“Yeah, it’s my favourite!” she beams.
I point to Teddy, “He’s never heard of it before.”
“Noah—” Teddy starts.
“Teddy, you’re joking. Really?”
“No, I’m not joking! What is it!?” He shouts. We all start laughing.
“Sorry, dude, we can’t be friends anymore,” Elijah pipes in.
Teddy hands me my ice cream while holding his in the other hand. We walk away from the stall, and I see Kai bought one of those Twister ice lollies. It was always his go-to when we were kids.
“Are you having a good time so far?” I ask him before licking my ice cream.
“Yeah, it’s been good, everyone’s really nice actually,” he says, smiling. He looks over at Elijah, who is talking to the girls.
We walk over to the group, and Teddy flashes me a smile.
“Hey, you like your ice-cream?” I ask, pointing to it.
“Yeah, it’s nice, I’ve already eaten the flake,” He laughs, before we begin to walk behind the group. “I’ve seen people have them before, I’ve just never had one myself.” He takes a massive bite of the ice cream, and I instantly recoil.
“What?” He says, his mouth full.
“You bite your ice cream?”
“Yeah, don’t you?”
“No!”
Yup, he’s definitely an idiot.
“You’re gonna have to learn to put up with all of his little… quirks,” Elijah tells me, and a laugh erupts amongst us.
“I don’t have any quirks,” he retorts. I put an arm around him.
“I don’t mind, just means you have to put up with mine,” I tell him, before he puts ice cream on my nose.
“Hey!”
“That’s for making fun of me!” Teddy laughs.
“Well, I think you secretly love it.” Teddy mumbles something I can’t hear. “What was that?” I ask.
“I… I do kinda love it,” Teddy mumbles. He looks a little flustered, and I can’t help but feel proud.
“Yeah, you do,” I say, putting my arm back around his hip.
I’m smiling wider than I ever have in my life. Have I finally gotten past everything? This moment, where things are finally getting better, is a feeling I’ll forever hold close to my heart.
But it never lasts, does it?
I see a familiar figure standing in the distance. I take a glance at its face, and all I see is that familiar white mask with red lines going through the eyes. The same mask from the day my mum…
My phone begins to ring.
Unknown number.
