As expected, Alex went straight to the truck that specialised in the greatest of delicacies- soda and jacked potatoes.

There was a tall guy in the back of the truck, with long black hair tied loosely back with a hairnet. In front of him was a girl leaning boredly against the counter, but brightened when she saw us approach. Her hair was a mix of blonde and brown strands and her blue eyes were surrounded by freckles. Octavia came up to whisper to me as Alex approached the truck to order.

“Yup. It’s official. That’s the prettiest lady to sell potatoes I have ever seen.” She said with a giggle. 

“The only reason Alex isn’t Dave-shaped is because he just forgets to eat half of the time and he’s so busy with trying to write that song he just ignores hunger. If not, his diet of crisps, beans and potatoes would leave him fat as hell.”

Alex turned his head to glare at us as we giggled. 

“Fine, fine. We’ll be quiet” I said between giggles.

“Yeah,” Octavia added on. “Wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend.”

He growled quietly then turned back around. 

“Hey! Alex, man! How’s it been?” The man in the back called with a large smile

“Good, good… No. That's a lie.” Alex said, jerking his head back at Octavia as the man laughed loudly.

“I’ll tell you later, Steve,” Alex continued with a small smile.

Must’ve been the first one all day.  

“Been a slow day?” He asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket, searching for his wallet.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Oaklynn answered in her thick American drawl as she prepared some food off to the side. As she spoke, Alex handed his phone backwards to me, keeping his eyes focused on his potato friends.

“Chris, hold this for me, will ya’?” He quickly whispered as he fished around in his other pockets. Before I had a chance to grab it, Octavia’s hand shot forward and grabbed the phone. Alex, who still had his eyes front, took no notice.

“Quick, what’s his password? I wanna change some of the names in his contacts” Octavia said with a giggle, turning on the phone. I watched her hesitantly for a moment.

Is this a good idea? I thought to myself, trying to fathom the worth of Alex and I’s friendship.

Before I could reach a conclusion, Octavia looked up at me, and through her dark, tinted lenses, I could just about see her eyes. They were more…playful than before? They definitely seemed happier. It was clear that Octavia was a troublemaker at heart. The firebrand ringleader of chaos. 

I liked chaos. 

“Chuck it here, the password is the date our first song was released.” I said as I quietly chuckled at the mayhem I was starting. I quickly took the phone from Octavia, entered the number and handed it back. She smiled and looked up at me.

“You sir, are truly a harbinger of doom. I adore it.” She said with a bow as she quickly went through Alex’s contacts, changing some here and there. I could feel the biggest, dumbest grin slide across my face and quickly turned away to hide it, bringing my hand up to my face like I was trying to mask a cough.  C’mon man, keep it together! Bad-boy facade, remember? That’s what bad-asses like her will like. CHRISTOPH SLÖVENCA WILL PROVE HIS EX WIFE WRONG AND MAKE A GIRL ACTUALLY LIKE HIM! 

There was nothing quite like yelling about your ex internally to hype you up.  

Alex had noticed I had turned away and leant back to check on me.

“Chris, you good?” 

I nodded without a word and killed the smile. 

“Oh, hey, can I have my phone back too?” He asked, still completely unaware of Octavia.

“O-oh, yeah, totally” I said, frantically looking for a distraction so I could retrieve his phone. 

“Oh! The- the,uh foods ready I think” I stuttered quickly, gesturing forwards. As Alex turned around to check, I quickly snatched the phone out of Octavia’s hands and turned everything off. 

“And here’s your phone,” I said, passing it forwards to him. He took it and smiled at me slightly, completely oblivious of Octavia’s shenanigans. 

As Octavia reached up to grab her food Oaklynn smiled at her.

“New addition to the band? She said friendly. 

“Best addition to the band.” She replied, straight-faced as she took her food and left. We watched her walk over to a bench table in the park and sit at the end of one of the benches, hood pulled low and hunched over her food like it was her first in years. I took mine and went to join Octavia, leaving Alex to say goodbye to his friends.

Alex sighed deeply- he was good at that- and apologised.

“Ah, don’t worry about it man!” Steve called, coming to the front of the truck. “Hey, you still up for drinks at Corneles tonight?” He continued.

“Yeah, absolutely” Alex said with a large smile. Oaklynn scoffed jokingly and wandered to the back of the truck as Steve waved Alex off.