Love Lessons (Part Twenty-Three)
Gobblers babe, lets do it rite this time, 2nite just u and me x
All Katie and Ruby could do was wait, the text had been sent from Cook’s phone, now they needed to know whether Effy would take the bait. Katie drummed her fingers nervously on Ruby’s dashboard, they’d already arrived at Gobbler’s end and Katie squirmed uncomfortably at the memories the place invoked. Ruby looked just as anxious, smoking a cigarette out the window, her eyes trained on Cook’s mobile waiting for it to vibrate in response.
When it did eventually vibrate, both girls sat looking at the phone, looking at each other, but neither was actually picking it up and opening the message. Eventually Katie moved her hand over to the phone, reading the message that sat waiting.
Cook what kind of sick game is this? Its fucked up
Katie sighed and passed the phone over to Ruby who looked at it, brow furrowed, she thought for a minute before typing out another text, pausing briefly to question Katie on some of the finer details.
“Something that Cook would call her, something endearing, a nickname or something?” Ruby asked, watching as Katie searched her mind for something, anything that Ruby could use. It was difficult, Cook and Effy were never really a couple, they weren’t the type of people for sweet endearments either.
“Peachy... He called her Peachy once.” Katie remembered, it had been after the party at Johnny White’s, when Cook had made his valiant effort to try and get a shag out of at least one of the girls.
Good memories erase bad Peachy, I wanna show you a few shrooms ain’t all bad. I’ll look after you, promise x
Ruby placed the phone down, Katie returning to her ritual finger drumming, whilst Ruby lit up another cigarette, knowing she was chaining it but not really having enough energy to care. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she first thought.
Dunno about the shrooms Cook. Maybe Gobblers could be fun though, won’t your girlfriend mind?
Ruby bit down on her lip, seething slightly even though she knew she had no right to be jealous. Clenching the phone in her hand, Katie looked at her with a raised eyebrow, sighing before snatching the phone from Ruby to write the text herself.
Only one girl for me Ef. 2nite at 8, just bring yourself, I’ll set up camp. x
The two girls sat back in their seats, both took equally deep breaths. The trap was set, revenge was in motion and neither could fight the growing sense of dread that came attached with it. As Katie’s hand flew up instinctively to trace the scar that had been formed the last time she was here in the woods, her brain tried to convince her that this was right, justified, that Effy would finally learn.
**
Jenna was completely unsure of what to say, but she had to say something, had to tell Emily that whatever was going on upstairs was completely inappropriate. It was difficult to know how to phrase such a thing, it wasn’t something she ever thought she’d have to confront. Even Katie had never done such a thing, and Jenna was more than aware that her eldest daughter wasn’t the virginal princess Rob would like to believe she was.
Sitting in the kitchen, Jenna absentmindedly gnawed at her thumbnail, ignoring the fact that she was destroying a perfectly good manicure. Jenna listened to the sound of the girls coming down the stairs, the undeniable sound of kissing before Naomi finally departed. Jenna prepared herself as she heard Emily’s soft padding footsteps approach the kitchen.
“Alright mum?” Emily asked, strolling over to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water taking a long swig before beginning to rummage through the kitchen cupboards. Sex always gave Emily an appetite, which was fine when she was at Naomi’s house because there were always snacks, but here the only thing on offer was a health bar that has the appearance of a piece of cardboard.
“Emily darling can you sit down for a moment?” Jenna murmured, barely audible, she was having to fight her growing embarrassment. She’d turned her attention from her thumbnail, to shredding the Kleeneze catalogue on the kitchen table.
“You know they come and collect those things, those people get fierce if you don’t leave them on the doorstep.” Emily pointed out, removing the shredded catalogue from her mothers hands in the vain hope of salvaging it.
“Right. Emily. Sex.” Jenna stuttered out in one flailing incoherent sentence, which wasn’t really a sentence, merely a few words fired off randomly in Emily’s direction.
“Are you okay mum? What has sex got to do with Kleeneze? Or are you confusing it with Ann Summers?” Emily asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion as she made a point of holding up a torn section that detailed some kind of potato peeler. “Now you could use that for sex but I’m thinking it would hurt.”
