Digit

She was way more gentle than she needed to be. But I could see that she was smiling.

"Well? What do you think?" I asked.

"I think you're reckless," she said, smiling even wider.

"And I think you're enjoying yourself."

I was enjoying myself, too. Although at this point, just watching Evie pet the dog was more fun than anything else.

It wasn't long before a man came running down the same side street, out of breath, but totally relieved when he saw the good boy. He apologized about half a million times for letting him get away. No harm, no foul, I said. I did most of the talking - Evie had suddenly become very interested in inspecting the cracks in the sidewalk.

Finally, he and the dog went, and Evie and I kept on our way.

"You know," I said, "I think you are a dog person, after all."

"I really don't think so." But she was still smiling.

"How about cats?"

"I guess I like them more."

"Well, in that case, maybe next we should find you a nice pussy to touch."

"Ah!" she laugh-snorted, giving me a little smack on the shoulder. "Don't say it like that!"

I looked out over the sea. Fluffy, streaky clouds floated above. They were rolling over the sun now, a small mercy.

"Hey, Evie. You wanna take the scenic route?"

She nodded with her trademark placid smile.

I led us down a footpath, which ran down a hill to the waterfront promenade. As it approached the horizon from behind a fluffy cloud, the evening sun bathed the sky in peachy hues - but damn, it was still a hot one.

Not far from where we were standing, gentle waves were breaking on the shore, caressing the rocks with a quiet murmur. A light seabreeze ruffled my hair. It felt cool against my sweat. It was nice. The promenade was a place I often came to jog, but it felt totally different being here now with Evie.

I spotted a small stone by the path that was beautifully smooth and round. It reminded me of a softball in miniature.

I stopped for a moment and took the stone. Its heft was just perfect for throwing. Swinging my arm back, and with a mighty step forward, I hurled the stone into the waves. It made a satisfying splash, but failed to skip - as expected.

"Nice throw," Evie said.

"Eh." I shrugged. "I was trying to skip it. Never could get the hang of that."

Evie chuckled for a moment. "It's easy, when you know the method. Want me to show you?"

"Yeah. Teach me your ways."

She looked around for a moment, before picking up a small rock and handing it to me. "When you skip a rock, try to pick one that's as flat as you can find, with a smooth surface. The idea is to maximize the surface area that touches the water."

She came up behind me, putting her hands on my arms to pull me into position.

"You want to get low to the ground, like this," she said, pressing herself into my back and pulling my hand down. "Try tossing the rock at the smallest possible angle to the surface of the water."

"Uh huh."

"Then when you throw it, you don't need so much force. Keep your feet flat and just sway, like this." I actually had to remind myself to relax so that she could move me the way she wanted - she was so soft. "And then, you can toss it like this."

She ran me through the motions a few times. Finally, I threw the rock - it sunk into the water immediately.

"Mmm... It'll be hard to get a good skip today," she said. "It's best when the water is completely calm. Want to try again?"

She found another rock for me, this one more triangular in shape.

"This is a very good rock," she said, "because you'll be able to control it better. Get a good grip on this part, slide it into your finger like this... good, and try to put a spin on it."

I gave the rock a toss... and it skipped... and skipped... and skipped... five times in total!

"Sweet!" I said.

"Wow. That's... you're really good at this! The most I've ever gotten is two."

"What? I thought you were an expert!"

We both had a good laugh.

"Only in theory," she said.

I picked up another rock, this one smooth but a little bulbous, and got a skip out of it with Evie's method. Then another rock, and another. One of them got three skips. It was fun.

"Thanks, Evie," I said, going for another toss. "I really needed this."

She just watched, saying nothing.

"I've kinda had a rough couple of days. Is it alright if I bitch about it now?"

"You can vent as much as you want to," she said.

Two skips.

"Thanks. Thing is, I don't really get along with my grandfather. No one does, really. It's this... whole big thing."

Four skips.

"Anyway, he slapped me yesterday."

Zero skips.

"So I slapped him back. And, uh."

Evie wrapped her arms around my stomach, buried her face in the back of my shoulder.

"Hey, uh. Thanks."

She said nothing.

"It's not that big a deal, really."

"It is a big deal," she whispered, pulling back.

I sighed. "Look, I'm over it."

Zero skips.

"It doesn't matter," I continued. "I don't give a shit about that old bastard anyway. I don't care what he thinks of me."

