party, which was, you know, more than you needed to do. So you really don't have to pay for-"
"Gail?" Anne interrupted. Gail snapped her mouth shut. She eyed the woman warily. "I feel bad that my daughter, apple of my eye, whom I carried within me for nine months, has such terrible hair cutting skills. I can't help but feel at least partially responsible."
"You're being weird, mom," Holly said.
"Well you can't cut hair."
"It's not that bad," she protested.
"On the contrary, it's very bad." Anne leading them through the mall.
"Oh shut up. Like you could do any better," Holly said, folding her arms over her chest. She was starting to sulk.
"At least I know when I can't do something. Clearly, I'm smarter than you are since I'm getting Gail some help."
"Right." Holly's pout came out fully, sulk intensifying. Looking between the two of them, Holly walking next to her, Anne leading and holding Lucy's hand, Gail poked Holly's arm. "Yeah?"
"I thought you did okay," Gail told her very quietly.
"Really?" Eyebrows jumped up Holly's forehead in surprise. She was about to tell her mother what Gail had said when the blonde shook her head.
"Not really." Holly's face fell. "But you're really great at other stuff," she said, trying to remedy the situation.
"Oh yeah?" Holly moved so that her arm was brushing against Gail's. "Like what?" she asked with a sultry smile.
"Well,"
"Please, girls, I am right here," Anne reminded them loudly. "And so is Lucy."
Gail and Holly shot away from one another – they hadn't realised that they were leaning in so close, lips quirking into inviting smiles and eyes dragging down to those red lips – coughing and shifting awkwardly in place. Lucy turned around to make faces at them. Gail returned the ugly, scrunched up expressions until Anne laughed and then she stopped, remembering what was and was not appropriate in social situations, and busied herself with her phone.
Holly seemed to have some form of 'Gail is uncomfortable' meter because she smiled and let their hands touch lightly. Her smile widened when Gail just looked at it for a moment and then slipped her hand into Holly's.
"Bobbi," Anne said happily, stopping. "I'm so glad I caught you."
"Oh hey. What can I do you for?"
"This," Anne said, wrapping an arm around Gail's shoulders and tugging her forward, "is our friend Gail." She felt the girl stiffen under her touch and saw her chin come up automatically, spine straightening too into perfect posture. "She's in a bit of a crisis."
"Hmm." Bobbi examined Gail, knowing that the girl was doing the same for her.
And boy was she ever. Because Bobbi was tattooed and pierced and brightly coloured and Gail's breath caught because she was stunning and smiling and she looked a bit like the kind of woman her mother would tell her to arrest or at least watch carefully. All Gail could see was: glasses, a tattoo sleeve covering her right arm, one tattoo sneaking across her cleavage, purple pink hair, a nose ring, a sweet green dress, cute boots and frilly socks, charisma and charm overflowing and above all, Gail saw nice. She looked like a walking contradiction but then Gail had to grin when the phrase 'sugar and spice' came to mind, a phrase that fit the woman aptly.
"Sure, love. No problem."
"Are you sure?"
Gail blinked. She seemed to have missed out on some of their conversation, absorbed in staring at Bobbi.
"Absolutely. I owe you one anyway. Now, let me get a good look at ya," she said, peering at Gail. After a moment or two, she nodded decisively. "We can work with this. A bit off here," she touched the sides, "neaten this up a little," to the fringe, "not a problem." Bobbi waved a hand to one of the chairs inside her little shop and Gail shuffled over. When she looked up, Anne and Holly were gone and Lucy was hopping up into the seat next to her.
Hi, Lucy signed, when she was done spinning around in the chair.
Hey. Where are the others?
Bookstore. Lucy kicked her feet. Mom left me to make sure B-O-B-B-I does a good job.
You're my – Gail paused, not knowing the word for back up. Hero, she signed instead and Lucy beamed, chest puffing up in pride.
Can you get hair like Bobbi's? Lucy asked. Pink for you.
No.
Green?
No.
Blue?
Gail pursed her lips, thinking. Lucy's face grew more and more excited. Maybe.
Really? Lucy bounced in the chair.
