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THERE’S ONLY ONE BED. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.
How could this have happened?
I rang the hotel, and they assured me I’d booked twin beds. At least that was the way it was booked until I adjusted the booking for Bonnie and myself. Perhaps they thought we might’ve been a couple. This was a disaster. I glanced at my best friend, biting my lip, wondering what she could possibly be thinking.
‘There’s only one bed,’ she said, dropping her backpack on the ground beside her suitcase.
I swallowed hard, I was in deep trouble. ‘Look, it’s not what it looks like, I didn’t-’
Bonnie burst out laughing, ‘It’s fine. It’s only for one night, right? It’ll be like the times we had sleepovers in college.’ She said, ‘We’re friends. Friends can share a bed, right, it doesn’t have to mean anything.’ At that moment she cast her gaze away from me, but I caught a pinkish hue colouring her cheeks.
‘Okay,’ I replied, admitting defeat. ‘But only if you’re sure, I really don’t mind sleeping on the floor.’ I glanced down at the laminate, convincing myself it would be fine to sleep on.
Bonnie shook her head, ‘You paid for this room, I’m not having you sleep on the floor. What sort of guest would I be if I let you do that. It’ll be just like old times.’
I knew when I’d be beaten. I set my suitcase down to prepare for bed, ‘Did you want to use the bathroom first then?’ As I got out my night clothes, I packed away my single purchase of the model kit inside my suitcase and the snack haul into my rucksack.
‘Sure,’ she called out, grabbing her pyjamas and disappearing into the bathroom. She appeared a few minutes later wearing a pair of rabbit-printed shorts and shirt with her brunette tresses tied into a messy bun. ‘Can’t forget this little guy,’ she said, pulling out the stuffed calico she’d purchased earlier.
‘You mean I’ve got to share a bed with you and that oversized creature?’ I joked.
‘Hey, don’t talk about Mochi Jr like that,’ Bonnie protested, sorting out her bags before crawling into bed. ‘Maybe I’ll make you sleep on the floor after all.’
I narrowed my eyes to glare at her, ‘You wouldn’t dare.’
The pair of us erupted into laughter, it really was like old times back in college when we used to stay at one another’s houses. We’d only shared a bed on a couple of occasions and that was more when we crashed at another friend’s house and there wasn’t enough space.
I changed into my night clothes in the bathroom, but when I emerged Bonnie was already fast asleep in bed, clinging to the plushie. She looked cute sleeping soundly without a care in the whole. Then she started snoring and shattered the perfect illusion. I winced, realising I would struggle sleeping with the noise. I was used to the gentle purr of my fat cat sleeping soundly on my chest, not this, but I’d try. I climbed into the bed beside Bonnie, careful not to disturb her slumber. I slept on my side, facing away from her. I'm sure she didn’t want to wake up looking at my face in the morning, and somehow found it easy to fall asleep.
[♡]
The next morning, I awoke at my usual time without the use of an alarm. I don’t think my body clock receives the message that I was on holiday. I glanced at my phone, there were still three hours until we had to leave for the train and I didn’t think it was fair to wake Bonnie.
I glanced at her, still snoozing soundly beside me with the stuffed cat tucked safely under her arm. Her hair had escaped the messy bun and had doubled in size overnight. However, was she going to tame that mane? Still she looked beautiful to me, even with the little drool on her cheek.
Wait, what was I thinking? Was I really admitting my feelings for Bonnie to myself?
I really need to get out of this hotel room. I couldn’t sit here for the next couple of hours in bed with her twiddling my thumbs. Instead I decided to get up, get myself ready for the day and head out for a walk. I retrieve both our flasks before leaving, I’d grab coffee on my way. That would give Bonnie enough time to catch up on the sleep she needed. I left one of the key cards behind and wandered down the street to the nearest coffee shop.
There was the usual London commuter rush I should’ve expected for this time of the morning, but I didn’t mind waiting in the queue. Least it gave me some time to decide what I was ordering, and while I was deep in thought the barista called me to the counter.
‘What can I get for you?’ she asked with a smile.
I wondered how she could be so chipper so early in the morning, I was still half asleep myself. ‘Could I get a cappuccino in the blue and hot chocolate in the pink please? Actually could I also get a couple of sausage baps to go too.’
