Free My Best Friend Has Issues by Laura Marney Page A

anyway, who would probably kill him for breaching the sanctity of his wee sister.
    As I puffed on the joint I weighed it up. Perhaps before the night was out Ewan and I would be doing the mattress mambo.
    ‘No! Suck, don’t blow!’ he said. ‘That’s a waste of good dope.’
    ‘Sorry.’
    On the negative side, he was a grumpy git. I took another draw and the smoke slid into my lungs quite pleasantly. I passed the joint back, pulling a face I’d seen professional hash heads make.
    ‘Sorry, I was worried I’d start coughing again.’
    ‘Jesus. Sorry, Alison. I’d forgotten about that. Yeah, you’re right, you should take it easy. We don’t want that to happen again. I thought you were going to have a heart attack.’
    ‘It was only a cough. It wasn’t that bad.’
    ‘Still and all, maybe you should take it easy tonight until your lungs clear out.’
    ‘Oh, you think so?’ I said taking the joint from between his fingers.
    ‘Look, if you’re going to smoke, put it between your lips, but keep them open at the sides, like this.’
    Ewan demonstrated. He moved close to me and gently held the joint to my lips while I inhaled. He was now studying my lips the way I’d studied his.
    ‘That’ll cool the smoke down.’
    It did. I took a deeper draw than the last.
    ‘Easy, don’t take too much.’
    ‘I’m starving.’ I said suddenly, ‘I’m going to see what’s in the fridge.’
    Ewan smiled benignly. I left him facing into the sea breeze with his eyes closed.
    In the fridge I found a bag of cherries, black cherries, engorged and ripe, the most delicious I’d ever tasted. I had eaten more than half of them before I remembered Ewan.
    ‘Ewan, you have got to try these. These are the best cherries in the world.’
    Ewan still had his eyes closed. He was still smiling.
    ‘The wind’s got up, can you feel it?’ he slurred. ‘It feels good.’
    I stood still and felt a faint stirring of wind across my face. It occurred to me how wonderful it would be to feel it across my belly and before I knew it I’d pulled my top over my head. Ewan’s eyes were still closed.
    ‘Oh, I can feel it, it’s fantastic!’ I gasped.
    I was wearing a magenta pink bra of Chloe’s that I’d found in her drawer. Like the other one, this bra was a bit tight, but it pushed my tits up to just under my chin. The breeze tickled and played across my skin.
    Until the glandular fever my torso had been a sweeping panorama of featureless flesh. Now there were distinct regions: the mountainous peaks of my breasts, the flat plains of my stomach, the twin promontories of my arse cheeks. I was shaking from my shoulders to my fingertips. I had never stripped in front of a boy before. I wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t me. I reached to pull my top back on and Ewan opened his eyes.
    ‘I like you better like this,’ he said quietly.
    I hunched and put my arms across my chest. Ewan gently opened my arms, ‘Look at the shadow you’re casting.’
    I turned and saw my silhouette on the wall.
    ‘See? You’re like a Bond girl.’
    I stared at it and laughed. The shadow had a slender graceful figure.
    ‘Did you have a nice night out?’
    ‘Yes I did, thank you Ewan.’
    ‘You know, I feel a bit bad. I lied when I asked you for your number: it’s not a legal requirement to take a contact number. I wanted to see you again, I hope you don’t mind.’
    ‘No, I don’t mind.’
    Ewan saw the Elastoplast on my arm. ‘What happened to you?’
    ‘It’s nothing,’ I mumbled, ‘I tripped.’
    ‘Come here you to me, I’ll kiss it better.’
    Suddenly I was aware of a snuffling at my feet. The smell of the hash must have woken Juegita. She and all her puppies were standing looking up at us expectantly. Ewan laughed.
    ‘Puppies!’
    He lifted one of the pups and held her to his face, kissing and hugging her.
    ‘You really do have puppies!’ he said. ‘I thought that was only a ruse to get me here. I thought you wanted to take advantage of