The Summer That Changed Everything

Chapter One - Part Three

Neither of them was sure how to greet one another. If they were 5 years younger, it would be a hug, closely followed by a tackle to the ground to mess with one another’s hair. Now, it wasn’t as clear-cut. And neither of them could imagine doing that in the middle of a shopping mall. They settled for an awkward hug around the bags of shopping, a mix of necessities and impulse buys from their day out.

“Not bad,” Felicity replied to Jared’s question. “I’m just bored.”

“Tell me about it. I bet you’re going spare without Layla. But where’s James?”

Felicity cast her eyes to the floor, staring at the interesting pattern of the tiles. She fought a tinge of pink in her cheeks because she did not want to talk about that particular subject, although she guessed that question was inevitable, as they were almost a package deal. You couldn’t have one without the other.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jared said as he checked the time on his phone. “Why don’t we head to Spoons? We can grab some lunch and catch up. If you don’t have anywhere else to be, that is.”

Whether Jared was aware of the awkwardness of the situation, and whether he had changed the subject. Or he was blissfully unaware, Felicity wasn’t sure. But she was sure that the distraction was exactly what she needed, making her grateful for his presence and the respite from her thoughts.

She nodded. “I’m free all day, so that sounds good.”

Jared let out a relieved smile, as if he was worried she would reject his offer. He fell into step beside her and threw his arm out in front of him, indicating that Felicity should lead the way, and she took the cue and headed off in front of him.

It didn’t take them long to step through the wooden doors and onto the typically garish carpet of a Wetherspoons pub. Wetherspoons was a bit of a guilty pleasure for Felicity. James and her family preferred to attend fancier restaurants with much higher price tags. She grimaced in pain as the thought of James still hurt. It was still such a raw feeling.

Shaking her head, she got rid of the thoughts of James from her mind. Instead, she thought of where she currently was. She could admit to enjoying the cheap drinks and the greasy food. This was also a regular haunt of Felicity’s, Layla’s and their friendship group after the college day had ended and they had nothing else to do. Not to mention, it was the best place for pre-drinks before a night out. She enjoyed the familiarity of the place, the memories it held, and the fact that she hadn’t been there in a while.

They found an almost private table towards the back of the room and slid into the seats, placing the shopping bags at their feet. Straight away, they whipped out their phones and logged onto the app, knowing they didn’t even have to go to the bar to order. They could get their food and drinks delivered straight to their table. After a few taps on the screen, their order was placed, and they settled in to wait for their meal, enjoying the anticipation of their upcoming feast.

“Are you having an alcoholic drink?” Jared, the perpetually curious and slightly judgmental friend, asked, staring intently at his phone.

“I dunno,” Felicity replied, gauging the situation. “Are you?”

“I asked first,” He said, rolling his eyes so dramatically it was almost comical.

“Maybe I will then,” she sighed, fighting a smile, and chewed her lip. She then put on a posh accent, knowing it would elicit a reaction from Jared. “Let me peruse the gin list.”

“Gin?” Jared choked out in shock, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Since when do you drink gin?” The absurdity of the situation was not lost on him.

“Since quite recently, okay?” Felicity eyed him over the rim of her phone. She wasn’t sure why she had to explain herself to him. “To be fair, I only like flavoured gins and only with lemonade.”

“Blasphemous,” he laughed. “But otherwise, fair enough.”

“Why, what are you having?” Felicity turned the line of questioning back to him.

“A pitcher, of course,” he winked. “Long Island Iced Tea.”

Felicity’s eyes bugged out of her head as she thought about the amount of alcohol in that particular cocktail. “A pitcher?”

“Oh, come on,” Jared laughed and leaned forward, placing his forearms on the wooden table. “They water down the alcohol with ice, and for the price you spend on two gins, you could have a full cocktail pitcher.”

He’d clearly done this before.

Because of his confident tone, she took only a little convincing. She shrugged and put her nose back to her phone, glad she didn’t bring her car. “Purple Rain pitcher it is.”

Jared’s triumphant laugh rang across the table. A wave of nostalgia flew over her after she heard that laugh. It had been so long since they joked around, and the peeling sound hadn’t changed one bit.

There wasn’t much debate with food, so that was a quick press of a button. And thanks to the fast service, it arrived quickly, and they spent a good half hour tucking into the grub. The comfort of the familiar food and the joy of their shared meal filled the air.

“So, is there any reason you were alone today?” Jared asked, wiping his fingers with a serviette to remove the remnants of grease from his burger. He scrunched the paper into a ball and placed it on his empty plate. He wiped his plump lips and fluffed his dark hair. “We are both aware that Layla’s away, but where’s James? Usually, you two are attached at the hip.”

A blush flew across Felicity’s cheeks as she looked at the empty plate before her once more. But at that moment, Felicity decided she couldn’t keep a secret any longer, and Jared was the lucky one she had to tell… apparently.

“Erm, James and I are…” She didn’t know how to word it. “No longer together.”

The punters throughout the pub could hear Jared’s startled screech. He sat forward in his seat, and his jaw dropped so low it almost hit the table.