It took 2 weeks for them to finish the book. Fourteen days of meeting at the same time, at the same place to have Freya sit and read chapters to Theo. It was a strange combination of people, yet the two got on well. There's was a strong friendship blossoming at the reservoir.
THEO
Being around Freya made me feel normal, even if it was just for an hour, and I enjoyed it. I was distracted from the chaos around me. In all honesty, the book I had give Freya was boring, but I knew she enjoyed it, and I enjoyed listening to her voice. I hadn't told anyone about her, although, my mum suspected something was up.
I was sat outside on a wall staring at...nothing when I felt a presence next to me.
"Hi Mum." I said, acknowledging her.
I saw her smile from beside me.
"I never asked, did your friend like the book?" She quizzed.
"Uh, yeah they did." My words came out stumbling.
"Good." Her voice was gentle, like it usually was. "You know you can tell me anything Theo."
Her words shocked me a bit, I mean I knew I could tell her anything but she had never straight up told me.
"I know." I wasn't sure what to say.
She didn't speak for a moment.
"Like why you're so keen to walk the dog every night." She smirked, I had never seen her smirk before.
"Just like the fresh air." I glanced over to her.
"I won't be mad you know."
"Mad at what?" I asked, having a vague idea of the answer.
"If you'd made a friend on your...walk."
I didn't say anything, partly because I was shocked she'd got it spot on. My silence gave it away to her.
"See, mums know everything." She pinched my cheek. I pushed her hand off chuckling.
"So" She spoke, urging me to speak.
"So what?"
"So, what are they like."
"She's nice, a good liste-" I began to speak but got cut off.
"She?" She dragged out her word.
"Yeah."
"Is she pretty?" She was pushing with the questions.
"Uh, yeah I guess." This was an awkward question. Of course Freya was pretty, but saying it out loud sounded weird because she was just my friend.
"You guess?" My mum raised an eyebrow.
"She's just my friend." I knew where my mum would take this, so I shut the idea down straight away.
"What's her name?"
"Freya."
"Lovely name." My mum grabbed my hand and looked at me. "Just make sure she not...using you."
I was about to raise my voice when she spoke again.
"I know, I know, that came out wrong. But you know what I mean." I did.
From a young age I'd been told to be careful who I was friends with, and to be honest, most of my friends now were only in it for the royalty. But something felt different it's Freya, she never spoke about my status with me, she'd talk about random stuff like what she thought dogs dream about. Often she'd spoken about school, as if I understood what her school life was like.
"She's not like that." I shook my head.
My mum tapped my hands, pulling hers away from mine.
"She sounds lovely Theo." She sent a kind smile my way. "This can be our secret." And she got up and began to walk about. For a second she stopped and turned around.
"I think the dog needs walking."
-
I followed the same route as usual, taking me to the water. When I reached the grassy land, I noticed she wasn't at the tree. I let my eyes scan the area until they landed on a person stood near a bush nearby. That person being Freya. Making my way over, I wondered what she was doing.
"What are you doing?"
My voice must've scared her as she jumped a little as I spoke. She spun around with a hand on her chest.
"You scared me." She giggled.
"Sorry." I laughed a little with her.
"So" I pointed at the bush. "What you doing?"
"Oh, picking blackberries." She held out her other hand which was cupped and filled with blackberries.
"Why?" I laughed, my eyes drifting from her hand to her face.
She shrugged. "I dunno."
We stood in silence, before I chose to spoke.
"Right." I joined her at the bush.
"What are you doing?" She asked with a puzzled face.
"Helping you pick blackberries?"
-
We'd picked the fruit for 10 minutes before we took them over to the tree. Freya sat down and dropped them onto her lap, them making her skirt sink. I took mine and drop them on her lap too, the dip growing. She just sat smiling at them. Anything made this girl happy. She picked one up and dropped it in her mouth. I watched her do this, and she noticed. She picked another and pushed it against my lips.
"Eat it, it won't kill you." She laughed, holding the berry against my lips.
I gently grabbed her wrist as I opened my mouth to let her give me the fruit.
"See, it wasn't that bad was it." I smiled rolling my eyes.
"Alright then." I went and grabbed one of my own and put it against her mouth before squashing it on her lips.
"You're an idiot." She gasped before grabbing a handful of berries and rubbed them against my cheek.
"Now that's not fair." I took some of it off my cheek and onto my hand. She knew what was coming, and before I could put it on her she got up, the remainder of blackberries falling onto the floor. She ran behind the tree as I got up to get her. Running round it, I stopped and went the opposite, Freya running straight into me. Before she could run back off, I wrapped my arms around her waist so her back was pressed up against my chest.
"Come on, play fair." I said through laughs. She covered her face with her hands and she let out these playful squeals. At the right moment, I managed to rub them on one of her cheeks, much to her disappointment. She quickly began to laugh, and so did I.
"Okay, okay fine, enough." She wipes the fruit off her face and wiped it on the tree. I just used my jumper.
"Stop, you'll ruin your jumper." She pulled my arm away from my face. "Stay still." On the tip of her toes, she took her hand and wiped away what was left on the side of my face. "There."
"I'm glad we're friends Freya."
"Me too." She smiled, and I smiled back.