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YESTERDAY WAS THE BEST DAY. I spent an incredible adventure with my favourite people. I’d always wanted to go to the Land of Dreams as a child, but my parents could never afford it. At least in my adult years I was able to experience the joy, it was everything I ever dreamt of. But the best part of the day had to be in the evening, where we sat munching the rest of our snacks watching the dreamy parade come alive.
I stood in the shower, reminiscing about the day as the warm water rained down on me. I thought about how close I’d been to Harley, how in that moment would’ve been a perfect time for us to have kissed. I couldn’t understand why I was having these feelings and I pushed the notion to one side while I washed my hair.
Just as I swept the curtain away to step out, my eyes fell upon the visitor in the bathroom.
‘Shit,’ Harley said, his cheeks turning beetroot. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were here.’
I stared at him, mimicking a deer in headlights, as I slowly pulled the shower curtain back to cover my naked body. ‘I thought I locked the door,’ I replied sheepishly, trying to hide how much I was blushing.
Harley opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it and walked back out the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind him. ‘Sorry,’ he called.
Then I heard our room door slam and assumed he must have gone out, not wanting to deal with the embarrassment. I didn’t know how to react, but I released the shower curtain and covered myself properly.
How was I going to look him in the eye again?
An hour later, we stood in silence at the train station with the rest of the group, for the next leg of our journey. Today, we were moving onto the holiday camp where Nostalgia Con was being held, and although the convention started tomorrow, we decided to arrive a day early to get ourselves settled in our cabins and explore the facilities.
I was sipping on the hot chocolate Harley bought me back for breakfast. By the time I’d got myself ready for the day, he’d been in, collected his luggage and left a chocolate muffin and the hot beverage, apologising again.
We boarded our train, and Harley looked directly at me then turned away, following the rest of the guys on the train. The girls were by my side, Amelia looked astonished by what just happened.
‘Did something happen with you two?’ she asked, as the three of us sat a short distance away from the boys. They were the only available seats. She came in close to whisper her next question, ‘Did you two sleep together?’
I flushed scarlet, ‘Absolutely not. It’s not like that,’ I protested.
Poppy furrowed her brow, ‘But something did happen?’ she asked.
I know they were only trying to help but I wasn’t sure this was really something to talk about, but they both looked like they were about to drag him off the train for hurting me. ‘It was an accident, honestly. I forgot to lock the bathroom door and well, Harley walked in on me in the shower. I think we’re both still embarrassed about the situation.’
The pair of them burst out laughing, making jokes to lighten the situation but I sipped on my hot chocolate and cast my gaze to the window. The journey to the holiday camp was short, thankfully, but granted me enough time to receive the promised card deck from Poppy. The cards were as gorgeous as she describes, illustrated with mermaid idols. Apparently it was an old season deck but perfect for a beginner, she explained the rules of the game and what each card did, but it left us with no time to play the actual game.
We arrived at the outskirts of the holiday camp and had to get a shuttle to the main office to check in. Harley marched up to the counter to check us all in, still seemingly unwilling to talk to me. He secured the keys to our cabin and informed the group about the itinerary for the convention.
‘According to the receptionist, the opening ceremony isn’t till this evening,’ he said, ‘But the good news is, apparently it’s in the form of a costume roller disco. I hope everyone can skate.’ His laugh was so pure, I felt my heart ache.
‘Did they say anything about using the on-site facilities while we waited?’ Amelia asked.
‘They said we can use whatever we like, our tickets and cabin include everything on site,’ he replied, handing each of us a key for our cabin. ‘The swimming pool’s open if anyone fancies a dip?’
Poppy jumped up from her seat, ‘I hope you all brought costumes, because we’re going to have a photoshoot, poolside.’
An hour later we all stood poolside, after we’d dumped our luggage at the cabin and selected our rooms. Thankfully the one I was sharing with Harley had two beds this time. We joked about it and finally broke the ice about the situation this morning, taking the weight off my shoulders.
