09 | knight in neverland-2

"You might want to recruit as many friends as you can for the round seven." My interest was immediately piqued, and I set the towel down. "What's happening in round seven?" "That's for me to know, and for you to find out." Rolling my eyes at his vague answer, I returned to folding the towels and stacking them on the shelf. Of course he wasn't going to tell me. The boys in the frat were usually terribly secretive about these sorts of things. "But, for simplicity's sake," Liam continued, after a moment's pause. "Let's just call it Seven Minutes in Hell." ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ The seventh round arrived in the blink of an eye. And, with Miles having almost failed the sixth round, I wasn't taking any more chances. With much begging and pleading on my part, I'd gotten as many people as I could get down to the beach that Saturday. "You owe me a hell lot," were Greg's first words when he sauntered up to the shack that morning. My jaw fell open in surprise when I saw the number of people he had behind him. Clearly, the four boys were far more influential than I had imagined them to be. Apart from the usual bunch - Keith, Vince and Callum, all of whom I had to beg to help Miles - there were about fifteen others, presumably their friends from Denver High. While some were complete strangers to me, there were others whom I actually recognised, since they had come over to patronise Wavelength before. My eyes glossed quickly through the crowd, pausing when I noticed something that made me curious. Callum was standing next to a brown-haired girl who looked my age. Her lips were upturned in a pleasant smile as she talked to some other people, but what was surprising was that for all the years I'd known Callum, I'd never seen him with a girl before. He looked at her like she hung the moon or something. Pushing that thought aside for the time being, I smiled brightly at Greg who had pushed his way through and was now leaning against the counter. I met him halfway and planted a big smacking kiss on his cheek. "I'll save you a portion of my Dad's ravioli every time he makes it, I promise." "All that effort just for a portion of ravioli?" "Take it or leave it, hot shot." "He'll take it," this came from Callum, who had weaved his way through the crowd and was now nudging Greg aside so he too could lean against the counter. "Throw in a free Dr Pepper every time I drop by the shack and we're good to go." My mother, who was serving the line beside me, overheard our conversation and laughed. I liked her laugh. It was light and hearty, and when I was a kid it seemed like music to my ears. "Sweetheart, we're going to go bust at this rate." But her tone was teasing and there was a twinkle in her eye. At that moment, I knew she was more than grateful for the business Greg had indirectly brought to the shack. Even though these kids were there for Miles's pledging, some of them were already joining the queue. In this hot weather, getting a slushee or an iced coffee was just about the best thing. "Oops, sorry, Mom," I apologised half-heartedly, before turning back to Callum, lifting a hand for him to shake. "For a week. Deal?" "Deal." We shook, and I had to smile. Even though Callum seemed like lots of trouble to begin with, he was hardly unmanageable once you found his weakness. And speaking of weaknesses - "Hey, Callum, who's that girl you had with you earlier?" Greg's lips immediately curled up in a knowing smirk, but Callum's face was expressionless. "What girl?" "The pretty brunette. There," I added, pointing to the girl in the distance. She now stood a little way off, looking rather lost without Callum. "That's Scout." "Cute name. Did her parents name her that because of the book?" Greg and Callum stared at me blankly, their expressions confused, and I hastened to explain, "You know, To Kill a Mockingbird." After Miles had mentioned that book the other day, I'd taken it upon myself to Wikipedia it. Not read the whole book, of course, I couldn't sit down long enough for that, but it did have an interesting plot, and its protagonist was a girl called Scout. "Oh, that," Callum shrugged. "I don't know, I've never asked." "Well, can I?" I began, but was quickly cut off when Callum shot back with a sharp, monosyllabic answer. "No." "Why not? After I ask her that, I'm going to ask her what she even sees in you," I added, teasingly, but instead of laughing like I expected him too, Callum simply rolled his eyes and walked off. Greg chuckled. "Lay off him. He really likes her." "See, here's the problem. I don't understand why you guys can keep teasing me about Miles when I can't tease you guys about your love interests. That's not fair." "Life isn't fair." Greg replied with a smirk, and sauntered off.