“Nuh uh,” Luan replied with a shake of her head and she began to nervously twirl her hair around her finger as her anxiousness increased a little. She was worried she might say something that revealed how much of a not-normal life she had lead to this point – or just something stupid which she believed was just as likely. “I ummm I’ve n-never thought about getting f-fit,” she confessed with a shrug. “I… I’d have n-no idea what shoes to b-buy so they couldn’t get lost in the b-back of my wardrobe.”
Lottie may not have been the most obviously caring person but she could pick up on the other girl’s body language. “I wouldn’t worry, I would imagine at least half the people who have sports shoes in their wardrobes have never worn them. You’re just cutting out the clutter part.”
Luan jumped at the chance to not make her phone call and turned towards the voice that had spoken to her, locking her phone as she did so. “A t-tick? I don’t… Oh! I know w-what you mean,” the realisation became clear in her expression too and she giggled softly at the joke. A small sense of pride also building because she had ‘got’ the joke. “I ummm. I a-actually don’t own anything Nike. Or anything s-sporty actually,” she shrugged, a rather guilty expression on her face.
Lottie laughed a little at the girl’s reaction, quite pleased her joke had been so well received. “Nothing sporty at all? Not even a pair of running shoes at the back of your wardrobe that you bought and promised yourself you were going to get fit magically just by wearing them?”
Luan should have felt a massive sense of accomplishment. She had pushed aside her fears and entered a crowded place alone, gone to the bar and ordered herself a drink – something that would have been utterly impossible for her just a few months ago. But instead of pride all she felt was shame. She had done this instead of the thing she was really afraid of, the thing she really needed to do. “Stupid stupid stupid…” she hissed to herself and pulled her phone out of her bag, glaring at the innocent device like it had wronged her as it sat in her trembling hand. “Just do it,” Luan growled but her thumb continued to just hover over the number she needed to call.
“You know multinational companies don’t like people banding their slogans around without proper branding. If you are going to quote Nike you need to at least have a tick somewhere on you,” Lottie mused, her expression verging on amused at her own dumb joke.
Lottie's wild adventure 