I stood beside Harley who was armed with his camera bag, and me in my little pink strawberry swimsuit. I never brought a water-safe costume with me, but Poppy told me to bring my Sakura wig and we’d make it work. But when I looked out at the pool, I saw so many beautiful costumes in the water, I started to feel undressed.
Harley took my hand, he must’ve sensed me feeling uneasy. ‘We’ll take a few shoots and then we’ll relax properly in the pool, okay?’
‘Sure,’ I agreed with a smile.
Together we walked over to join the rest of the group. Amelia was already in position against the rocks for her shoot. Harley didn’t need to ask. Her onyx one-piece suit hugged her every curve, the water droplets accentuating the rich chocolate of her skin. Her pastel hair was tied up in little space buns with a chain crown upon her brow, in a witchy-esque.
I sat on the edge of the pool, dipping my toes in the water and watched the way she moved her body, with every snap of the lens, she changed her pose. Jasper then joined her, wearing his graphic printed trunks and a happi-styled jacket, looking like a wizard that matched her aesthetic perfectly. The more I gazed at them, the more I thought what a beautiful couple they made.
Poppy and Tristan were next, but they were too busy splashing about further in the pool to be listening when Harley called them over. Instead, he took some candid shots of them laughing as they floated about on inflatable rings, shooting each other with water pistols. Both Harley and I got caught by a few of their blasts. Then it came to the time I was dreading.
‘Your turn, Bon,’ Harley called to me. ‘You ready?’
Inside my mind I was shaking my head, but on the outside I just nodded to agree. Poppy helped me sort my wig and lent me her sparkly inflatable ring to use as a prop. She guided me through the photoshoot, helping me with poses as I fumbled in front of the camera. I felt sort of silly, but both she and Harley made me feel more comfortable, letting me take time between shots.
When we were finished, we returned my wig and the camera bag to our locker, then met up with the rest of the group. They’d already decided our next activity, the biggest attraction at the pool, the rapids. A collection of water slides connected by fast-paced waves that were said to give you a shot of adrenaline.
I wasn’t so sure I’d enjoy myself on such a trip, but Harley took my hand and promised we could stop at the intervals dotted about the course, anytime I felt like I needed a break. Of course Poppy and Tristan dove head first, both of them doing down the rapids on their bellies. Amelia and Jasper followed behind on their backs, as per the rules, which left Harley and myself. We waded towards the first slide, still hand in hand.
‘You ready?’ he asked.
I shook my head, ‘No, but let’s do it anyway.’ I said, yanking him forward and down the slide with me, before I changed my mind.
The water carried us away, round the winding bends and over many bumps. Our friends ahead of us were like dots from our position, but still I clung onto Harley like a security blanket. We ignored the first checkpoint and continued down the rapids, where we met the big slide. One moment I saw my friends ahead, the next they’d completely disappeared from sight. I reached the big drop before I saw it and I looked back at Harley like a scared rabbit before he too was gone from sight. The sheer force of the rapids pulled me from his grip and I hurtled down the slide screaming the whole way. But that wasn’t the end for me, as I reached the bottom, the momentum carried me round more tight bends and down into a steep drop into a splash pool.
As I came up for air, I squealed with delight. ‘That’s the most fun I’ve ever had. We’ve got to do that again!’ I realised that the general public were staring at me and I quickly waded over to my friends waiting at the steps. A few seconds later, Harley crashed into the pool behind me and took my legs out from under me. We both came to the surface, giggling at the entire thing.
We rode the rapids a few more times, enjoyed lazing about on inflatable rings along a slow current river and bouncing like fish out of water in the wave pool. But soon our enjoyment in the pool would come to an end and we soon ended up at the cabin to change into our costumes for the evening.
I sat on the edge of my bed, chatting to Harley about the opening ceremony, ‘Do we have to go in costume?’ I asked.
‘That’s what the poster says, but it’s all a bit of fun,’ he said.