Jenna stared at Emily slightly speechless at her usually quiet daughters outburst. Emily blushed scarlet the second it registered with her what she’d said in front of her mother, she could almost see Jenna scanning the kitchen checking out the kitchen appliances for any potential abuse.
“Emily I heard you. Upstairs. You can’t... Not with James in the house Emily, this is a family house. I’m not discriminating, I’d say exactly the same thing to Katie.” Jenna finally forced out, causing Emily to positively glow, the brightest shade of red that Jenna had ever seen on anyones face, it surpassed even the colour of Emily’s hair.
“Shit... Mum! Stop it!” Emily cried out burying her head in her hands, unable to cope with the thought of her mum hearing things, and the added joy of her mother confronting her on such matters.
“Emily if your dad had heard then he would have gone nuts. Just don’t Emily right, not in the house darling.” Jenna tried to reason, calmly and clearly, the slightly manic ‘caring mother smile’ that Jenna shot at Emily was just to much, grabbing the bottle of water, Emily made a swift exit in the direction of her room. Jenna picked up the shredded pieces of catalogue and sighed, dropping them in the bin, alongside her infamous gay book.
**
“Effy will see right through this, Cook’s the least romantic person in the world, there’s no way he’d set all this up for her.” Katie grumbled, her foot kicking at the blanket Ruby had laid out on the ground, the starting point of a ‘treasure hunt’ that Effy would never forget.
“It’s a fucking blanket Kates, and if Cook was wanting to get laid he’d put in a bit of effort... He’d always put in the effort with Effy. He loves her.” Ruby sighed, focusing her hardest on setting things up.
“Why are you so bothered about Cook and Effy? You like Naomi, isn’t it a bit hypocritical to get annoyed with Effy?” Katie challenged, checking things over, making sure everything was suitably Cook-like, Effy couldn’t cotton on too soon.
“I thought we agreed this was about you, about making you feel better about things, about getting your power back. I’m trying to help you Katie, this has nothing to do with me.” Ruby shrugged, placing the bottle of wine on the blanket. Pausing as she got lost in thought, everything had gone so wrong since the moment she’d bumped into Naomi and met her bunch of misfit friends.
“You seem to be getting pretty personal about things.” Katie pointed out, placing a hand on Ruby’s arm, snapping her out of whatever trance she seemed to be lost in.
“People keep fucking me over, I’m angry Katie, this gives me something to do, somewhere to channel it.” Ruby admitted angrily, biting her lip she beckoned Katie to follow her, it quarter to eight already, time for them to get ready.
**
Naomi walked from Emily’s house with a smile on her face, just being with Emily could do that do her, could make her feel free, made all her problems seem weightless. Reality began to dawn on her the closer she got to her own home however, taking a deep breath she desperately willed herself to remain strong enough to support her mother, she’d done enough hiding.
Pushing the front door open, Naomi was immediately aware of the sound of crying coming from the front room. Feeling her heart tighten in her chest, Naomi rushed to the front room to see her mum in tears on the sofa.
“Mum? Mum is everything okay? You haven’t got your results have you? You said you weren’t getting them till tomorrow.” Naomi rushed, the panic in her voice obvious and she slid down in her seat next to her mother.
“No not yet darling don’t panic. I’m just being a bit silly, me and Kieran broke up.” Gina sniffled, trying to pull herself together, because really getting upset over a man was angering Gina’s feminist side.
“Broke up? Why? What the fuck mum, did you tell him what’s going on with you? How the fuck could he leave you now, what if... What if... You fucking need him mum he’s a fucking coward.” Naomi raged, she felt even more scared and alone now, she was at least hoping she’d have Kieran to help her through this.
“Don’t blame him Naomi and stop bloody swearing, it’s me alright, I split up with him. Kieran’s sister, she died of breast cancer, he had to watch her getting sicker and sicker until she died and I can’t be someone else that Kieran loves that he has to lose. It’s easier this way Naomi.” Gina calmly explained, it had been the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, pull away from the only other man besides Naomi’s father, who she’d actually loved. But Gina had convinced herself that this was the right thing.
