Quicksilver - Jamilton -

Chapter 27: shopping

This fricking donkey.

How dare she makes me wait for...

How long's it been now? 35 minutes? I'm getting really bored. I sip on my ice tea, barely concentrating on anything. It's a workday for most, so there aren't many people at the mall beside that one kid who's screaming. 

"Hey, Tom?"

"Hmm?" I replace my eyes on James. He's fidgeting and looks like a kid who got caught drawing on a wall, glancing at everything but my eyes.

"Is she gonna be here soon?" 

"Well, she's supposed to be, but who knows, maybe she got eaten by a crocodile." I take another sip of my drink. I don't know why he's stressed, Angelica won't stand us up, at least I hope for her she's not gonna stand us up.

"I hope I'm gonna make a good impression on her. I wouldn't want your friend to hate me." He puts a hand in his non-existent hair.

"James! I told you to not worry. She might seem intimidating at first, but if you're on her good side, you're gonna be fine."

"What if you're not on her good side?" He swallows.

"... You don't want to know."

"That's not helping me, Thomas!"

"Haha! Sorry, sorry. But don't worry, she's going to like you, and if not, I'm not her friend anymore."

"And if I told you to jump off a bridge, would you?" The flicker of a smile appears on his face.

"Absolutely! Why are you even asking?!" 

"You're impossible." 

"I know I am!" I laugh spontaneously, as I always do when I'm with him. There's something so simple in the act of laughing. It's an instinct, you don't even know why you do it. It's always been there, and always will be there. From birth to death, your heart won't resist that sweet moment of liberation. You don't need a good joke to laugh, you don't need any reason, actually. You can just laugh for the sake of laughing. As simple as that. 

The sound of my phone gets me out of my thought. I take it from my bag behind my chair, wondering who might be texting me.

"Hello! The best person just arrived! Applaud, please."

I put my phone back in my bag. I can check later, this is more important.

"The devil finally decided to show up, I see?"

"Right, sorry for that. You know... traffic and shit." She hides her hand in her pocket, like a thief trying to not be suspicious, but failing miserably.

"So, Angelica, this is James! James, this is Angelica." James looks relieved to finally be acknowledged, and give her his hand, which she gladly takes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you! Thomas has only spoken good words about you, so I was excited." He glances back at me for reassurance, and I smile to show him that he's doing a good job. 

"I honestly feel the same way, and after a while, I really thought you were an invention Thomas made. I mean, it's hard enough for me to support him, so I had a hard time imagining him having other friends."

"I can agree with that one, he can be difficult at times." 

"Hey, why are you two speaking of me like I'm not there? And that is so not true, I am not difficult, ever."

"We're not saying that to be mean, Thomas. It's simply that sometimes you're just..." She shares a complicit glance with James.

"... Difficult." he ends her sentences for her. Well, if that's not bonding.