Storms - 9. Julie

‘So!’ Deacon turned to me, rubbing his hands together. ‘What would you like to see? We have all the glory of uncensored Netflix spread out before us!’

I laughed. ‘I don’t know . . . I don’t even know what’s there.’

‘Orange Is the New Black?’ Amy suggested, and the others all laughed.

‘Let’s not traumatise the poor girl,’ said Deacon.

‘You were talking about Jessica Jones, weren’t you?’ said Michael. He looked a bit tired, stretched out on one of the sofas, but neither he nor any of the others seemed especially hungover, though I had gathered that Trev’s party had been quite the affair.

‘I’m always up for some JJ,’ said Deacon.

‘I’m always up for some Luke Cage,’ said Amy. ‘Yum!’

‘Well, I don’t know what any of that means, but it sounds like fun,’ I said, smiling.

‘You’ll like it,’ said Siobhan. ‘David Tennant is in it. You know him, right?’

I scoffed. ‘My mum may be overprotective, but I don’t live under a rock, you know.’

‘Excellent!’ said Deacon. ‘Jessica Jones it is, then!’

My mum had spoken to Deacon’s sister, posing as their mother, for a good while the day before. I was to be home by nine, as it was a school night, but we had all been at Deacon’s place by one o’clock, so we had plenty of time to watch as much Netflix as we liked before then. Plans had been made for pizza as well. It was a dreary, rainy day, making it more or less perfect for a day in watching telly. I was glad it was a day in I got to spend with friends, for once in my life.

Amy threw herself down in the sofa next to me, causing the cushions to bounce, and laying bare feet with blue-painted toenails up on the table. She stretched her arms above her head with a groan, before letting them fall across the back of the sofa.

‘I love your top,’ she said to me, grinning. ‘I had one just like it, but then my tits got too big for it.’

I looked down at my white blouse with pink butterflies embroidered into it, and found it hard to believe that Amy, who was all kinds of trendy and fashionable, had ever owned anything like it.

She was wearing a blue spaghetti strap tank top that amply showed off her not inconsiderably sized breasts, and black skinny jeans clung to her rounded hips. The black cardigan she had worn when she arrived hung across the back of a chair in the kitchen. Her tight afro curls were pulled into a ponytail, and she wore earrings with sparkly blue stones. Pink lipgloss adorned her full mouth. Amy was the antithesis of myself. She was stylish and beautiful, while I dressed conservatively, and next to her I felt positively mousy and plain.

‘Thanks. It’s one of my favourites,’ I said.

‘It suits you really well,’ she replied. She plucked at a strand of my blonde hair. ‘God, I’d kill for hair like yours. So silky and straight! I bet you don’t have to do a thing with it.’

I shook my head. ‘It actually tangles really easily. It’s so fine, the hairs are so thin. I get the worst bedhead, honestly.’

She scoffed. ‘Can’t be worse than mine. Just getting it into a ponytail is a struggle.’

‘I love your hair,’ I said. ‘I’m glad you don’t straighten it all the time. I think it’s gorgeous.’

She looked surprised, like she was taken aback by my sincerity, but soon recovered. ‘You’re so sweet! Be careful, though. These guys will tell you I’m totally confident enough as I am.’ She winked.

‘It’s my experience,’ said Siobhan, ‘that people tend to want the exact opposite of what they have. People with straight hair want curls, people with curls want straight hair . . .’ She tugged at a strand of her own wavy, red hair and sighed. ‘Personally, I’d love to have either perfectly straight or properly curly hair, instead of this in between shit I’ve been saddled with.’

Michael chuckled, shaking his head. ‘Got to say, I’m perfectly happy with my hair. This must be a girl thing or something.’

‘How dare you!’ said Amy, but she was grinning. ‘That’s proper sexist, that is. I’ve a mind to tell that Sophia in year ten about this. It’ll be all over Tumblr by tomorrow.’

Michael laughed in earnest at that. ‘Well, then allow me to be yet more sexist by telling you that you all three have beautiful hair, and are well fit to boot.’

‘Stop flirting with my girlfriend,’ said Deacon. ‘I’m a jealous man.’ While we had talked, he had been hooking up the Chromecast to the TV and starting up Netflix on his phone.

‘Right!’ he said, turning to me again with a grin that was more than a little bit mad. ‘You’re in for one hell of a ride.’

* * *

There was no question that this series was more violent than pretty much anything I had seen on screen before. We took a break when pizza arrived, and Deacon showed me his vintage Luke Cage Hero for Hire and Power-Man and Iron Fist comics, proving once and for all what an enormous geek he was. I decided that I preferred the Luke Cage in the TV series to the caricature that was his original comic book self. Deacon, however, wildly disagreed.

‘There is no greater moment in comic book history, than Luke Cage following Dr. Doom halfway around the world in order to deliver the iconic line, “Where’s my money, honey?”. There never was, nor will there ever be, a better Luke Cage than that. Right, Michael?’

Michael shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me. I’m a DC man.’

‘Oh, the horror!’ Deacon exclaimed, bringing both hands to his heart. ‘The betrayal! How dare you utter such blasphemy in this house?’

‘Any DC character would beat their Marvel counterpart hands down!’ Michael argued. ‘With the possible exception of Deadpool. It’s the one time Marvel outdid themselves ripping off a DC character. Deadpool is miles better than Deathstroke, loathe though I am to admit it.’

