Saving Sloane Winters

Teak C. Richardson
Keywords I’m, out, the, door, to, Sloane’s

“I can’t believe this, mate!” grins Riley, and this time there’s no falter or not awkward twist of the lips—just Riley’s pearly whites and happiness all around. “And I was just about to bring you to a strip club, but now I don’t need to because you’ve already made up with Sloane!”

I raise my brows. “Strip club, Riley?”

He nods, a mop of blond locks moving along with the action. “But that shit doesn’t matter anymore, because you’re finally freaking smiling for the first time in five bloody months. Now all you have to do is maybe arrange some sort of date with the romantic shit and then she’ll tell you that—“

“She’s in love with me,” I interrupt.

Riley claps his big football holding hands (although currently there is no football). “Exactly! Oh fuck, you’re serious. Are you serious?”

Silence from me. Anticipation from Riley.

“What did you tell her, man?” asks Riley quietly, and collapses on my bean bag. Now having a football in his hand and chucking it in the air.

“Nothing.”

silence.
silence.
silence.

“You dumbshit,” groans Riley. “Now she’ll probably hate you because she fucking poured her heart out to you and you can’t even get the balls to say—“

“I love you, back?”

“Yeah.”

“She said I didn’t have to, just know that she loves me and shit.”

“Still hates you.”

Frustrated, I grab the football in midair and pummelled it into his stomach. “What do I do to make her not hate me?”

“Say it back, freak, s’not that hard,” moans Riley, clutching his stomach.

Then I’m rushing down the hallway, and Riley’s calling behind me, “Where the hell are you going? Nurse me back to health, you heartless dick!”

“I have to go,” I say, and hurry down the stairs, pass Mum and Quinn arguing over Home and Away.

“Teak, where on earth do you think you’re going at ten o’clock at night?” says Mum absentmindedly, holding the telly remote higher above her head while Quinn jumped to reach it.

“To Sloane’s,” I reply.

Then Riley’s Chesire cat smile spreads on his face, Mum smiles softly and mumbles something that sounds like a good luck, Quinn’s squealing happily as she grabs the remote off the distracted Mum, and I’m out the door.