Holden Peters expects nothing exciting to happen during the summer before his final year of high school. But in a spontaneous act of bravery, he saves his pretty next door neighbour from drowning and is deemed as a local hero.
Thanks to his newfound...
I grinned. "Don't sweat about it. We all learn things at different ages. I wasn't properly toilet trained until I started Kindergarten. I remember turning up wearing glow-in-the-dark pull ups on my first day, getting pantsed and spending the rest of the day throwing tantrums and demanding my teacher to call home."
A grin crept its way across Flo's face, an expression so utterly powerful that it made me smile wider. She nervously looked down at her bare feet and when she tilted her gaze back up she said, "Hey, do you want hang out?"
I answered without hesitation. "Sure."
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"I've only been here for just over a week, but I've been exploring," Flo explained as we walked on the footpath she had discovered behind her house. "And I found this place."
As we continued to walk, she pointed towards a little clearing off to the side. At first, all I saw were trees and shrubs clustered around the area, but as we neared, I noticed a shed camouflaged within the green. My first thought was she-brought-me-here-to-this-quiet-shady-place-to-make-out, then followed by I-should-have-gurgled-double-the-Listerine. But as she pushed back a branch and circled the shed, we reached a window and out of bloody nowhere, this dude with a mass of curly hair popped up. He seemed pretty young too; nineteen at the very least.
All thoughts of making out completely disappeared.
"Hey, Joe," she greeted, leaning against the window of the shed.
As I peered through the large cut out window in the metal, I noticed a variety of packeted foods like chips and lollies, a few magazines and some home-made creations like dream catchers and colourful bags. It was a little canteen in the middle of nowhere.
"Flo," Joe said, grinning. "How've you been, girl?"
"Good," she answered. "Hey, I want you to meet someone. This is Holden."
"Holden," he welcomed, acknowledging me by grabbing my hand and pulling me in for a slap on the back. I tried extremely hard not to cough as his palm smacked the air out of my chest but I managed to keep it to a grunt and return the friendly gesture.
Joe didn't look like the kind of bloke who could slap the hell out of you with oblivious awareness. I mean, he wasn't a complete buff whose arms couldn't touch his sides because he was that bulky. Instead, he seemed pretty average, if not a little taller than a normal guy.
"How's business?" Flo asked, causing Joe to redirect his attention to her.
"Kind of slow," he admitted. "It's really hard to attract customers here. Usually it's the odd exercise-addicted person, or someone walking their dog, but whenever I try to advertise, they think I'm some kind of drug dealer. So judgemental, man."
"Mhm," Flo mumbled in agreement, nodding her head for emphasis. "Despicable."
"That's what I said!" Joe said, lighting up like a freaking firefly at the discovery of sharing a similar philosophy. "Damn, girl. You and I are like two peanuts in a shell."