‘But I only bought the one costume with me and I don’t think it’s appropriate for the roller disco,’ I cast my eyes to the star-embellished dress now hanging in its garment back on the wardrobe. Harley’s suit sat on the other door.
‘Don’t worry I got you covered. Have you got your Sakura wig?’
‘Course, why?’
‘I’ve got a little surprise for you, close your eyes,’ Harley said. I did as I was told, and heard him rummaging about. ‘Okay, open your eyes.’
As I moved my hands away from my face, I saw my best friend standing before me wearing the wig he’d bought for my character’s companion, but instead of his normal clothes, he was wearing the school uniform from the manga. In his hands he was holding a matching costume, but a skirt replaced the shorts, and a small yellow bear rested on his arm.
‘You’re serious?’ I asked. He nodded and I squealed with delight. ‘I’ll just get changed.’
The rest of our group were still getting ready when we left and promised to meet us there. It was only once we’d checked into the roller disco and got our skates on that the rest of the group finally arrived.
Poppy ran over to us, ‘You guys look so good.’ Of course she and Tristan were dressed in cat pyjama suits, the same ones as the characters they’d chosen in kart racing.
‘So do you!’ I said with a big grin on my face. ‘Wow,’ I added, completely gobsmacked when I saw the other couple.
Amelia and Jasper were dressed in Japanese street style clothing, I believe was called Wa Lolita and Ouji, respectively. They looked like beautiful dolls.
‘Looks like the disco is getting started, shall we skate?’ Harley asked, putting out his hand for me to take, and I nodded to agree.
We skated hand in hand around the rink, where I soon realised I was actually good at skating, despite being severely out of practice. Harley, however, was more like a deer on ice, and clung to me for support, which only made me laugh more.
The beat of the music began to pick up, and soon Harley found the confidence to skate beside me. Our group skated around us, twirling and dancing with their respected partners to the weird mix the DJ was playing. Songs from the nineties, current playlists and some gems from anime shows. We found we were all singing along to the cheesy songs as much as we did the anime soundtracks.
I was surprised I knew even half the words to the majority of the songs.
Harley was busy snapping away on his camera, like he’d been doing this whole trip. Capturing every moment of this trip since we left London.
I skated up close to him, until we were almost touching once more. ‘Do you not get tired of hiding behind that camera?’ I asked, generally curious.
Harley shot me a funny look, still snapping away. ‘What do you mean? I want to preserve these memories. Besides, I promised I would send you copies.’
I smiled, ‘You did, but surely at some point on this trip you’d like to try living in the moment.’ I was teasing him, skating in a figure eight beside him.
Harley scoffed and asked, ‘Is that what you’re doing?’
I cast my eyes to the fairy lights above, admiring the cheesy decoration the convention had put up for the opening ceremony. ‘I’m just trying to enjoy every moment of this trip before I wake up from this dream.’
‘Do you really think you’re dreaming?’
I hummed to agree, ‘I really don’t want to wake up and face reality,’ I admitted.
Harley finally put down his camera and we skated to the side of the rink. ‘Are you afraid he’s going to come back?’ he asked. I turned away but he caught me, ‘I know you don’t want to talk about this, but if you’re scared I want to help.’
I chewed my lip and replied, ‘A little. But there’s something else I’m scared of. Yet it could be everything I’ve ever wanted.’ I gazed up at him, his hazel eyes melting my heart. ‘If only I was brave enough.’ I hope he knew where I was going with my little speech.
We edged closer together, his lips found mine in a gentle embrace. Warm surged through my body as my arms wrapped themselves around his neck. One of his hands found the small of my back and cradled me softly, while the other supported us against the bar.
I pulled away slowly and it quickly hit me what I was doing. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
Harley let me go and I couldn’t skate away quick enough. This was wrong, I couldn’t keep pushing my feelings like this. I was going to end up losing my best friend if I kept going. This was a mistake, this shouldn’t have happened. I let my guard down far too easily. I blamed the atmosphere.
But why was I second guessing myself? It felt too good to be a mistake.
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