‘Certainly.’ She heated up the baps and placed them inside paper bags before returning to make the hot drinks. She pushed them across the counter and announced my total.
I paid using my phone and apparently saved a little money by bringing in the flasks, who knew that was an incentive nowadays. I took a slow walk back to the hotel and let myself into the room where I noticed Bonnie was only just waking up.
‘Good morning,’ I said softly, not wanting to startle her.
She caught sight of me and tried smiling through a yawn, ‘Morning. Oh, what smells so good? Did you go get coffee? How long have you been awake?’
I answered her honestly, ‘Not been up too long and I got you breakfast.’ I handed her the sausage bap and the flask of hot chocolate, ‘Don’t worry I made sure to put sauce on it.’
Bonnie wasted no time taking a bite of her food, ‘This is good, thank you.’
Together we ate our breakfast and drank our hot beverages while we chatted about today’s plans. Since I was already washed, dressed and packed, it only left for Bonnie to get ready. After breakfast she disappeared in the bathroom to get ready and when she re-emerged my jaw hit the floor.
‘Is this okay?’ she asked, twirling around to show me the full outfit. A cream sundress with converse. Her mousey hair was styled and half tucked under a beret and over the top she wore an oversized strawberry cardigan.
‘You look…’ I said but couldn’t find the correct word to finish my sentence. My mind was completely blank. I needed to say something, she was looking right at me, waiting for an answer. My cheeks started to warm. ‘You look lovely. I like the cardigan.’ It was exactly Bonnie’s style.
Bonnie beamed at me, then turned to gather the rest of her things, ‘Shall we go meet the others? We don’t want to keep them waiting.’
‘Sure,’ I agreed, throwing my rucksack on my back. ‘Let’s go.’
The rest of the group met us in the hotel lobby, all wearing their comfiest clothes ready for the long journey ahead. I thought about what I was wearing, a relaxed graphic tee and jean shorts with converse, compared to the others I seemed a little overdressed.
'Are we ready to make a move?' Jasper asked, 'The train departs in under an hour and we still have to get through the security.'
'It's okay,' Amelia cooed, gently smoothing his forearm. 'We're only across the street, we've got plenty of time.'
'Sorry everyone,' Jasper said quietly, 'I didn't sleep well last night and I get a little cranky without my morning coffee.'
Amelia patted her partner, 'As soon as we check in, I'll grab you one.'
'Then there's no time to lose,' I said, wheeling my suitcase out of the lobby, 'To the station we go!'
We made our way down the street, across the road and into the station. The security allowed us to check-in earlier than expected and made us all produce our Eurostar tickets and passports.
Bonnie fumbled behind me trying to locate her passport in her bag. As I went over to assist, she'd finally found it and I handed her the ticket I'd held for her. She shuffled ahead of me, placing her suitcase on the conveyor belt before handing her documentation over to security. The guard looked over everything, stamped her passport and she was free to go.
Then came my turn, which turned out to be equally non-eventful. The pair of us went to rejoin the group in the main waiting area, where Jasper and Amelia had finally acquired their first coffees of the day. Tristan and Poppy were slurping on fruit smoothies and sitting near the arrivals board.
We waited for a little while before we were allowed to board the Eurostar train. Our seats were right in the centre carriages, situated beside the large luggage shelves. We'd booked the tickets in advance together, which allowed us to reserve two tables on opposite sides of the walkway.
Bonnie and I sat one side with Tristan and Poppy. I think Jasper and Amelia were happier they weren't with the more ‘childish’ members of the group. Amelia produced a sketchbook from her bag and began practising her makeup designs. Jasper started reading a book with a title in Japanese, that I wasn’t too sure how to pronounce.
‘Who wants to play a game?’ Tristan asked, almost as soon as we got settled in our seats.
I thought he was suggesting a table top card game or something, until I saw him produce his handheld console from his back.
‘Oh!’ Bonnie squeaked, ‘I brought mine with me, do you need extra controllers?’
‘Yeah that would help, how about you and Harley take yours, and we take mine?’
‘That works.’