Zero skips.

"I'm probably gonna have to move out, though. It's either that or kiss the old bastard's ass."

"Sirin..."

"It's not a big deal. My dad has a friend at the Housing Authority. He says I can get a box of my own, no questions asked."

Zero skips. I sighed, again.

"Thing is, I can live on my own. My grandfather can't. So I really shouldn't complain."

Zero skips.

"But the other thing is, I've never lived alone before. Even in college, I always had roommates. It's kind of stupid for someone my age, but I don't know if I really want to. I've always... I've always relied on my family."

"It's not stupid," Evie said.

Zero skips.

"I wish my father had my back more. That's what sucks the most. Because I do love him." I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't even know what I'd want him to do. Eh. It is what it is."

"Sirin."

I looked back to see Evie wiping her eyes.

"Uh... sorry. Honestly, I feel a lot better now. Thanks for letting me vent. Sorry if I, uh... fucked up the mood."

"No," she said. "No, it's fine. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, okay? You can always stay at my place if you want to."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

I rubbed my fingers together. They were covered in dirt from the rocks.

"Let's get cleaned up, alright? There's a water fountain up ahead."

—

I wet my hands and found that the water felt damn good - and refreshingly cool. After washing my hands clean, I took a good, long drink, surprising even myself at how thirsty I was.

I raised my head to see Evie watching me patiently. As I stepped aside so that she could take her turn, I caught sight of something so beautiful, so exquisite, that I simply could not let it pass me by.

It was the back of Evie's neck, moist with little beads of sweat, bent slightly as she reached for the button on the fountain, blissfully unsuspecting of her friend's sinister intentions. The moment was ripe. It had to be now. Before I even knew what I was doing, some primal, intuitive part of me had already begun to act.

My timing was flawless. At the very moment Evie touched the button, I pressed my cold, wet finger against the back of her neck.

"Eep!" She jumped at my touch, and I couldn't help but start laughing. Evie just looks so cute when she's startled.

She looked back at me, trying to seem stern for about half a second before she broke into a smile of her own.

"You shouldn't do things like that," she said, though it was hard to take her seriously as she fought back a giggle.

"Oh? You look downright pleased about it."

"That's because you were laughing so much," she said, finally managing to stave off the giggles by looking down at her feet.

"Is that so?"

"Mmm."

I shifted in place.

After a moment, she turned back to the fountain, and I looked out over the sea.

"Hey, Sirin?" I heard her voice behind me, blending into the soft lapping of the waves and the running of the fountain.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"That was funny."

"Ah, well... I try."

"You know, I always have so much fun with you."

"That's sweet of you to say."

"I'm... sorry if, you know, I don't have the same energy you do."

"I don't know what you mean," I said.

"Mmm. I'm not spontaneous like you are. I certainly couldn't play jokes the way you do. So I'm glad you're here, sharing that energy with me."

The fountain stopped, and I heard her coming closer to me. There she went being sappy again. I didn't dislike it. Damn it.

"Hey, Evie?"

"Yeah?" she replied, from right behind me.

"I like you just the way you are," I said.

For a moment, neither of us said anything. What else needed to be said?

"Hey, Sirin."

"Yeah?"

I finally turned to face her, just in time to catch two handfuls of water directly in my face. I jumped back from the shock of the splash. Once I processed what had just happened, I saw her staring at me, wide-eyed, red-faced.

Naturally there was only one thing to do in this situation.

I started laughing my ass off. Then Evie started smiling, and giggling, and soon she was laughing her ass off too, and we were both laughing so hard that we must have looked like complete maniacs to anyone who happened to be passing by, and I for one laughed so hard that I almost peed. But damn it felt good.

When I could breathe again, I gave her a whack on the shoulder.

"You tricky bitch! You scared the shit out of me! That was a damn good one, though."

"Y-yeah... well, you know. I try..." She grabbed her elbow as her voice trailed off into nothingness.

I felt the water soaking the front of my shirt, some of it running all the way down to my shorts.

"Hmm... at least now I don't have to worry about anyone noticing how sweaty my boobs are."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Mmm hmm. You've done me quite the favor."

It was actually pretty refreshing on a scorching day like this. I appreciated it.

I knew it wasn't easy for Evie to do that.

Even so, I was so going to get her for that.