“Easier for who? For him? Shit mum you’re going to need people, you can’t just rely on me and Emily to get you through this. Kieran would want to be there for you, I know he’s a grumpy bastard but he loves you.” Naomi insisted, getting exasperated with her mother, threading her fingers through Gina’s, the slight action taking Gina by surprise but making her smile.
“Darling we know nothing for sure yet, there might not be anything to help me through.” Gina sighed, holding on to Naomi’s hand a little tighter, stroking Naomi’s face with her other hand.
“So then you’re destroying things for no good reason.” Naomi pointed out, leaning into her mothers hand.
“I need to think about me Naomi. You and me, that’s all that matters, it’s all thats ever mattered. I know I’ve been a bit of a mess in the past, and I know I wasn’t the happiest person in the world after your dad left, and I didn’t make it easier on you by filling that gap with waifs and strays but I love you, everything I've done has been for you.” Gina insisted, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
“Mum stop apologising, I know yeah, and the randoms weren’t that bad... Well apart from that one with the B.O problem.” Naomi smiled, if anything some of the better spongers had formed some sort of family for Naomi, they were the aunties and uncles she’d never had.
“Arthur didn’t believe in antiperspirant.” Gina laughed, remembering the particular man Naomi was talking about. It hadn’t been the best time for the Campbell house, it had taken weeks after Arthur’s departure for the smell to disappear.
“He didn’t believe in soap either.” Naomi giggled, nudging her mum and pulling a disgusted face at the memory. It felt easy, laughing with her mum and sharing moments which she’d always fought so hard against.
“It hasn’t been a horrible life Nai, has it?” Gina asked quietly, her eyes looking into Naomi’s, waiting for an answer, for some kind of affirmation.
“Could have been a lot worse.” Naomi smiled, wrapping her arm around her mother, pulling her in close and placing a kiss to the side of her head.
“I’ll never understand how I ended up with a daughter quite like you, so beautiful, so smart and passionate.” Gina beamed proudly, despite the collective of tears that were making yet another attempt at escape.
“I guess I must take after my mum.” Naomi shrugged nonchalantly, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. “You want a cup of tea?”
**
Effy parked her mothers car up, shuddering slightly as she realised it was the same place she’d parked the last time she’d been here. It would be alright this time though, she promised herself, it was just her and Cook getting high and having sex and exploring the woods like a couple of kids. Nothing could go wrong, she just had to avoid rocks at all costs, she thought to herself with a wry smile.
Wandering along she noticed an arrow pointing in the direction of a picnic blanket, wandering along, Effy smiled to herself, Cook clearly had big plans for tonight. Reaching for the bottle of wine on the blanket, she swigged straight from the bottle rather than reaching for a glass.
“Cook where the fuck are you? Dickhead.” Effy smiled, reaching for her phone as she felt it vibrate in her pocket.
Cookie’s monster is a prize. U’ll have to work for it. Follow the trail to pleasureland x
“Fucking pleasureland.” Effy scoffed “more like ‘pleasure for him, I'll finish myself off later.’ Cook if you can hear me then stop being a knob!” Effy called out into the silence, sighing before wandering off in the direction of the next arrow, taking another huge swig from the wine before setting off on her adventure.
It wasn’t long before she came across the second stop, and the minute she reached it her phone buzzed again, looking around it was obvious she was being watched, but she couldn’t see who she was looking for anywhere.
Shrooms will make this adventure vivid babes. I’ve picked the best x
Sighing, Effy reached down to the bag on the floor, holding a mushroom in between her thumb and forefinger, she considered it, considered the potential of it. It was dangerous, not that she’d ever been one to shy away from drugs, but a bad experience is enough to put a person off. Bringing it to her mouth, she reasoned that with no Katie Fitch around nothing could go wrong.
Katie looked at Ruby as they watched Effy following every step. Katie couldn’t believe it when Effy caved in with the shrooms, part of her had wanted Effy to refuse, for this whole plan to be a failure. But now Katie knew it wouldn’t be long before the torment of Effy Stonem began.
