AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Placing the box she was currently stuffing full of dog toys, Lydia joined Halle on the floor in the walk-in. “What photos?” Lydia didn’t recall having an album or anything. Halle had a green shoe box on her lap. Lydia’s eyes went wide. Oh crap, that was Lydia’s memento box. It was pretty much a shrine to Halle. Wow, it’d been a few years since she’d seen the thing, but Lydia remembered it clearly.
At the tender age of 12, Lydia started to notice girls. One girl in particular, but, as stated previously, Halle was way off limits. Obviously, Lydia had dealt with her unrequited longing by collecting tokens that reminded her of the older girl. Ticket stubs. Polaroid pictures of days out. Christ, she even had a sweet wrapper, Halle discarded. How fucking creepy was that?
Looking at the memory box now, it was clear as day, Lydia was infatuated with her sister’s best friend. Would Halle come to the same conclusion? “Sheesh, look at my hair in this one,” Halle laughed. Lydia peered over and smiled.
“I liked it like that!”
“No way.”
“Yes way. You were alternative.”
“If you say so,” Halle chuckled. “Is that the ticket to the carnival we went to?”
“Yup.” Did Lydia sound calm and breezy? Hopefully. “It was a great night. I had my first kiss there.” Lie! Lydia didn’t have her first kiss until a year later. The carnival ticket reminded her of Halle winning her a stuffed elephant that she still had, FYI.
“Wow, these are great memories. We obviously spent more time together than I realised.”
“Fe was there,” Lydia commented. Fe was always bloody there.
“True, but if I remember correctly, Fe buggered off to chase some boy at the carnival. It was me and you that spent the evening riding all the attractions. I got you that elephant. Do you remember?” Lydia nodded. “And here,” Halle pointed to a picture of them at the beach. “Fe didn’t want to get her feet wet, so me and you went looking for shells. We found that jellyfish and you screamed like a bloody banshee.”
Lydia cracked up. “I’m such a wuss.”
“No, the thing was sodding huge, Lyds. Like a proper sea monster.”
“A sea monster?”
“We were kids. Of course, it looked like a sea monster!”
They spent the next half an hour sifting through the box. Lydia did her best to remain chill, even when it looked as if Halle had cottoned on to the fact the box was dedicated to her.
It took several trips to and from Lydia’s apartment, but eventually they were on the last load of boxes. Monty yipped excitedly when they returned. Halle’s mum stepped out of Halle’s apartment, smiling just as brightly as her daughter. “Hey, you two. How was the jump?”
“Holy cow, Mum, it was outstanding. You’d love it!”
“I might give it a whirl one of these days. What about you, Lyds? Same as Halle?”
“Yes! A million times yes, it rocked. Thank you for watching Monty for me.”
“Oh sweetie, that little one is a charmer. You’re lucky I didn’t have my big purse on me, otherwise he’d be coming home with me.”
Lydia laughed, scooping up Monty, who bathed her in soggy kisses. “He has that effect.”
Together, they hauled Lydia’s boxes into Halle’s living room. Lydia grimaced, noticing just how much room she was taking up with her belongings.
“Relax,” Halle whispered in her ear. A shiver ran down Lydia’s neck. When did Halle get so close? “I can see you worrying. You get the keys in a week and then we’ll get you moved into the house. We can cope with the boxes for a few days.”
Halle’s doorbell stopped Lydia from doing something stupid, such as turning around and shoving her tongue down the aforementioned woman’s throat. “I’ll get it,” Halle’s mum called already on her way. There were several shrieks of excitement, and a scurry of little people. Lydia laughed the moment the triplets fell through the living room door. They squealed louder when they noticed their aunt standing by the sofa.
“Aunty Lydia, you’re here!” Jenny screamed, loud enough for Monty to whine.
“Yes, I’m here,” Lydia chuckled. Seconds later, Fe walked through the door. The look of surprise was clear on her face as she took in the scene.
“Do you live here now?” Jack asked, throwing himself on the sofa.
“No, silly. I have my own house now, remember? I just can’t take all my things there until next weekend.”
“What happened to your flat?” Fe asked.