I put down my coffee flask and sighed. I was hoping to have a short nap on this train ride, but I knew that was out of the question now. Besides, playing games with my friends would be a more enjoyable way to spend the journey. I just needed to stop being a stick in the mud and kick back for once. I accepted the orange controller from Bonnie, of course she’d chosen the purple one for herself, it was her favourite colour.
‘Hey, do you two want to join?’ Tristan turned to ask the other members of our group.
Jasper shook his head, ‘I’m good here, but thanks.’
‘I’d like to get some of these plans done, maybe next round?’ Amelia said.
‘No worries.’
Tristan changed the game cartridge in the console and propped it up against the window at an angle, so we all could see. I did own a version of this console, however I rarely used mine, and opted to use my gaming computer more despite buying equipment to play the console on the same setup. We all connected our controllers and waited for the game title to flash on screen.
‘We're kart racing?’ I asked, raising a brow. ‘Do you know how good I am at this?’
Poppy laughed, ‘Honestly Harley, is there any game you’re apparently not good at?’
Bonnie chimed in, not skipping a beat, ‘She makes a good point.’ She turned to the others at the table, ‘Harley hates losing, be careful guys. He once threw a cushion at me because I won a beat-them-up game.’
‘Hey,’ I kept my voice low, in a pretend angry tone. ‘We saw we’d never speak about the Soul Calibur days again. Besides, you won by a slither of health.’
‘Still won though,’ she replied, sticking out her tongue.
We each selected our kart racers, Bonnie had gone for a character from a different game universe, much like I’d done and the couple chose the matching characters dressed in cat pyjamas. The screen split itself into four equal parts, allowing us to see from our own character’s perspective. A little yellow turtle floating on a cloud counting us down from three. Just as he announced two, I held down the button allowing me to boost my vehicle.
Once the flag came down, I was gone, speeding off into first place and earning myself the first iridescent block. My cocky smile quickly faded when I saw the powerup was only a single banana peel, still I kept my lead, driving around each obstacle. I narrowly avoided the giant bullets flying in my direction, where one knocked Tristan down from the third place spot.
‘Ah man,’ he grunted. ‘I thought I avoided that.’
‘It’s okay, babe,’ Poppy cooed beside him, her pink cat speeding off to catch up with me, ‘You’ll get it next time. Now eat my dust.’
He shot her a glance and tried to recover himself but that mistake cost him a huge leap in the positions, forcing him back to fifth place.
Bonnie was trying her best, her little character on a scooter was whizzing around the track like a shooting star, which was the exact powerup she’d used to get herself into the second spot.
‘You’re not getting past me,’ I said, my overly competitive side was coming out.
‘We’ll see about that,’ she replied. Her brows furrowed and her tongue poked out as she was deep in concentration on the game.
The third and final lap came by in what felt like an instant. Maybe I was just having too much fun to mind, however I was still maintaining my lead with Bonnie following close at my heels. She’d dodged every shell I’d thrown in her direction, even the squid ink attack hadn’t phased her. She was determined to win, but not as much as I was.
I was going to win this. I was so close, it was in arm’s reach. Then my character was hit with a lighting attack, sending him spinning out of control. I watched as Bonnie’s character raced across the finishing line, the chequered flag waved and it was all over. I sat there in disbelief as my character drifted over the finishing line in second place.
‘How could you?’ I said glaring at my best friend.
Bonnie had the biggest grin plastered across her face, ‘What’s the matter?’ she burst out in laughter, until I set down my controller and tickled her. ‘No, stop, stop. Just accept your defeat like a man.’ She slid down in her chair and I soon stopped.
We handed our controllers to Amelia and Jasper so they could take on the other couple and not because I was still sulky about my defeat. Bonnie and I sat with a few of our snacks sitting before us, sharing the different items between us. I helped myself to a couple of her waffle crisps, and she had a handful of my fruit gummies.
‘These are really good,’ she said, as we finished off our little feast.
‘We picked a great selection,’ I replied, taking a sip of a canned milkshake.
Bonnie smiled and said, ‘We make a great team.’
I returned her smile, gazing at her longingly, and my head in the clouds.
We really do.
ns 18.68.41.146da2