Gail grinned sweetly. No. She laughed when Lucy's expression was taken over by a pout and the girl sunk back into her chair, kicking her feet and trying to hit Gail.
"Alright girls, we ready?" Bobbi returned with a trolley of scissors and all those things hairdressers wielded. She gestured for Gail to turn and face the mirror. "What's got you all down in the dumps, Luce?" She asked. Her hands were cool as she lightly touched Gail's chin and jaw, tilting Gail's head into the position she wanted.
Gail listened to the most one-sided conversation she had ever heard, eyes closed so as not to have to see her jagged haircut.
"Oh yeah. She'd look cool with blue hair.—I don't think so.—Well, I probably shouldn't do it without her permission.—When you're older, Luce.—Oh man, that would be so cool!.—Nah, we could work on your mom, she'd totally let you do it.—Green? Sure, you'd look cute in green.—Well, that's a touch illegal so you'll have to wait until you're eighteen to get that done.—You might change your mind."
Gail had to smile because, silent though Lucy might be, she thought she might know what Lucy was talking to Bobbi about.
"Are you watching my hair or her hands?" Gail asked after a while, the thought occurring to her when she remembered that she was trusting this lady with the fate of her hair.
"Little bit of both, sweet," Bobbi replied. "Lucy tells me you want blue hair?"
"No thank you."
"Thought not." She ran her hands through Gail's hair and then made a proud sound. "Alright. There we go. What do you think?"
Gail looked up into the mirror and blinked. She looked different. She tilted her head from side to side, keeping her expression mild. She quite liked it. It wasn't a bowl cut, thank god. She didn't think that even she could pull that off. But it was no longer jagged or slightly lopsided like it had been. Instead it was soft and choppy and light, and Gail found her lips turning up at the edges. She nodded.
"Great." The hairdresser played with it for a moment or two longer, making it sit just as she wanted it, before declaring Gail finished.
When she wandered out of the store and joined Anne and Holly, who had gone to do heaven knew what while Bobbi had been chopping gleefully at her hair, she turned to Holly with cautious eyes and raised her eyebrows in a question.
"Hey," Holly greeted her. "You look hot," she said with a quick grin.
"Yeah?"
"Oh yeah." She wasn't sure if she was allowed to kiss Gail in public, or in front of her mother, so she just touched Gail's elbow lightly and softened her smile. "You look beautiful."
Gail flushed and looked away quickly from her girl-her frien- her girlfri-friend? – oh fuck it. Holly. She looked away from Holly and glanced at Anne before dropping her gaze to the floor. She shuffled a little.
"Thank you so much," Gail said, her voice sincere and soft. "I really appreciate it."
"Consider it a birthday present," Anne said, "and think nothing of it." Pulling Gail into a one armed hug was the next logical step and the one after that was inviting her back to their place to finish the leftovers from the party. "I believe we still have a few packets of cheese puffs. Holly seemed to think that everyone would eat them but,"
"They were Gail's," Holly explained. "No one would dare to touch them."
"Hey," the blonde protested. Then she shrugged. "That's true." She closed her eyes and leant into Holly until they reached the car, where she made no attempt to hold herself up and leant fully against the girl. She was still so tired. Drinking half her body weight in alcohol was clearly a bad idea.
"You feeling okay?" Holly asked, brushing her fingers through Gail's hair. The blonde grunted and leaned further into Holly, who held her close, and she let the repetitive strokes lull her to sleep.
"Gail," Anne said a few moments later, "I was wondering if we could talk about-"
"Mom," Holly hissed. "Sleeping. Not now."
Anne checked the rear view mirror and, lo and behold, Gail was thoroughly asleep against Holly's shoulder. "You look like you make an excellent pillow," she teased her daughter. "Is her seatbelt on properly?" she couldn't help but check.
"Yes mom." Holly tugged it a little to make sure, then said it again. "Yes. It's on properly."
"Well good." Anne had wanted to discuss some things – Holly and Gail's relationship for one, but that she knew would come to her in bits and pieces as Holly needed to talk about it and confided in her – but she stayed silent despite bursting curiosity.