**
Cook poured out the glass of mango juice, and passed it over to JJ who gulped it down almost in one. Cook always kept some mango juice handy, however much of a shit friend people thought he was, they were wrong, they didn’t really know him at all. Cook knew how to look after JJ, he always had done, he had no issue holding his sobbing friend close to his chest, stroking his hair until he finally calmed himself down.
“Jay mate you’ve got to tell me what’s wrong, tell me who’s upset you. Have you had an argument with Katie?” Cook gently asked, ready to provide romantic advice in the event of a lovers tiff, and ready to fight if some fucker had been messing with his mate.
“F...Freds... It... It was Freds.” JJ stuttered, shaking his head still in disbelief of what he was saying.
“What was Freds? Pathetic emo wanker of the year award?” Cook laughed, realising the joke had fallen flat, that whatever had happened it was serious.
“He hurt Katie. That night. It was Freddie, Cook, it was Freddie.” JJ stuttered his eyes baring into Cook’s, blue on blue it was an intense stare, JJ pleading with Cook to understand what he was saying.
“Don’t be stupid Jay, Freds wouldn’t do something like that. We’ve known him forever mate, that ain’t Freddie, it just ain’t.” Cook insisted, JJ must have got it wrong, got his wires crossed, it was what JJ did, confused things. Cook needed to sort this out, needed to fix the misunderstanding, because this just had to be a misunderstanding.
“He told me Cook, Freddie told me what he did. He showed me his bruises where you hurt him, you hurt the person that attacked Katie.” JJ explained, it wasn’t something he wanted to believe, it would be so much better if it wasn’t true but this had happened, Freddie had admitted it.
“Fuck JJ I'd have recognised it I was kicking the shit out of Freddie, we got so close to that bloke. We would have known.” Cook laughed, nudging JJ and trying to make his friend believe that it was all a mistake, but Cook couldn’t shake JJ’s chilling look, the look that told Cook that JJ wasn’t mistaken.
“He was drunk he didn’t mean to.” JJ muttered in a tiny voice, wringing his hands together and he watched Cook’s face contort with understanding and anger.
“I’ll fucking kill him.” Cook growled, feeling something inside him change, feeling the building rage inside and the need to sort this out. Cook could see Katie shaking on the floor that night, her face, how small she looked.
“Cook please don’t.” JJ begged, he wanted Cook to make things better but not like this.
“She’s your girlfriend, one of our best friends, she’s Katiekins and he would have... Shit Jay, he’s a fucking bastard and he needs to pay.” Cook insisted, snapping as he stood up, dragging JJ with him they moved out of Cook’s room, slamming the door behind them.
**
Effy was starting to feel the effects, could feel the changes in her body, in the way she was looking at the woods. They seemed so much bigger now, like the trees had grown around her and were taking over her, there was music, she could hear it so clearly it had to be coming from somewhere it couldn’t be in her head.
“Cook please come out, please, you said you’d make this a good trip.” Effy yelled out into the darkness, fear building slightly when she heard no sound of response. Swatting at her arms, she tried to calm herself as her eyes were drawn to light.
Katie stood watching, turning the volume up slightly on the boombox, it was helping to block out her own thoughts, as well as confuse the fuck out of Effy. This wasn’t as fun as she thought it would be, Effy already looked scared and Katie felt guilty rather than satiated by revenge. Turning her head, Katie noticed Ruby smile as she started to run, her feet purposely crunching across fallen leaves, running in a sort of square she drew to an immediate halt at every corner before changing direction. The sound was enough to confuse Katie, she couldn’t imagine how Effy was feeling. When Ruby returned she was panting slightly, out of breath, but smiling wickedly.
“This is fun.” Ruby laughed quietly, her eyes locking on Effy who was still completely unaware of their presence.
“Is it?” Katie asked quietly, trying to fight the desire to run over to Effy and just stop this whole thing. Effy looked so lost, so small, it didn’t feel right anymore. It didn’t seem like a fair fight.
“It’s only the beginning Katie.” Ruby grinned wickedly, linking her arm through Katie’s, they silently watched Effy start to swat imaginary bugs from her arms, hands brushing over her arms before working their way desperately through her hair.
