Chapter Six
"What the hell was that?" I follow Tate from the bathroom to my bedroom. He's lying on my bed with his arms under his head, squishing my pillows to get comfy. "Tate! What was that?" I stalk over to my bed and lean down so that I'm staring right at him, my face in his. Tate turns his head to look at me, he widens his eyes in a comically and stares back at me.
"Truth or dare?"
"No I want to talk about what just happened."
"You already know, I told you about this house." Tate turns his head back to stare at the ceiling.
"Bullshit! There's no such thing as ghosts." I cross my arms and clench my jaw, I will not concede to such a ridiculous notion.
"What was it then?"
"I don't know? A prank, you rigged something up." Tate turns his head to look at me again.
"I rigged up a prank knowing you'd dare me to do something in your bathroom?" I sigh, he has a point. But even if I did believe in ghosts I'd never tell him that now.
"Truth." I sit down on the edge of my bed with my back to Tate.
"What have you always wanted to do?" I can feel him shift onto his side and move closer to me as he says it.
"In what way?"
"Anything that you've always wanted to do but never have, because you thought it was stupid or embarrassing or...naughty." I think for a little. Does he mean silly little harmless things like skateboarding or bigger things like telling my asshole Dad what I really think of him? And what does he mean by naughty? "There must be something you've always thought would be fun to do but just haven't done it."
"You know that movie with John Travolta in it?"
"Which one there's been a few."
"With the babies that talk and Kirstie Alley and..."
"Look Who's Talking?"
"Yeah, good movie, well there's this scene in one of them where John Travolta plays with some kids in a soft play area. He dances around to Elvis I think."
"Ok?"
"I've always wanted to do that."
"Dance to Elvis in a kids soft play area."
"Kind of. I wanna break into one at night and...play."
"Play?"
"Yeah play; run around and have fun."
"Add some Nirvana that would make it good."
"What's wrong with Elvis?"
"Nothing, it's just everything's better with Nirvana." I laugh as Tate sits up on the bed behind me. He's quiet and still and I want to lean back and lie on top of him. But then he sits bolt upright and nearly knocks me from my bed. "Meet me out front in 30 minutes." Tate leaps from my bed and runs out of my room.
"Ok." I stay sitting and consider what he has planned.
When I meet Tate outside 30 minutes later he's grinning ear to ear and practically bouncing with excitement.
"I've got a surprise for you." He reaches his hand out for me to take, which I do, and we walk round to the front of Tate's house and stop at a car parked in his drive.
"I had to beg Constance to use her car when I found out where this place was."
"What place?"
"Ah surprise! Come on let's go." We climb into the car and Tate hands me a sheet of paper. "You can direct me." I look at the paper and see that he's scrawled directions on it.
"Ok turn right." We drive off listening to modern shit on the radio and I direct Tate. After nearly an hour we park up by some old warehouses.
"And we are where?"
"I'll show you." Tate opens the passenger door for me, takes my hand again and leads me to one of the buildings. We walk around it for a moment whilst he looks at all the boarded up windows. Tate stops and drops my hand to pull at a board covering a window, it rips off and he quickly climbs inside.
"Hey don't just leave me here!"
"Well come on in then." Tate's voice comes from inside the building and his hand reaches out of the window. He helps me climb into the building; I can't see anything as its pitch black with the windows all boarded up and no lights on.
"What is this place?" I ask as I steady myself on the floor as my feet hit it and try to adjust to the darkness.
"Wait let me find a light." Tate makes shuffling noises then a light switches on at his side, a flashlight, and he sweeps it across the room. I can make out shapes and vague colors but I still have no idea where we are.
"The lights must be around here somewhere." Tate walks away from me. I watch as the tiny flashlight disappears into the distance and I'm left in complete darkness.
"Oh thanks I'll just stay here shall I?"
"Not scared are you?" Tate calls from far away.
"I'm not afraid of anything." That may have been established as a lie a while ago but I'm not gonna change my mantra now. I can hear Tate scoff even though he's nowhere near me.
"Bingo!" I jump as florescent lights flicker on high above me. I blink to adjust to the bright lights after the pitch black and the shapes come into focus. Large metal beams and mesh netting enclose a four story play area filled with foam covered stairs and walkways, slides and swings and ball pits. Everything's in bright primary colors and the whole area is designed like a pirate ship with cartoon pirates painted on the sides. Tate has brought me to a kids soft play area.
"Are you serious! This is...Tate! Tate!"
The Smiths, Girlfriend in a Coma, blasts through the warehouse and Tate runs towards me from the back of the building. I fling myself at him and squeeze him in a huge hug.
"Do you like?" He smiles as I look up at him.
"Of course! This is awesome!"
"I made you a mix tape too, well CD, all Morrissey."
"That's The Smiths." Facts are important.
"Well same difference." He shrugs.
"This is amazing how did you find this place?"
"The internet knows everything." Tate looks down at me and smiles then shoves my shoulder, "Tag you're it!" He runs off towards the pirate ship. "Come on!" Tate runs through the opening of the enclosure and up the first set of stairs. I run after him climbing up the stairs behind him. "Come on Vi you gotta be quicker than that or you'll never catch me!" Tate shouts from a walk way above me.
"It's this skirt I can't get anywhere fast in it."
"Take it off then." Tate grins down at me through the mesh. I hesitate then reach down to unzip my skirt, shimmy it of my hips, down my legs and drop it to the floor.
I chase after Tate through punch bags hanging from the ceiling and over a rope bridge till I find him standing in front of a tall double slide leading down to a ball pit. The track changes to This Charming Man as I walk towards Tate, who lies down on his front and throws himself down the slide into the ball pit. I follow him sliding down on my butt and landing next to Tate. He throws an armful of balls at me then tries diving through the pit.
"Hey come back here so I can pelt balls at you too!" I scramble through the pit sweeping my arms through the balls, determined to catch Tate and beat him with the colourful plastic balls. As I'm searching through the balls I feel something brush past my leg and twist around to look for Tate. But as I twist my ankles are pulled out from under me and I crash into the pit. I sink to the bottom as hands pull me down and the balls gather around and above me.