Her

46

PHOENIX

Wednesday. 7pm. Aza's trailer. It's raining outside. Aza, Cass, Ky and I are sitting inside, watching a movie.

"You always pick Harry Potter. Next time I want to pick."

"Well, you won't. I will not watch anything you pick, Cass."

"I agree with Ky. You always pick dramatic love stories."

"What's wrong with dramatic love stories?"

"Nothing," Cass says. "Apparently, Phoenix and I are the only ones here with good taste."

"Yeah, Phoenix tastes pretty good." Aza laughs at her own comment, while Cass says something about 'too much information'. I try not to be embarrassed. My eyes find the ones of Ky, a grin inside of them.

"There's nothing wrong with Harry Potter though," Ky says, changing the topic.

"Of course someone who looks like he could be playing him would say something like that," Cass says.

"I don't look like I could be playing him."

"You really don't," I say. "Ky might have black hair and green eyes, but Harry's supposed to be skinny and small, Cass, and well, Ky's not exactly small."

"Plus, my hair isn't that messy. And I have no glasses - and no scar."

"I'm joking, you nerds. I know pretty much everything about Harry Potter because you," Cass shoots a look at Ky, "used to have an obsession with the books and movies."

"I wouldn't call it an obsession."

"You would literally force us to watch the movies with you, like, every day," Aza says. "You even made us take that sorting quiz."

"Which turnt out to be a little unnecessary. It was just as I expected: You're a Gryffindor, like me, and Cass is a Hufflepuff."

"You're a Gryffindor?" I look at Aza.

"According to that hat and to Ky, the expert, I am." She looks at me. "Why? Something wrong with that?"

"No," I say. "It's just that I'm a Slytherin."

"Oh," she says, leaning closer, "so that's why I hate you." She softly kisses me.

"I hate you too," I whisper.

"Can you two stop snogging and telling each other I love you? Some of us are trying to watch a movie," Ky says, apparently unaware of what we really said.

There's a weird feeling inside my stomach, and I can't tell whether it's a good one or bad one. I love you, I think. Do I love Aza? Does she love me? Ignoring the feeling and ignoring my thoughts, I tell Ky to shut his mouth.

"And some of us own this trailer," Aza says. "So they can do what they want."

"Fine. Go ahead and have sex. Just do it quietly, so I can watch the movie."

We watch the movie, every now and then some of us letting out a comment and laughing. Aza is pretty much using me as her pillow, half lying on me and half hugging me. I run my fingers through her hair and set my eyes on the screen. But that doesn't stop my mind from travelling. It travels around and around, but somehow always ends up at the words 'I love you'.

"Well, see you tomorrow. I get to drive us again, right?"

"You literally ask that every time, and I literally give you the same answer every time. If you don't kill us, you can drive us."