‘I honestly have no idea what either of you are talking about,’ I said, looking from one to the other. ‘But I’m sure you’re both right in your own way.’

Siobhan giggled. ‘Bravo, Julie! You’re even more diplomatic than I am.’

Michael shook his head. ‘It’s settled. Once we’ve finished Jessica Jones, we are starting you on Arrow and The Flash, Jules. Then you can begin judging for yourself.’

Just after eight we had to call it a night, as we couldn’t have watched another episode while making sure I was home by nine.

‘You live up past the co-op, right?’ Amy asked as we all stood up. ‘That’s right by me. We can walk together.’

I watched Amy pull on high heeled leather boots and an ever so trendy raincoat. I felt so plain by comparison, in my own childish raincoat and yellow wellies. When we stepped outside, she opened a see-through umbrella and held it over us both, hooking our arms together as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

‘So, how did you like the show?’ she asked. ‘Is Luke Cage hot or what?’

I smiled. ‘He definitely is. I liked the show.’

There was a pause. The rain pitter-pattered on Amy’s umbrella and formed puddles in the street.

’So, how was that party last night?’ I asked after a minute.

Amy laughed. ‘It was great! I don’t remember much after daring Michael to seven minutes in heaven with Jasper Mayfield, though.’

‘Wait, what?’ I stared at her, wide-eyed, and would have walked right into the street without looking if our arms hadn’t been linked.

Amy patted my arm and grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I doubt anything actually happened.’

I felt myself blush, and looked resolutely away. Jasper was a more than attractive boy. The thought of him and Michael stuck in an enclosed space together, possibly doing something, gave me an odd feeling somewhere in the vicinity of my groin, and I swallowed. Thankfully, Amy seemed not to notice.

‘I’m glad you came today,’ she said. ‘I like you. I think you’re gonna fit in well in our little group.’

I dared a look at her. She was smiling, and I smiled back, hoping that my blush wasn’t too obvious. ‘Thanks. I like you guys too.’

‘Of course you do. We’re awesome.’ She cocked her chin and laughed.

‘You remind me of my friend Leigh,’ I went on, comfortable with the change in subject. ‘She was my best friend before she had to move away. We lived in the same building, were in the same year at school . . . We did everything together. Inseparable.’

‘Was that at our school?’ Amy asked, and I nodded.

‘Yeah. Leigh Shipton. Her family moved to Leeds over a year ago. We still keep in touch, though. She’s a lot like you. All sassy and confident and knows everything. She’s kind of my guru.’

Amy laughed again. ‘Well, then I’m flattered, aren’t I?’ Then she seemed to grow pensive for a bit.

‘Something wrong?’ I asked.

She shook her head. ‘No, no. Not wrong.’ She glanced at me. ‘You like Michael. Don’t you?’

I blushed again and looked away, staring at the puddles beneath our feet. Her trendy boots and my wellies. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t usually a blusher.

‘It’s not my business, I know,’ she continued. ‘But, thing is . . . Well, like I said, I like you. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ve known Michael for, like, two years now. Deacon and Siobhan have known him a lot longer. We’re his best friends, and none of us have ever known him to date. Like ever. He’s never talked to us about girls, except to say he wasn’t interested. You know? I liked him too, at first. I mean, I had a crush on him when we first started hanging out. But he made it pretty clear he wasn’t interested, and I got over him. D’you see what I’m getting at, here?’

I nodded slowly. ‘I should forget about him. If even you couldn’t . . .’

She shook her head. ‘Don’t compare yourself to me. We’re totally different people, right? I’m no better than you, and you’re no better than me. There are a million guys who wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole, who would think you’re a super hottie. That’s not what this is about, okay? Michael, he just doesn’t—’ She paused, seemed to weigh her words.

‘What?’

‘We really shouldn’t speculate. But that doesn’t mean we don’t, right? I don’t think Michael is interested in girls. I don’t know if that means he’s interested in . . . I mean, I don’t know if he’s interested in anyone, that way. So just, you know . . . Be careful. I might be totally wrong. My word isn’t gospel. I don’t know his secret heart or whatever. But if you want my truly honest opinion, I’d say not to get your hopes up. Michael’s a great guy. He’s a good friend. He cares about people, wants what’s best for everyone, but he can be both clueless and naïve, and you can’t have failed to notice his hero complex.’

I laughed. ‘That’s exactly what I said to Daniel. That Michael has a hero complex.’

‘Yeah, and you were right,’ said Amy. ‘Point is, he genuinely wants to be your friend, just like he genuinely wants to be that Daniel kid’s friend, for whatever reason. But he doesn’t want anything more than that, and I don’t think he ever will. I want you to be aware of that. Like I said, I don’t want you to get hurt.’

She stopped, and gestured to the building we were stood in front of. ‘This is me,’ she said. ‘Are you far? Wanna borrow my umbrella so you don’t get soaked?’

I shook my head. ‘I’m okay, thank you. I’m only about a minute that way.’ I pointed. ‘I can just pull up my hood.’

‘All right, if you’re sure. See you at school tomorrow?’

I grinned. ‘Of course! Night!’

‘Good night.’ She waved, and I pulled the hood on my raincoat up and jogged off towards home, the puddles splashing water halfway up my yellow wellington boots.