They pulled into their street and Holly started to wake Gail, rubbing her shoulder gently. "Gail? Come on, kitten," she teased, knowing that Gail would death stare her if she heard that while awake. Anne pretended she didn't hear. Gail didn't react and the two Stewart's couldn't decide if they were relieved or disappointed. Well, Anne was disappointed. She would have liked to see how Gail reacted to that. "Gail, sweetie, we're home. Wakey wakey." She patted Gail's cheek lightly. "Come on."
"'M awake," Gail protested.
"No you aren't."
"Yes. I am." Gail tried to turn away from Holly but caught herself in her seatbelt and came awake with an abrupt jolt. "Huh? What?"
"We're home. In the car."
"Oh." Gail blinked and looked about. Then she saw someone sitting on the front stoop.
"Hello. Who's that?" Anne asked. Holly only saw glinting hair and a smile in the time that Gail saw him, recognised him, and threw off her seatbelt. She dove out of the car and ran to him and Holly couldn't contain a small flash of jealousy when Gail threw off any sleep left in her face and lit up with joy. She especially couldn't hide a smidgeon of jealousy when Gail jumped – literally jumped into his arms.
Gail didn't see any of Holly's jealousy. She was too busy running and then burying her face into his shoulder and clutching him tight. He held her tightly in return and didn't let go even when his arms started to hurt just a tiny bit, nothing he couldn't handle of course, because he'd always been close with Gail but this level of affection was new and that told him that maybe, just maybe, she really needed it.
All the while, Holly lingered.
Anne, watching her daughter with a small smile, disappeared into the house with Lucy, who wanted to stay but obediently went inside. She stomped, though, to show her annoyance.
Gail was lowered to her feet slowly and then Steve stepped back and looked over at the brunette. He raised an eyebrow at Gail, who blushed, and then he nodded and scooped Holly up into a hug next. She froze with surprise.
"Hey!" Gail smacked him in the arm. "Let her go."
"But,"
"No! Down!" Steve set Holly on her feet and Gail scowled. "No touching."
"But,"
"No."
"Fine. It's nice to meet you then," Steve said, sending a mock glare Gail's way. "Oh, hey, wow. What did you do to your hair?" He saw the chance to do a double take and took it. "It looks good," he reassured her when her hands flew up to cover it.
"You think so?"
Holly felt that jealousy again. Gail didn't really show her vulnerability very often and she wasn't sure how she felt that Gail would let this very attractive man see her being sweet and nice and uncertain.
"Oh totally. You look super cute."
"I'm not cute," Gail scowled. "I'm badass."
"No, no you're definitely cute."
"Take it back!" she demanded.
"Never!" he said back, dramatic and loud. Then followed a few minutes of scuffling, which ended in him putting her in a headlock and her having to tap out, smacking her hand against his stomach.
"God, you're such an ass. And have you been living in the gym or something?" She rubbed her hand gently. "I think I'm getting bruises from hitting you."
"Thanks," he said, chuffed. "I do my best."
Holly, throughout these exchanges, found herself growing more and more confused. Because, on the one hand the two of them were very attractive and would make a very attractive pairing. And on the other hand, they fought and swore at one another and were acting positively childish.
"Hey," Steve said out of the corner of his mouth. "Have you told Holly about me?" He nodded his head surreptitiously at the staring girl. "Because she's been doing that this whole time."
Gail shook her head. She'd forgotten to actually mention Steve more than in passing, in the hope that Holly would like her for, well, her and not because of her brother and family. There was less of a chance of Holly falling madly in love with Steve now that Gail knew she was gay but still. Steve was the better Peck.
"Gail, you're such an idiot," he told her happily. Then strode over to Holly and held out his hand. "Hey. Nice to meet you. I'm Steve."
"Holly."
"I'm Gail's brother," he told her.
"Oh!" Relief flooded her chest and she laughed. "Hi."
"So, where exactly am I?" Steve asked with a laugh. "Because as lovely as it is, this is not our house, Gail." He slung an arm around her neck and pulled her into his side. He stopped short of ruffling her hair but it was a close thing. Gail frowned. "And it's not the 15. I know because I went there after I went to your house. And Oliver sent me…here."
"It's Holly's house," she told him.
