Half an hour later, I had to admit that Scott had been right. I had never tasted such a good Fish and Chips in London, and as you can imagine, there are lots of those there. Oh, our favourite was very good, but this was something else altogether. The place he'd taken me to looked smaller on the outside than it did once you were inside. But the interior was modern and light, very inviting.
It was full of people mostly around our age, and Scott had told me that was because this was a regular hangout for teenagers in the village. When they didn't hurry off to the next town, of course.
And I was reminded of why I'd enjoyed Scott's company so much in the past. He was so funny that literally not a minute passed without me trying (and mostly failing) not to burst out laughing.
"Stop!" I finally gasped pleadingly. "My chest can't take any more!"
He chuckled, his green eyes glinting as he did so.
"All right, then," he conceded, settling back into his seat.
When I was sure I wasn't going to explode from laughing too much, I sat back too.
"So then, tell me," Scott said as I gulped down some water. "What kept you in London for the past three years?"
I hesitated. I didn't want him to think he was at fault.
"Well... the first year we didn't come, Dad broke his leg about a week before Christmas, so we couldn't make the trip down. And..."
He seemed to be guessing where my mind was headed because he said:
"If you were going to say it was more fun than little old Hollybridge, it's all right, you know."
I shook my head, though I wasn't sure what to argue. I couldn't say it aloud, but if I was honest, that was a part of the reason, if only a small one. London did have a lot more to offer, or so I'd thought at the time.
"It was just different," I finally replied lamely. "And in no way anything to do with you. I always had fun with you."
"What about now?"
I blinked at him, too caught off guard to hide my confusion.
"What d'you mean?"
"D'you wish you were in London or is this a suitable alternative?" he clarified with a smile.
"Oh! Well... on the way here... I wasn't that thrilled, I have to admit." I confessed. "But I'm getting used to the idea."
There was a silence. I drank some more water to have something to do while Scott bit into a chip thoughtfully. When I'd set my cup down, he gasped and said:
"Oh, please tell me you're still making up stories."
Taken aback, it took me a moment to answer.
"Uh... sorry?"
"Remember when we were kids, and you'd make up these crazy scenarios when we played? We used to spend hours as the same characters."
I did remember. It had been great fun, now that I thought about it. How many times had our parents had to wrestle us home for dinner because we were so caught up in our game?
"Well, I write a lot, if that counts," I told him.
"Good," he smiled, relaxing. "You had the craziest imagination, I'd hate to see it go to waste."
I rubbed my neck uneasily.
"... I don't deserve it, you know."
Scott frowned, perplexed.
"Don't deserve what?"
"Your kindness... your compliments... I haven't been such a good friend to you lately."
"We all make mistakes once in a while," he shrugged.
I couldn't help smiling fondly at him.
"You always were nicer than me."
"Let's say we are equally nice, but just show it differently," he amended. "After all, you were the only one to befriend a plump kid with braces and glasses."
"Oh, hey, speaking of, you're not wearing any!" I commented.
"Nope. Contacts," he replied. "I tried the glasses for a while after I lost weight, but I found they reminded me too much of what I'd once been."
I didn't know what to say to that. Unlike him, I had never had that kind of problem. I'd never claimed to be a beauty queen, but I did know I was relatively pretty, so I didn't care what people thought of what I said, did or wore. But thinking back, I came to realise that the fact I had never been overweight or worn braces had probably been part of the reason for that. And I couldn't help feeling guilty about not seeing it sooner.
"Riley, is everything okay?"
I turned my attention back to Scott who was eyeing me with concern. Whether it was for my bodily health or sanity, I wasn't sure. Possibly both.
"Yes," I said quickly, forcing a smile. "Fine. I'm just having some wake-up calls."
It was dark by the time we turned into our street a few hours later. The hustle and bustle of the afternoon had died down, and now the snowy streets were quiet. We walked towards the house, glancing at the colourful illuminations above our heads and on some of the houses. We didn't speak, but somehow, I didn't feel it was necessary. Like just being together was enough.
Eventually, we arrived outside my grandmother's house. I could just see the tree through the window. I turned to look at Scott.
"Thanks a lot for today," I said. "It was great."
"Glad you liked it," he smiled. "I had a wonderful time, too."
We smiled at each other for a moment.
"Come on, let's go get my sisters back before your brother goes crazy," he grinned.
I couldn't help agreeing. Laughing, I led the way to the door.
"Hey, we're home," I called.
But no one heard. A cacophony of shouts almost burst our eardrums.
"I told you it's mine!" Lucas was shouting.
"And I said I'm just borrowing it!" said a girl's voice.
"Well, I said you can't!"
"Children, really..." That was Mum's voice.
Dad and Grandma were probably out getting some things for Christmas, because they were nowhere to be found. The loud but understandable argument suddenly turned into an ear-splitting, unintelligible chaos. Scott didn't hesitate. He charged into the living room. I followed and found the twins and Lucas fighting, with Mum trying and failing to separate them. Scott marched towards them and pulled the screaming children apart.
"All right, that's enough!" he called sharply.
Our siblings were so surprised they stopped their squabble at once. I quickly hurried after him to pull Lucas away so he didn't try and gauge one of the girls' eyes out.
"Girls, what did we say about taking what isn't yours?" Scott asked reproachfully.
"We were just borrowing it!" One of the twins defended herself.
"But if Lucas didn't want to lend it to you, that was his right." Scott countered firmly.
He turned to Mum.
"I'm really sorry about this, Mrs Lane..."
"Oh, don't worry, dear, Lucas was far from exemplary himself, isn't that right, young man?"
"But they were taking my stuff!"
"And I already told you, Lucas, you need to learn to share," Mum replied. "Now, go to your room. I'll call you when supper's ready."
"But Mum..." Lucas complained.
"Lucas, in your room, now."
Scowling, he left the room and climbed the stairs noisily.
"You two will be heading to your rooms when we get home, too," Scott told the twins, frowning at them. "Go on, get your coats and we'll head home."
The girls hung their heads and did as they were told.
"I'm sorry, he's not usually so petty," I said, though as I spoke, I wondered how true that was.
"Oh, don't be. They're older, they should know better."
"Only by a year, though." I pointed out. "But look at you, being in charge. I have never seen you like that."
"That, Riley, is because you were the one in charge back then," he smiled as the girls came back. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, sure-" I began.
Before I could finish however, he'd leaned forwards and kissed my cheek before shepherding his sisters out the door. I stood frozen in the entrance for a few seconds. He'd never kissed me before, even as children... My face was uncomfortably hot, and my heart was banging loudly in my chest. Almost reflexively, I found myself touching my cheek, my jaw dropping slightly.
I wasn't hungry so I headed upstairs to bed. I was exhausted by the day. I'd loved every moment of it, but all that walking had wiped me out. I quickly changed and slid under the bed covers. I glanced at the book on the desk for a second, but quickly decided I was too tired to write. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I had turned my back to the window because the moon was shining into my room and I was too far gone to want to go and close the shutters. Which meant I didn't see the full moon slowly touch the leather cover of the book. One could say there was nothing abnormal about that. And for a few moments, there wasn't. But suddenly, the golden markings embossed on the cover began to glow.
It was a relatively strong glow, but the full moon was strong enough that it barely made a difference to me. What would have if I'd been awake, however, was the book slowly opening, and a hand reaching out of it.