Always Remember

I don’t want the constant doubt over whether or not the vindictive bitch actually means what she says.
    “I just want Bing. Me and him, no fuss, no drama. Just crazy nights out, crazy nights in, and crazy days to fill it all in. Because that ’s us – we’re both crazy, and that’s why it works.” I look down at the table, heaviness settling in my stomach at the thought of it not working. For the last year and a half, he’s wormed his way into my life and my heart. He hasn’t taken Carl’s place – he’s taken the whole damn lot of me. “I don’t want there to be any drama unless we make it ourselves. I just want us.”
    Lexy is quiet as she mulls over my words. She knew it already – of course she did. She knows me better than Daniel Radcliffe knows the character of Harry Potter. She knows all my fears, all my hopes and dreams, but my feelings about her brother aren ’t something I’ve ever fully opened up about. Sure, I’ve dropped hints, I’ve been obvious, and we’ve had small conversations about it, but this is different.
    This is me admitting I want the kind of love she has with Alec. This is me admitting I could have found it. With Bing.
    “I think you have to stop worrying about what other people say. Face it, Jen,” she says quietly, looking at me. “People are always gonna try and put you down. No matter how good or bad you do in life, there will always be someone there to pull you down. If you let them, then they’ve won. Don’t let her pull you down. As gross as it is, I like you and Bing together. You make each other happy in a crazy kinda way I’ll never understand – but you’re happy, and that’s all that matters to me. Don’t let her jealousy and rumours stand in the way of what you have, or even what you could have.”
    I nod slowly, closing my eyes.
    “You aren’t her, Jen,” she continues. “I’m damned if I can work out what has my brother so enthralled-” I open my eyes and glare at her. “-But something has. When we were in Devon, Mum said to me that everyone has a bada bing person. I was Alec’s – I was the one person to change his life and make him re-evaluate everything he thought he knew.” She smiles softly and it’s full of love. It’s the kind of smile you see on your grandparent’s faces. It’s the kind of smile that shows a timeless love.
    “You are that person. You know that.” I flick some rice her way.
    She swats it away. “I do know that.” Her brown eyes meet mine. “But do you know that you’re my brother’s bada bing person?”
    “How do you know that I am?” I narrow my eyes.
    Lexy smiles at me, a cheeky, playful smile, and shrugs a shoulder. “Basically, I know it because I’m the shit.”
    My pursed lips transform into a smile, and I let out a giggle. Trust her to the only person to take me from angry, to sad, to happy, all in the space of twenty minutes.
    She exaggerates a wink to me across the table, snapping a bite of prawn cracker off.
    Some things in life are priceless – and true friendship is one of them.

Chapter Eleven

JEN

    “Okay, did you use my hairspray?” I yell, looking around the bathroom.
    “Why would I use your hairspray?”
    “For your sexy just-got-out-of-bed look.”
    “So you agree I have sexy hair?”
    “I ’m not sure hair is something I could describe as “sexy,”” I reply dryly. “Perhaps soft, or messy, or even silky. Sexy, not so much.”
    Bing leans against the doorframe, that sexy smile on his face. Yes, the sexy smile that matches his not-sexy hair. “Why? You agree the rest of me is sexy.”
    “I don’t remember ever saying that. Aha!” I extract the hairspray from a cluster of cans behind my pot plant. “How did that get there?”
    “Because you ’re scatty?”
    “I ’m not scatty, Samuel. I’m just always in a rush, so forget where I put things.” I shake the can and begin spraying it on my hair. “And that was a rhetorical question. That means you weren’t supposed to answer it.” I put the spray on the sink.
    Bing coughs, waving his hand in front of his face. “I know what a rhetorical question is, Jennifer. I went to school, you know.”
    I turn to him, mischief in my grin. “I don’t think sex school counts.”
    He saunters into the bathroom, stopping in front of me. He looks down at me, his brown eyes burning into mine, and his hot breath flutters across my cheeks. I feel my body heat up, my blood pumping around my body quicker as my heart pounds a