All Katie and Ruby could do was wait, the text had been sent from Cook’s phone, now they needed to know whether Effy would take the bait. Katie drummed her fingers nervously on Ruby’s dashboard, they’d already arrived at Gobbler’s end and Katie squirmed uncomfortably at the memories the place invoked. Ruby looked just as anxious, smoking a cigarette out the window, her eyes trained on Cook’s mobile waiting for it to vibrate in response.
When it did eventually vibrate, both girls sat looking at the phone, looking at each other, but neither was actually picking it up and opening the message. Eventually Katie moved her hand over to the phone, reading the message that sat waiting.
Cook what kind of sick game is this? Its fucked up
Katie sighed and passed the phone over to Ruby who looked at it, brow furrowed, she thought for a minute before typing out another text, pausing briefly to question Katie on some of the finer details.
“Something that Cook would call her, something endearing, a nickname or something?” Ruby asked, watching as Katie searched her mind for something, anything that Ruby could use. It was difficult, Cook and Effy were never really a couple, they weren’t the type of people for sweet endearments either.
“Peachy... He called her Peachy once.” Katie remembered, it had been after the party at Johnny White’s, when Cook had made his valiant effort to try and get a shag out of at least one of the girls.
Good memories erase bad Peachy, I wanna show you a few shrooms ain’t all bad. I’ll look after you, promise x
Ruby placed the phone down, Katie returning to her ritual finger drumming, whilst Ruby lit up another cigarette, knowing she was chaining it but not really having enough energy to care. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she first thought.
Dunno about the shrooms Cook. Maybe Gobblers could be fun though, won’t your girlfriend mind?
Ruby bit down on her lip, seething slightly even though she knew she had no right to be jealous. Clenching the phone in her hand, Katie looked at her with a raised eyebrow, sighing before snatching the phone from Ruby to write the text herself.
Only one girl for me Ef. 2nite at 8, just bring yourself, I’ll set up camp. x
The two girls sat back in their seats, both took equally deep breaths. The trap was set, revenge was in motion and neither could fight the growing sense of dread that came attached with it. As Katie’s hand flew up instinctively to trace the scar that had been formed the last time she was here in the woods, her brain tried to convince her that this was right, justified, that Effy would finally learn.
**
Jenna was completely unsure of what to say, but she had to say something, had to tell Emily that whatever was going on upstairs was completely inappropriate. It was difficult to know how to phrase such a thing, it wasn’t something she ever thought she’d have to confront. Even Katie had never done such a thing, and Jenna was more than aware that her eldest daughter wasn’t the virginal princess Rob would like to believe she was.
Sitting in the kitchen, Jenna absentmindedly gnawed at her thumbnail, ignoring the fact that she was destroying a perfectly good manicure. Jenna listened to the sound of the girls coming down the stairs, the undeniable sound of kissing before Naomi finally departed. Jenna prepared herself as she heard Emily’s soft padding footsteps approach the kitchen.
“Alright mum?” Emily asked, strolling over to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water taking a long swig before beginning to rummage through the kitchen cupboards. Sex always gave Emily an appetite, which was fine when she was at Naomi’s house because there were always snacks, but here the only thing on offer was a health bar that has the appearance of a piece of cardboard.
“Emily darling can you sit down for a moment?” Jenna murmured, barely audible, she was having to fight her growing embarrassment. She’d turned her attention from her thumbnail, to shredding the Kleeneze catalogue on the kitchen table.
“You know they come and collect those things, those people get fierce if you don’t leave them on the doorstep.” Emily pointed out, removing the shredded catalogue from her mothers hands in the vain hope of salvaging it.
“Right. Emily. Sex.” Jenna stuttered out in one flailing incoherent sentence, which wasn’t really a sentence, merely a few words fired off randomly in Emily’s direction.
“Are you okay mum? What has sex got to do with Kleeneze? Or are you confusing it with Ann Summers?” Emily asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion as she made a point of holding up a torn section that detailed some kind of potato peeler. “Now you could use that for sex but I’m thinking it would hurt.”
