Aether

Chapter Three

"My car got trashed," I reply, holding out a picture on my phone.

"You'll need to fill out this form," he tells me, handing over a sheet of paper, and I sigh.

"Thanks," I say, a little half-heartedly.

My car got destroyed and I have to fill out a form? I'm the victim, but I'm being punished with paperwork. What kind of system is this?

"This is dumb," Gemma says, glaring at the form as I fill it out.

"It's just so they have something to file away in case it gets brought up or questioned," Stacey explains, and with a start I remember that her dad is a cop.

"It's a dumb system," I reply, "but the officers are just doing their jobs."

Stacey flashes me a grateful smile.

"That one's hot," Gemma adds with a giggle, glancing back at the desk.

"He's okay," I admit, "but he's got nothing on Jo-" I stop. "You know what, fuck Joseph. He's an ugly prick. That cop is way more attractive than him."

Stacey claps me on the back and Gemma nods approvingly.

"Good on you, girl," Gemma tells me. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to flirt while you fill out that form." She leaves Stacey and I sitting on the hard plastic grey chairs filling out the form on a clipboard, and she sashays over to the desk, fluttering her eyelashes. When she starts up a conversation, Stacey rolls her eyes.

"That girl is going to give some poor guy a heart attack."

I nod in agreement. "How long should I wait before interrupting them? I've already filled out the form."

Stacey looks over at them. "Wait until she gets his number."

After about thirty more seconds, Gemma gives us a small thumbs up and I bring the form to the desk. The officer is flushing bright red, and I can see a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Here you go," I say, handing over the clipboard and pen.

"Right, I'll file this for you, and then I'll get one of my superiors to talk with you. Please sit down." Stacey and I follow his advice, but Gemma keeps flirting while he puts the form away.

"I'm sure he wouldn't still be filing right now if she wasn't there," I observe. "We'll be here until midnight at this rate."

"I'm going to text Naomi and tell her to order some pizza," Stacey says. "At least then we can eat as soon as we get to mine."

Naomi is known as the party-starter. She's the girl that everyone gives a spare house key to so she can set up and get a party going if they're running late. To this day, she has never let anyone down.

"Naomi is a lifesaver," I sigh, leaning my elbow on my knee and dropping my head into my palm.

"She's a beautiful human being," Stacey agrees. At that moment, Gemma returns to us, and then another officer enters the reception.

"Girls!" he exclaims, and Stacey looks up with a grin.

"Daddy!" she cries, running into his arms. Stacey's dad is the best father anyone could ask for. He's super chill, but also really kind to her and her mum. I wish I had a dad, simply because of how awesome he is.

"What's this I hear about a car being damaged?" he asks, looking around at the three of us.

"It was mine," I assure him, knowing that he was worried it might be Stacey's. "We found it after the football game, and we know who did it."