The Shoe Story

Chapter Four

Getting to Jamie's house was a whole separate problem. It would have taken me half an hour to walk, and I'd left the house at twenty to eight. Pushing it a little. I decided to get the bus.

Ataraxy was waiting at the stop. "Hey," she whispered. "D'you have the vinegar?"

I held it out to her and she sighed with relief. "Good stuff." She pulled out a few other items from her hoodie pocket. A water balloon, and was that baking soda? 

She noticed me staring. "Primary school science," she explained. "That's what we're relying on."

I groaned.

We reached Jamie's house at ten to eight, with lots of time to spare for Ataraxy to mess with the water balloon, fill it with baking soda.

"At five to eight," she instructed, "we'll add the vinegar and tie it."

"It'll be fine," I agreed. Judging from how nervously I was drumming my fingers on my leg, I didn't entirely believe it. 

When the front door creaked open, we weren't exactly ready. Voices drifted up the lawn. "Tip it!" she hissed, and I dutifully tipped the bottle of vinegar into the water balloon. I didn't exactly do it precisely, and drops spilled onto her hands, but she didn't care. "No- that's too much!" She swore softly and I hastily straightened the bottle. The water balloon was starting to fizz- and it still wasn't tied. I cursed and lunged forward, wrapping my hands around it, fumbling to make a knot. This plan was so simple, and it was literally about to blow up in our faces.

Jamie and his date were nearly at his car. They both sounded relaxed and happy, and the girl was wearing a beautiful ice blue dress.

I finished tying the balloon. "Go, go, go!" Ataraxy whispered and I did. I sprinted around the side of the house, saw Jamie opening the door and threw my caution away. I slung the balloon desperately in their direction and was rewarded with a huge bang, and a lot of screaming.

As it turned out, my throw had been slightly to the left, and had hit the half-open car door. But it had been enough. 

As Ataraxy and I sprinted down the lane under the cover of the trees, I risked a glance behind us. The poor girl was utterly covered in foam, her dress completely ruined. Make-up ran in tears down her cheeks. And she was screaming at Jamie.

Mission accomplished. 

We ran down his street under the cover of the trees and didn't stop until we were safely under the glass roof of the bus shelter. "D-did you put the carol lyrics through?" I asked breathlessly.

Ataraxy held up a finger. Finally she panted, "yep. And I got this too." She fumbled in her pocket and held out her phone. I unlocked it and whistled. She'd taken a photo of Jamie's date. The girl was caught mid-howl, drenched in foam, with smeared make-up like some sort of grotesque puppet. 

"I'm a good photographer," Ataraxy said cheerfully, grabbing her phone back. "I'm going to send this to the insider. He's going to hack into Jamie's Facebook and post it, pretending that it really was all a prank by him."

My mouth fell open. "Remind me never to get on your bad side?"

She grinned. "Deal."

We waited in silence for a few minutes. "Can we trust your insider?" I asked eventually.

Ataraxy nodded. "Of course." She pulled off her beanie and shook out her long hair. "He's my cousin."

***

I'm flicking through the book again. Not really reading it. I haven't the stomach for that anymore. 

A news report blares from the TV and I switch it off. The noise irritates me.