Jenna stared at Emily slightly speechless at her usually quiet daughters outburst. Emily blushed scarlet the second it registered with her what she’d said in front of her mother, she could almost see Jenna scanning the kitchen checking out the kitchen appliances for any potential abuse.
“Emily I heard you. Upstairs. You can’t... Not with James in the house Emily, this is a family house. I’m not discriminating, I’d say exactly the same thing to Katie.” Jenna finally forced out, causing Emily to positively glow, the brightest shade of red that Jenna had ever seen on anyones face, it surpassed even the colour of Emily’s hair.
“Shit... Mum! Stop it!” Emily cried out burying her head in her hands, unable to cope with the thought of her mum hearing things, and the added joy of her mother confronting her on such matters.
“Emily if your dad had heard then he would have gone nuts. Just don’t Emily right, not in the house darling.” Jenna tried to reason, calmly and clearly, the slightly manic ‘caring mother smile’ that Jenna shot at Emily was just to much, grabbing the bottle of water, Emily made a swift exit in the direction of her room. Jenna picked up the shredded pieces of catalogue and sighed, dropping them in the bin, alongside her infamous gay book.
**
“Effy will see right through this, Cook’s the least romantic person in the world, there’s no way he’d set all this up for her.” Katie grumbled, her foot kicking at the blanket Ruby had laid out on the ground, the starting point of a ‘treasure hunt’ that Effy would never forget.
“It’s a fucking blanket Kates, and if Cook was wanting to get laid he’d put in a bit of effort... He’d always put in the effort with Effy. He loves her.” Ruby sighed, focusing her hardest on setting things up.
“Why are you so bothered about Cook and Effy? You like Naomi, isn’t it a bit hypocritical to get annoyed with Effy?” Katie challenged, checking things over, making sure everything was suitably Cook-like, Effy couldn’t cotton on too soon.
“I thought we agreed this was about you, about making you feel better about things, about getting your power back. I’m trying to help you Katie, this has nothing to do with me.” Ruby shrugged, placing the bottle of wine on the blanket. Pausing as she got lost in thought, everything had gone so wrong since the moment she’d bumped into Naomi and met her bunch of misfit friends.
“You seem to be getting pretty personal about things.” Katie pointed out, placing a hand on Ruby’s arm, snapping her out of whatever trance she seemed to be lost in.
“People keep fucking me over, I’m angry Katie, this gives me something to do, somewhere to channel it.” Ruby admitted angrily, biting her lip she beckoned Katie to follow her, it quarter to eight already, time for them to get ready.
**
Naomi walked from Emily’s house with a smile on her face, just being with Emily could do that do her, could make her feel free, made all her problems seem weightless. Reality began to dawn on her the closer she got to her own home however, taking a deep breath she desperately willed herself to remain strong enough to support her mother, she’d done enough hiding.
Pushing the front door open, Naomi was immediately aware of the sound of crying coming from the front room. Feeling her heart tighten in her chest, Naomi rushed to the front room to see her mum in tears on the sofa.
“Mum? Mum is everything okay? You haven’t got your results have you? You said you weren’t getting them till tomorrow.” Naomi rushed, the panic in her voice obvious and she slid down in her seat next to her mother.
“No not yet darling don’t panic. I’m just being a bit silly, me and Kieran broke up.” Gina sniffled, trying to pull herself together, because really getting upset over a man was angering Gina’s feminist side.
“Broke up? Why? What the fuck mum, did you tell him what’s going on with you? How the fuck could he leave you now, what if... What if... You fucking need him mum he’s a fucking coward.” Naomi raged, she felt even more scared and alone now, she was at least hoping she’d have Kieran to help her through this.
“Don’t blame him Naomi and stop bloody swearing, it’s me alright, I split up with him. Kieran’s sister, she died of breast cancer, he had to watch her getting sicker and sicker until she died and I can’t be someone else that Kieran loves that he has to lose. It’s easier this way Naomi.” Gina calmly explained, it had been the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, pull away from the only other man besides Naomi’s father, who she’d actually loved. But Gina had convinced herself that this was the right thing.