"Ah." His already large smile stretched and Holly just stared because she couldn't understand, couldn't fathom, couldn't quite see how they were related – this smiling, jubilant man and the sulky, surprisingly sweet sometimes, but snarky Gail. "You here often?" he asked Gail and she stiffened and shrugged his arm off.
"Maybe."
"Did you want to come in?" Holly interrupted, seeing how defensive Gail was building herself up to be. It was written in the lines of her shoulders and her clenched jaw and she didn't want to be a part of a sibling tiff.
"Nah. I actually just came to pick up Gail. Is that alright?" he asked them.
Holly nodded slowly. She didn't want their time to come to an end – what if Gail changed her mind? They hadn't even spoken about the kiss and what it meant for them so what if Gail just chalked it down as experimentation and disappeared to find herself another tutor? But she nodded because she didn't have any right to Gail and if she wanted to leave, she could.
Gail didn't want to leave. She loved her brother and his coming to surprise her at any other time would have been a gift from god. It was, still, but right then? She wished he'd taken a little longer.
But she nodded as well and walked with Steve to his car and waved goodbye to Anne and Lucy who were watching from the window and she lingered for a moment by Holly but couldn't think of the right way to say goodbye so she didn't, just dropped into the car and kept her eyes focused away from Holly. She played with her phone as they drove away but it was too soon to text Holly, surely.
"I didn't mean to interrupt you guys," he said as he drove.
Gail shook her head, negating that. "It's fine."
"Come on, Gail. I know that you and Holly needed to have a chat." She turned to look at him and he shrugged. "Detective, remember?"
"Trainee detective."
"Still. That girl was looking at you like you were her whole world," he said. "Just in case you didn't see it."
Gail hadn't seen that. She allowed herself a tiny smile – because Steve was a very good cop and if he said it then it had a high chance of being true. Unless he was screwing with her. She narrowed her eyes.
"I swear to god," he said, raising one hand. "She likes you."
"I hope so. I don't just kiss anyone."
There was a moment of silence before Steve hooted and punched Gail in the shoulder. "Gail! What the hell? Why didn't you say anything? I swear, I will turn around and take you right back there if you want to because if you like her you have to talk to her about it."
"No."
"No?"
"It's fine. Let's just…hang out. I'll talk to her later."
Steve took his eyes off the road for a moment to look over his little sister's face. She looked stoic and calm and mildly terrified. He snorted. "You have no idea what to say to her, do you?"
Gail sighed. Rubbed her hands over her face and then through her hair. "Not a clue."
"Walk me through it, Wail." When she groaned, he groaned right back, mocking her. "I have life experience. Trust me. Tell me everything and then we'll see about talking to your girlfriend. Come on," he urged.
"Fine."
So Gail told him about her birthday, about Holly putting together a party, about Elaine ignoring her – which elicited sympathetic clicks of his tongue – and about her getting drunk off her face. About arriving at Holly's house and her mother and the bathtub and cutting her hair and Holly and waking up next to her and kissing her.
He pulled into the car park of an old gaming arcade and bought them a buttload of tokens. He handed her half and they moved around the games, destroying.
"What was it like?" He shot at the aliens ahead of them.
"I don't know." Gail shrugged, uncomfortable. "Perfect, I guess."
He smiled. "You're such a nerd." They passed the level and he spoke again. "Okay, I've got it. Pretend I'm Holly."
"Number one, ew." Gail got a headshot and grinned. "Number two, why?"
"You want to text her something. Trust me. That girl is probably freaking out and thinking that this was a huge mistake for you because that's what people do. Girls especially, right?"
The game ended and tickets started pouring out of the dispenser. Gail shoved the plastic gun back in its holder and laughed.
"Oh please. I was there when you thought you were in love with Maddie O'Brien. You practically cried over your phone. There is no 'girls especially'."
Steve cleared his throat. "Point taken. Nevertheless, pretend I'm Holly."
"Fine." She looked down at her hands. Then up at the roof. Then over at more blinking machines. Then up to the roof again.
"Okay. Wow. Very eloquent, Gail." She sneered at him and he clapped her on the shoulder. "Look, just text her. She'll want to hear from you."