We walked on, and I admired the scenery. The vast ocean. The trees which lined the promenade. The remains of a narrow-gauge railway which ran alongside the footpath. The side of Evie's face.

Soon, we could see the tents of the Fruit Festival in the distance. Evie was looking down at her feet again as we walked.

"Hey, Evie."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not the best with words."

She looked up at me with a soft grin, but I swear there was a hint of mischief in her eye. She knew. She knew that she'd drawn me in. Now I was actually going to say something serious, about her, or us, or whatever.

"It's like, uh... you don't have to push yourself, you know? I meant what I said earlier, that I like you just the way you are. Like, we could just turn around right now if you wanted to."

"Did you think I wanted to go to the festival just for your sake?" The bluntness of her words was softened by the playful smile she showed me. "Not everything revolves around you, Sirin."

"Okay, okay. Good!"

"I want to eat fruit."

"Good! So do I."

"So everything's good."

"No. I mean, yes. Um - I mean, I wanted to say - look, I warned you I'm not the best with words. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I just... hope you know that... I kind of look up to you."

I shifted my hands around, not sure how she'd respond to that.

"Hey, Sirin."

"Yeah?"

"You're like, four inches taller than me."

"Okay, now you're the one who's being coy. You know what I mean."

"Do I?"

"You do."

"Maybe I do." She looked away, but I could tell she was hiding a big, fat grin. "Maybe I just want you to say it again."

"Oh, I see. Because you like having your ass kissed a little bit."

"No, I just like hearing you say silly things. It's funny."

"It's not silly."

"Mmm?"

I stopped walking. "It's not silly. Hey."

She looked up at me.

"I really do see you as a role model," I said. "You're cool, and you know what you want, and you do your own thing, and you don't need anyone."

Evie shook her head. "I do - "

"You are!" I insisted. "You really are cool."

Evie just gave one of her noncommittal gestures, and kept walking. I followed.

It wasn't long before we came to the Fruit Festival, set up in a parking lot near the harbor. Same as every other year, really: some entertainers, a few tents with some events going on in them, but mostly a lot of farmers and businesses with booths to sell fruit. And fruit-based prepared foods. And fruit-adjacent produce.

A thousand - okay, well, maybe a couple dozen - different aromas wafted forth from the various booths. Everything smelled delicious.

I wanted to eat all the things. At one of the booths, we got a couple slices of banana bread that came on a plate. After wolfing them down, we went around and started getting more stuff to carry around on the plate, picking at some of it as we meandered around the fair.

"Hey, Evie," I said, but then realized she wasn't next to me. I turned and saw her eyeing the sign in front of one of the larger tents.

THE GREAT JANKINI

COMEDY STAGE HYPNOSIS

According to the sign, the next show would be starting in a few minutes. I waited a moment to see if she'd keep walking, but she just stood there, looking at the sign.

"Hey," I said, "that looks fun."

"It... might be interesting."

"Let's go! Come on!"

We entered the tent and took some seats, sliding between a few folks to reach the middle of the tent. The place was pretty packed.

The hypnotist was off to the side of the stage, having a smoke, wearing the kind of goofy getup that I thought only existed in vintage cartoons.

After a few minutes, he came to the stage.

"I am the Great Jankini, and, uh, here's what I do. I have the power of mesmerism! It's true! After 150 hours of training at the Oxford County Mind-Brain Institute, I have the ability to hypnotize anyone, anywhere, anytime. So, who'd like to volunteer?"

Evie was gnawing on her lip.

"Hey," I whispered to her. "You wanna go up?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't."

Just as well - some other person was already coming to the stage.

"We have our volunteer, ladies et cetera. And, uh, what's your name?"

"Bridgette."

"Alright, Bridgette, that's great. Go ahead and take a seat, please."

He produced a piece of lint from his pocket and held it up for the audience to see.

"Now I'm going to ask you to look at - oh, hell."

I chuckled along with a couple other people from the audience as he tossed it away and pulled out a pocket watch instead. Evie wasn't laughing, but she was watching intently.

"Now I'm going to ask you to look at this watch. Watch the watch as I let it swing back and forth. Don't move your head, just follow it with your eyes. Yeah, just like that."

I noticed that he was holding the watch above the lady's eye level, so she had to look up at it.

"Yeah, don't move your head. Your eyes are straining, aren't they? It takes so much energy to keep following the watch all the way up here. Yeah, it just takes all your energy, doesn't it?"