“Easier for who? For him? Shit mum you’re going to need people, you can’t just rely on me and Emily to get you through this. Kieran would want to be there for you, I know he’s a grumpy bastard but he loves you.” Naomi insisted, getting exasperated with her mother, threading her fingers through Gina’s, the slight action taking Gina by surprise but making her smile.
“Darling we know nothing for sure yet, there might not be anything to help me through.” Gina sighed, holding on to Naomi’s hand a little tighter, stroking Naomi’s face with her other hand.
“So then you’re destroying things for no good reason.” Naomi pointed out, leaning into her mothers hand.
“I need to think about me Naomi. You and me, that’s all that matters, it’s all thats ever mattered. I know I’ve been a bit of a mess in the past, and I know I wasn’t the happiest person in the world after your dad left, and I didn’t make it easier on you by filling that gap with waifs and strays but I love you, everything I've done has been for you.” Gina insisted, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
“Mum stop apologising, I know yeah, and the randoms weren’t that bad... Well apart from that one with the B.O problem.” Naomi smiled, if anything some of the better spongers had formed some sort of family for Naomi, they were the aunties and uncles she’d never had.
“Arthur didn’t believe in antiperspirant.” Gina laughed, remembering the particular man Naomi was talking about. It hadn’t been the best time for the Campbell house, it had taken weeks after Arthur’s departure for the smell to disappear.
“He didn’t believe in soap either.” Naomi giggled, nudging her mum and pulling a disgusted face at the memory. It felt easy, laughing with her mum and sharing moments which she’d always fought so hard against.
“It hasn’t been a horrible life Nai, has it?” Gina asked quietly, her eyes looking into Naomi’s, waiting for an answer, for some kind of affirmation.
“Could have been a lot worse.” Naomi smiled, wrapping her arm around her mother, pulling her in close and placing a kiss to the side of her head.
“I’ll never understand how I ended up with a daughter quite like you, so beautiful, so smart and passionate.” Gina beamed proudly, despite the collective of tears that were making yet another attempt at escape.
“I guess I must take after my mum.” Naomi shrugged nonchalantly, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. “You want a cup of tea?”
**
Effy parked her mothers car up, shuddering slightly as she realised it was the same place she’d parked the last time she’d been here. It would be alright this time though, she promised herself, it was just her and Cook getting high and having sex and exploring the woods like a couple of kids. Nothing could go wrong, she just had to avoid rocks at all costs, she thought to herself with a wry smile.
Wandering along she noticed an arrow pointing in the direction of a picnic blanket, wandering along, Effy smiled to herself, Cook clearly had big plans for tonight. Reaching for the bottle of wine on the blanket, she swigged straight from the bottle rather than reaching for a glass.
“Cook where the fuck are you? Dickhead.” Effy smiled, reaching for her phone as she felt it vibrate in her pocket.
Cookie’s monster is a prize. U’ll have to work for it. Follow the trail to pleasureland x
“Fucking pleasureland.” Effy scoffed “more like ‘pleasure for him, I'll finish myself off later.’ Cook if you can hear me then stop being a knob!” Effy called out into the silence, sighing before wandering off in the direction of the next arrow, taking another huge swig from the wine before setting off on her adventure.
It wasn’t long before she came across the second stop, and the minute she reached it her phone buzzed again, looking around it was obvious she was being watched, but she couldn’t see who she was looking for anywhere.
Shrooms will make this adventure vivid babes. I’ve picked the best x
Sighing, Effy reached down to the bag on the floor, holding a mushroom in between her thumb and forefinger, she considered it, considered the potential of it. It was dangerous, not that she’d ever been one to shy away from drugs, but a bad experience is enough to put a person off. Bringing it to her mouth, she reasoned that with no Katie Fitch around nothing could go wrong.
Katie looked at Ruby as they watched Effy following every step. Katie couldn’t believe it when Effy caved in with the shrooms, part of her had wanted Effy to refuse, for this whole plan to be a failure. But now Katie knew it wouldn’t be long before the torment of Effy Stonem began.
