Excess Sugar
Debbie pulled a lollipop from its wrapper, licking the excess sugar from the clear, crinkly plastic. She sat on the tall wall next to Michael, swinging her legs high and letting them thump back heavily against the bricks.
"They'll see your knickers," Michael said, pointing at the kids playing football down the street.
Debbie licked the lollipop. Red again. They were always red lollipops. "Who says I'm wearing any knickers?"
Michael grinned. "You know all the boys are talking about you? They're swapping stories."
"The boys are talking to you again?"
"Well, no. But I hear things. And they're talking about you."
Debbie lifted her legs a little higher, holding them up for a moment before dropping them. She looked sharply from left to right, her plait hitting against her shoulders. "They talk about you too."
Michael shrugged. She held the lollipop out to him and he gave it a half hearted lick.
"Will Billy be here soon?" she asked. She popped the lollipop back in her mouth and imagined the taste of Michael was on her tongue.
"How am I supposed to know?" Michael crossed one leg over the other, before uncrossing anhd placing the other one on top. "You still have your thing for Billy, then?"
"It's not a thing."
"He's probably fucking some wispy, thin ballerina type. You know, long limbs, blonde hair, flexible."
"Shut up Michael."
Michael snatched the lollipop from between her fingers and wrapped his mouth around it. "Why did you give up ballet, anyway?"
Debbie shrugged. "Me mum said I stopped being any good. She didn't want to teach me anymore."
"Oh," Michael held out the lollipop. "You want this back?"
"It's going to taste like you."
Michael shrugged, "I like the red ones."
She snatched it back off him. "So do I," she said. She placed the lollipop between her teeth and bit down hard, breaking it cleanly in half.