"Uh, I guess."

"That was a rhetorical question, sweetie. Okay, okay, good. So uh, you can just, you can notice that the rest of your body is getting relaxed and limp, because it's taking all your energy just to focus on this watch. All that energy is just draining out of the rest of your body. And your feet are totally relaxed now, so totally relaxed that you couldn't even move your toes if you tried. Isn't that right?"

The volunteer gave a kind of embarrassed smile. "Uh, sure, right."

"Okay, right, of course it is. You don't have to take your shoes off and show us, we'll just take your word for it. Okay, good. And now, your legs, too..."

While the hypnotist kept on with his schtick, I looked around at the other members of the audience. Their faces ranged from bored to kind of amused. I, for one, was just happy to be here with Evie.

Leaning over to her, I whispered, "This is pretty cheesy, huh? Huh?"

"Shh," she replied, never taking her eyes off the performance.

"Ah, sorry."

Up on the stage, the hypnotist had finished relaxing his volunteer's legs, arms, stomach, ear lobes, and whatever other body parts I hadn't really paid attention to.

"So, uh, your body is totally relaxed now. And now it's time for your eyes to relax too. Your eyes are so tired - so tired - that you just can't keep them open any more. Uh, you just can't keep them open any more... yeah, you can't keep them open any more."

He waved his hand around in mock impatience. Finally, Bridgette closed her eyes, looking like she was trying not to make her smile too obvious.

"The power of hypnosis, everybody!" He gave an exaggerated flourish to light applause.

"Now, Bridgette," he continued. "Now that we've totally relaxed your body, we're going to relax your mind as well. And I want you to, uh... I want you to, uh..."

He made a show of pulling up his sleeve and reading some notes written on his forearm.

"Ah, I want you to imagine that you're standing at the top of a flight of stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs is a bed."

"Why is there a bed at the bottom of the stairs?" Bridgette asked.

"Oh shit, it, uh... it was a rhetorical question."

"But you didn't ask a question."

"So I didn't. Anyway! Stairs. Bed. I'm going to count down from one to ten. I mean, I'm going to count up from ten to one, and with each number just imagine that you're taking a step down the stairs. And with each step, you can just notice that your mind is becoming more and more relaxed, like you're just drifting off to sleep. What you're doing is entering the state of deep relaxation known as trance. And when we get to zero, you'll fall onto the bed and go completely to sleep, just like that. Okay, good. Ten... nine..."

Suddenly Evie was leaning heavily on my shoulder. I looked and saw that her eyes were closed.

"Hey. Are you alright?" I whispered.

Evie said nothing. I gave her a little nudge, to no reaction. Was she okay? I watched my friend's chest rise and fall - she was breathing fine. Her face didn't look distressed at all. She just seemed like she was... sleeping.

She couldn't be...?

"Hey, Evie. You didn't... get hypnotized by that, did you?"

Evie responded only by letting a single drop of drool fall onto the plate of treats. She totally did, didn't she? I had to bite my knuckle to stifle a laugh. This was too good! This was actually amazing!

Then I noticed the plate leaning heavily to one side of Evie's lap, so I took it for safe-keeping.

Up on the stage, the hypnotist was carrying on his act.

"And, now, I'm going to ask you some questions. And without waking up, you're going to answer them honestly. No matter what I ask, you will be compelled to answer - you won't even care if it means spilling your deepest, darkest secrets in front of a crowd of total strangers! So... what did you have for breakfast this morning?"

The woman visibly giggled, but kept playing along. "Oat - uh, oatmeal. With peanut butter."

"English muffin," Evie faintly mumbled into my shoulder.

Oh my god.

This was too good.

I don't think I paid any more attention to the show at that point. I was just watching my adorable best friend leaning on me, breathing gently, mumbling something in a soft wavering voice that probably only I could hear whenever the hypnotist asked a question of the volunteer on stage.

Just sitting there, asleep, resting her head on my shoulder.

She was so goddamn cute that I could barely stand it.

"And... wake up!" The hypnotist clapped his hands. "Let's hear it for Bridgette, everybody! And remember, I also do bachelor and bachelorette parties, although for that, they call me The Great Mankini."

As the audience began to applaud, Evie slowly lifted her head off my shoulder, leaving a little wet spot on my sleeve, and we looked at each other.