**
Cook poured out the glass of mango juice, and passed it over to JJ who gulped it down almost in one. Cook always kept some mango juice handy, however much of a shit friend people thought he was, they were wrong, they didn’t really know him at all. Cook knew how to look after JJ, he always had done, he had no issue holding his sobbing friend close to his chest, stroking his hair until he finally calmed himself down.
“Jay mate you’ve got to tell me what’s wrong, tell me who’s upset you. Have you had an argument with Katie?” Cook gently asked, ready to provide romantic advice in the event of a lovers tiff, and ready to fight if some fucker had been messing with his mate.
“F...Freds... It... It was Freds.” JJ stuttered, shaking his head still in disbelief of what he was saying.
“What was Freds? Pathetic emo wanker of the year award?” Cook laughed, realising the joke had fallen flat, that whatever had happened it was serious.
“He hurt Katie. That night. It was Freddie, Cook, it was Freddie.” JJ stuttered his eyes baring into Cook’s, blue on blue it was an intense stare, JJ pleading with Cook to understand what he was saying.
“Don’t be stupid Jay, Freds wouldn’t do something like that. We’ve known him forever mate, that ain’t Freddie, it just ain’t.” Cook insisted, JJ must have got it wrong, got his wires crossed, it was what JJ did, confused things. Cook needed to sort this out, needed to fix the misunderstanding, because this just had to be a misunderstanding.
“He told me Cook, Freddie told me what he did. He showed me his bruises where you hurt him, you hurt the person that attacked Katie.” JJ explained, it wasn’t something he wanted to believe, it would be so much better if it wasn’t true but this had happened, Freddie had admitted it.
“Fuck JJ I'd have recognised it I was kicking the shit out of Freddie, we got so close to that bloke. We would have known.” Cook laughed, nudging JJ and trying to make his friend believe that it was all a mistake, but Cook couldn’t shake JJ’s chilling look, the look that told Cook that JJ wasn’t mistaken.
“He was drunk he didn’t mean to.” JJ muttered in a tiny voice, wringing his hands together and he watched Cook’s face contort with understanding and anger.
“I’ll fucking kill him.” Cook growled, feeling something inside him change, feeling the building rage inside and the need to sort this out. Cook could see Katie shaking on the floor that night, her face, how small she looked.
“Cook please don’t.” JJ begged, he wanted Cook to make things better but not like this.
“She’s your girlfriend, one of our best friends, she’s Katiekins and he would have... Shit Jay, he’s a fucking bastard and he needs to pay.” Cook insisted, snapping as he stood up, dragging JJ with him they moved out of Cook’s room, slamming the door behind them.
**
Effy was starting to feel the effects, could feel the changes in her body, in the way she was looking at the woods. They seemed so much bigger now, like the trees had grown around her and were taking over her, there was music, she could hear it so clearly it had to be coming from somewhere it couldn’t be in her head.
“Cook please come out, please, you said you’d make this a good trip.” Effy yelled out into the darkness, fear building slightly when she heard no sound of response. Swatting at her arms, she tried to calm herself as her eyes were drawn to light.
Katie stood watching, turning the volume up slightly on the boombox, it was helping to block out her own thoughts, as well as confuse the fuck out of Effy. This wasn’t as fun as she thought it would be, Effy already looked scared and Katie felt guilty rather than satiated by revenge. Turning her head, Katie noticed Ruby smile as she started to run, her feet purposely crunching across fallen leaves, running in a sort of square she drew to an immediate halt at every corner before changing direction. The sound was enough to confuse Katie, she couldn’t imagine how Effy was feeling. When Ruby returned she was panting slightly, out of breath, but smiling wickedly.
“This is fun.” Ruby laughed quietly, her eyes locking on Effy who was still completely unaware of their presence.
“Is it?” Katie asked quietly, trying to fight the desire to run over to Effy and just stop this whole thing. Effy looked so lost, so small, it didn’t feel right anymore. It didn’t seem like a fair fight.
“It’s only the beginning Katie.” Ruby grinned wickedly, linking her arm through Katie’s, they silently watched Effy start to swat imaginary bugs from her arms, hands brushing over her arms before working their way desperately through her hair.