"But what do I say? Do I say, hey, you're a really good kisser? Or do I thank her for the party or what?" She led them over to the whack-a-mole and though it was a game for four year olds, Steve obediently picked up a mallet. Gail didn't need help though. She slammed her mallet down on those moles, working out her frustration. "Do I," whack, "talk about us? Because that's," whack, "nothing. She probably just," whack, "kissed me because I was there."
"Holly doesn't really seem like that kind of girl," Steve noted. "I think she likes you."
Gail bit her lip. "Take over," she commanded and then she walked away a few paces. She pulled over her phone and turned it over and over in her hand. Then, holding her breath, she messaged Holly.
Sorry for ditching you, she wrote. After a moment, she sent it.
The response was almost immediate. No worries. I had work to do as well. What are you up to?
Arcade with Steve. Talking about you. Oh shit. Gail hadn't meant to say anything about that. But what was done was done and maybe it would turn into something good, rather than just making Holly think that she was a bit of a stalker or obsessed.
Oh really? All good things I hope.
Just that you're a nerd. Gail worried her bottom lip with sharp teeth and then added, and that I kissed you.
The response to that took a little longer. And all it came back with was a single question mark.
?
What?
Really?
Gail swallowed. Should I not have? Fine sorry whatever
NO. Messages, short ones, not even full sentences, sent her phone abuzz. Holly was clearly worried that she wouldn't get the words out fast enough and that Gail would ignore them. Sorry that's not – what I meant I – thought you might not want to – talk about that because maybe you were still a little – drunk this morning and it was a mistake
I don't make mistakes, Gail wrote. I told you that.
Right. Of course. It wasn't right, Gail thought, that she could see Holly's face so perfectly in her mind. Every little change it went through – rolling her eyes, a twitch of a smile, a fond glance despite the snarkiness Gail liked to use. So it was okay?
You could probably brush up on your kissing skills but yeah.
Oh really? Maybe this is as good as I get. No more kisses for you if they aren't good enough
Fine they're okay you're like a measly 10/10 or whatever.
Steve touched Gail's elbow and waved a significant number of tickets in front of her. She snatched half of them and ran to the counter. After a few minutes, she spied what she really wanted and traded her tickets for five candy necklace and bracelet sets.
"Really, Gail? Aren't you a little too old for candy jewellery?"
"Never." She returned to her phone.
I have to go.
Oh okay. See you Tuesday? Study session?
Okay. Holly wanted to see her again. Gail grinned. She wanted to see her again and was making sure that they were still on for Tuesday study sessions. She had to restrain herself from sending seven more texts full of excitement because that would have been odd and not at all cool calm and collected like Gail always was. Except, for some reason, around Holly.
Try not to drink a bathtub of alcohol first though?
I don't know. Sounds like fun.
Steve snatched the phone right out of her hands and, holding it up high so she couldn't reach it even when she jumped for it, he texted Holly and then handed the phone back. Gail checked it frantically.
Gail has to go. We are going to raise hell. –Steve
Gail scowled at him but before she could say anything, her phone buzzed.
Sounds like fun, Holly had written, mimicking Gail's words.
We'll invite you next time nerd, Gail wrote. Then she slipped her phone into her bag and kicked Steve in the shin just because she could, and slid into the passenger seat. She was already chewing on her candy necklace.
"Where to?"
"Duh. It's the birthday trifecta, even if it is a day late, and that means the ABCs of fun." He roared out of the car park. "Arcade, bar, cake."
"I'm still underage," she reminded him.
"Batting cages?"
She wrinkled up her nose. Gross.
"B…Build-A-Bear? Boxing? Bar with non-alcoholic drinks?" She shrugged. "Bar it is."
And that evening, when Gail arrived home, Steve having to fly back that evening, she walked right past her mother and Elaine didn't care to say hello or mention her change in hair or apologise for missing her birthday. Gail did her best not to let it bother her. The buzzing of her phone with messages from Holly helped.
Okay so that was basically a filler chapter. I'm sorry… Hope you liked it, let me know what you thought and what you would like to see. Happy reading, readers :)