I can't help laughing, because...

[DMt.]

*

Camilla slams down the phone, her mouth a tight, lipless line. For a moment, before turning around to the others, she checks her reflection in the kiosk's courtesy mirror, and as usual she wishes she could leave her eyebrows alone. Today they are basically a couple of pencil-lines, and the effect, with her thin lips, is rather unfortunate, as if she has three mouths in her face, all of which are turned down.

Also, her eyes look sad. It won't do, to be sad, people will tell you to get over it, and that you're feeling sorry for yourself; you must never show weakness, ever, she knows this very well. Anyway, she quite likes her new bowl-cut hair...she arranges her face into a small, brittle smile before she turns around.

The other four look at her expectantly; she waves a dismissive hand, and pushes through them, back towards the café, saying, "Jessica says she's gone out. I don't believe her", as they trail obediently behind her. She has enough money for one more coffee, which she doesn't really want, her nerves are stretched tight as piano wire anyway; but you can't sit in a café without buying something, and she does very much want to sit down for a while.

They others ask why she doesn't believe Jessica. "Isn't it obvious?", she snaps, "where's she going to go, that we don't know about? The café, maybe? Outside the hot-sausage shop? The bridge? The library? The pool? Where is there to go, anyway, in this damn place? We've been everywhere, haven't we?"

The others glumly agree that this is so. Since school let out, Camilla has marched them around all the usual assembly-points, to no avail. There is a weary, unspoken consensus that it's not so much fun without Elin, which nobody is about to voice; Elin is the only one who seems immune to Camilla's acid and bile, the only one who can turn it aside and make her laugh, and in her current mood none of them fancy their chances in this role.

"No", she says conspiratorially, when she has ordered a hot chocolate, and brought it to a corner table, and they have huddled up in conclave, "She was lying, I know she was. Elin's at home, with that...dyke, that Agnes."

Malin ventures that Jessica was looking very cuddly with Johan earlier on, when they came to tell her about the new sensation; for a moment Camilla looks as though she will lash out with her forked tongue, but then she says thoughtfully,

"Ye-e-es...well, he's spare, now she's got her new girlfriend, isn't he? Jessica might as well have him. He can't be any worse than that dork Markus."

They giggle about Markus; more than one of them have something against him, and not without cause. Camilla does not laugh with them, she is abstracted, and though she is sitting up straight and tall, her thin shoulders are slumped.

"I don't know whether I want to go and break her fucking windows, or just go home", she says to no-one in particular, "I'm sick of this...I thought she was our friend."

[DMt.]

*

Agnes and Elin clear up after dinner, while Jessica goes to get ready. It doesn't take long, and when all is dried and put away, they wander through to the living-room.

“Do you want to watch TV, maybe?”, says Elin, but Agnes only shakes her head silently, with a little smile; Elin then feels like a vacuous little airhead for even suggesting it, but immediately forgets this when Agnes says,

“Why would I want to look at TV, when I'm with you? It would just be noise.”

“Let's have some music instead, maybe”, says Elin, and she and Agnes look through the CDs and records, but there is nothing either is desperate to hear; mostly it is Mama Olssen's music. Then Agnes realises that the object on the other side of the room is not a bureau, and says, “Oh, a minipiano! Can I play it?”

“Sure”, says Elin, “I didn't know you could play...it used to be my Papa's, but he never really learned it. None of us play, I hope it's still in tune.” She removes the books, papers and ornaments from the lid, and dumps them all on the sofa; Agnes opens it up.

“I'm not very good”, she says shyly, trying a few keys, “I usually just like to improvise these days, sometimes it works...hey, it's not bad, you know? Nice action; the tuning is OK, I think...”

Elin watches from the sofa, fascinated, as she pulls out the rather dusty piano stool, sits at the keys, and plays a few sweet chords, checking the piano is in tune through its range.

“Will you come here?”, says Agnes, twisting around awkwardly, “I don't want to turn my back on you.” Elin stands right behind her and rests her hands lightly on Agnes' shoulders, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply as she catches the scent of her hair. God, she's so nice.

“That OK?”, she manages, her heart pounding.

“That's lovely, yes”, says Agnes, and she begins with a simple minor arpeggio, extends it with a few haunting suspensions, then opens it out into a sequence; finds another, and does the same, but shorter; returns to the first one and pulls a melody out of it, humming along wordlessly, then does almost the same with the second one, but now realises she can use a little poem she has, for the lyric; and she sings softly and tenderly,

Wake me early
and whisper in my ear
Touch my cheek
and let sunbeams
play on my back
It should be simple

Elin is holding Agnes' shoulders much more tightly than she realises, now, but Agnes doesn't mind; she uses the last line again, over the second section, as a chorus, then makes the second section chords major, feeling it's too morose with minor chords all through.

It works very well; Elin is wide-eyed and open-mouthed, delighted, she senses Jessica's presence at the living-room door, and turns her head to look at her. Jessica is smiling at them both, and making a very impressed expression; she nods to Elin slowly, twice.

The double-beep of Johan's motorbike outside makes them all jump, and Agnes quickly finishes the tune, on a warm major chord and the word 'simple', and stops playing. She is a little flushed, as is Elin.

“Agnes, that was gorgeous”, says Jessica, going to the window and waving at Johan, “where did you learn that? I've never heard it before.”

“Neither have I”, says Agnes, looking down at her hands, a modest smile dimpling her warm cheeks, “I just made it up now.”

She stands up, taking Elin's hand, and they go to the window too, and wave at Johan. He waves back, grinning, and makes a victory-beep on the bike's horn, and they all laugh.

“Right, I'm off”, says Jessica, and to Agnes' surprise she leans down and kisses her cheek. “That was so pretty”, she says quietly, and she musses Elin's hair as she leaves.

[katka]

wow, nice, nice ! It is better than bedtime story ! Thanks I look forward to continuing ... I wonder what Elin and Agnes will do now... when Jessica is away

[DMt.]

Youe enjoyment is my happiness, Kat

What will they do now? I don't know...they haven't told me yet.

[But my subject is love, not lesbian erotica; I think that would be in poor taste, coming from me.]

[katka]

of coooourse it's clear to me but of course it was just to nag at you But you have to admit that in such termination is this issue offering ... just could not resist a backhanded way to ask this, I haven't some superficial erotic nor thought, I am pure romantic.

[DMt.]

:lol: of coooourse it's clear to me but of course it was just to nag at you But you have to admit that in such termination is this issue offering ...

I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you could POSSIBLY mean...

just could not resist a backhanded way to ask this, I haven't some superficial erotic nor thought, I am pure romantic.

That's OK, I was teasing you a little bit, too...

[DMt.]

111 views in two days, neat...surely at least 20 of them must be from other people?

Not bad for a sleepy old forum!

[katka]

hey you not keen on too much min. at least 90 views is my

[DMt.]

But if you have made 90 views and I have made 91, there should be 181...

[katka]

:lol: of coooourse it's clear to me but of course it was just to nag at you But you have to admit that in such termination is this issue offering ...

I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you could POSSIBLY mean...

just could not resist a backhanded way to ask this, I haven't some superficial erotic nor thought, I am pure romantic.

That's OK, I was teasing you a little bit, too...

aha

[katka]

But if you have made 90 views and I have made 91, there should be 181...

you made 91 yeah ? self-referentiality stinks

[DMt.]

snf snf...what IS that smell...!?

[katka]

well that you so often look at your topic, make sure you praise how you wrote it well, or you are so curious about what we say it ?

[DMt.]

Multiple corrections! Check the edits...

[katka]

well
so continuing