Big Bones by Laura Dockrill

Author:Laura Dockrill
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471406935
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2018-02-09T10:50:32.283000+00:00

MARS BAR

‘Don’t burn it!’ I yell, smacking Dove’s hand out of the way.

‘Sor-ry! Calm down.’

‘It’s only meant to be thirty seconds.’

‘It’s not my fault the stupid thing only sets in minutes.’

‘Take it out.’

‘Stop bossing me about.’

‘If you did it right I wouldn’t have to.’

‘OH! YEAH BOY! IT LOOKS AMAZING!’

‘Let’s see then, share the wealth.’

A warm bowl of melted Mars Bar. Hot caramel, chocolate and nougat. Sticky, fudgy, warm.

‘Ice cream?’

‘Here.’

‘Swirl it in, B.’

‘Yum!’

‘More!’

I stir in the vanilla ice cream and it begins to melt straight away, bleeding into the caramel, softening and collapsing. A whirlpool of edible paint.

‘Want to stay in tonight and watch a film?’ Dove asks, slinging me a spoon. We both stay silent for a moment, mouthing the ice cream into little quenelles with our tongues, eyes fixed on each other in perfect contented smiles.

‘You never want to stay in with me.’

‘Well, I’m asking you now …’

‘I can’t.’

‘Oh. Why?’

‘I’ve got a date!’

‘A date! What the hell, with who?’

‘This alien from Planet Coffee,’ I say. Dove snorts. ‘What’s so funny?’

‘I love it that you’re eating a melted Mars Bar and ice cream the day you are going on a first date.’

‘Why, what’s wrong with that?’

‘Ha! Nothing’s wrong, it’s just not what other girls would do.’

‘Why, what would other girls do?’

‘Probably starve themselves. All the girls in my year are just selfie-obsessed, none of them eat. Tania Gray chews paper.’

‘Weird.’ I lick the back of my spoon, the balance of hot and cold dissolving on my tongue. ‘It’s so sad. We’re all so vain.’

‘I wouldn’t say you were.’

‘Dove, all I bang on about is how much I love myself.’

‘That’s not vain, that’s just healthy, isn’t it? That’s what you always say. And I think it’s true.’

Our silver spoons battle like tusks as we scramble for the last milky dribble of dessert.

‘So what film are you gonna watch tonight then?’

‘Maybe Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’

‘Really? Why that?’

‘Just felt like watching it.’ Cute.

‘If you had seven dwarfs to your personality what would they be?’ I ask her.

‘Errrrmmm … Playful. Sarcastic. SO COOL …’

‘So cool? it can’t be two names.’

‘So-Cool. It’s double-barrelled.’

‘Fine.’

‘Playful, Sarcastic, So-Cool …’ she relists. ‘How many more?’

‘Four.’

‘OK.’ She smiles. ‘Cheeky.’

‘Annoying.’

‘You’re annoying!’

‘Maybe we both have that personality trait.’

‘Hungry.’

‘Ha! We share that one too.’

‘And outdoorsy!’

‘OK, now do me.’

‘OK.’ She bites her lip nervously, as if she’s an apprentice that’s finally being trusted for the first time. ‘But don’t shout at me if I get them wrong.’

She looks me up and down …

‘Annoying.’

‘Yes.’

‘Hungry.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Confident.

‘Bossy.’

‘Bossy?!’

‘You said you wouldn’t shout.’

‘Fine. Carry on …’

‘How many more do I have?’

‘Three …’

‘A liar.’

‘A LIAR!’

‘You told Mum you’d start going to the gym as part of your deal and you still haven’t gone yet.’

‘That doesn’t make it one of my dwarfs, Dove. That’s like a phase one of my dwarfs was going through; it’s like a choice one of my dwarfs had to make when it was … I dunno … out of choices. It wasn’t a lie because I’m not actually ever going to be going to the gym … so …’

‘You lied again then.

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