I twisted the piece of string tightly around my finger, and watched the tip of my finger turn dark reddish purple. I released the string, watching it slowly uncurl, leaving white dents in my finger. I was just sitting on the curb, sweating in the late afternoon sun, not doing anything in particular. I tossed the string aside, deciding there were better things to do than play with it. I started to stand up, but then dropped back down on the ground. I could hear familiar voices nearby. I held very still, straining to hear the conversation. I'm observant and I often listen to conversations. It's not like I do it intentionally, it just sort of happens. I just listen.

"Say, Jack, we haven't been seein' you �round dese parts so much, eh?" a nasal male voice said jokingly. Laughter followed along with some scuffling of feet. I leaned forward, although it probably didn't help make the voices sound any clearer. "Yeah, ya been kinda busy lately, huh?" another male voice, higher this time, mocked. "Whadya you been doin' Blink?" a voice shot back. I recognized it as Jack's. I could hear more laughter and scuffling. "Yeah, we all know Jack's been too busy to see us." the first voice taunted. There were many voices talking at once but one voice managed to yell over the others. "'e's been spendin' all �is time with-" I blushed upon hearing that comment. "Angel-la!" chimed in all the voices. Then they all burst out laughing. I grinned to myself in embarrassment, although in way I was kind of pleased...