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  “Oh, hey.”

  “Um… you didn’t text me back earlier.”

  “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t have credit. Did you get anything nice?” She sounded chirpy enough.

  “You’re not angry at me?”

  “Why would I be angry?” She laughed down the phone. It was a complete relief.

  “Oh. Well, ‘cos I kind of got pissy with your brother when he picked up for Dawn before, and then I went off with Tammie even though I wasn’t really talking to her. My head was just melted. I needed to get out of there before I threw something at Dawn.”

  “Hold on. He stuck up for Dawn? What, like, against you?”

  “Yeah, well, sort of. It was no big deal, but I did snap at him, and I figured he told you, and you weren’t impressed with me. I don’t want to fall out…”

  “No, of course not! And Tammie’s your friend, so I’d hardly expect you to avoid her over one comment. Like you said, she just didn’t think.”

  “But I was avoiding her, until we had a row, and then the whole class seemed to get involved. Anyway, not the point. The thing is, there was a reason she was mean to you. I’m not saying that’s an excuse, but she wanted to hurt you because she thought Joey liked you. She’s always liked him, but she’s too afraid to make the first move. We had a bit of a chat about it, it won’t happen again.” I hoped.

  “Oh.” Amelia was silent for a moment. “Oh, well, that makes a lot of sense. Maybe we can nudge him in the right direction then!”

  We chatted for a little while longer about how we could get Tammie and Joey together before we finally hung up. I was delighted she was still talking to me, and even better, she wasn’t holding a grudge against Tammie. I was glad to have her as a friend. The fact her brother was hot didn’t exactly hurt either.

  Chapter Five

  Tammie and I were both feeling nervous about sitting in front of Amelia and Nathan the next morning for similar reasons. They sat opposite us, an awkward atmosphere immediately filling the air. I tried to look as apologetic as I could, but I was too freaked about having my hair down to concentrate on doing a good job. Gran had insisted upon me holding up my end of our stupid deal. Tammie opened her mouth to start saying sorry to Amelia, but I had to interrupt.

  “I’m sorry, just everyone hold that thought for a sec. Amelia, do you have a loan of a hair band or clip, or something I can put my hair up with? Please say you do. Tammie’s refusing to help me.”

  “Don’t give her anything!” Tammie shouted. “Sorry.” She lowered her voice. “But just don’t do it!”

  “What on earth is going on?” Amelia said.

  “My Gran found out about us ditching yesterday, and in exchange for not ratting me out to my Dad, she’s made a deal with me. Her silence, if I wear my hair down for the rest of the week. I know. She’s insane. She even checked my bag and pockets this morning and confiscated everything I was sneaking into school.” I was nearly in tears by the end.

  Amelia glanced at Nathan and burst into laughter. “I can’t wait to meet your Gran. How cool is she?”

  “No, Amelia. Insane. Insane is the word to describe her. So can you help me out?”

  She shook her head. “Even if I wanted to, which I don’t by the way, I don’t have anything with me. Sorry!”

  “Are you done? Can I say my bit now? Is that okay with you?” Tammie asked me snottily. I nodded, feeling a little bit desperate with the need to plait my hair back.

  Tammie launched into a long spiel of an apology that Amelia took gracefully. They did all the girly squealing that went along with making friends again. They were so intent on their conversation that it felt like Nathan and I were alone together.

  He leaned forward just as I opened my mouth to try and apologise to him. “Oh, wait,” I said. “I just need to say something really quick before you go.”

  He sat there quietly while I spoke. “I have to say sorry about yesterday. I was in bad form all round and snapped at everyone within viewing distance. I was a total bitch and took it out on you too, so, sorry.” I took a deep breath and winced, not sure if he’d tell me to get lost or not.

  He shook his head, putting his hand on my knee in a completely absent-minded way. “No, I was about to say sorry to you,” he insisted. I tried to ignore his hand and leaned forward to focus on his words.

  “My sister told me you thought I was taking Dawn’s side or something, but I wasn’t, I swear. I was just trying to calm everyone down. Obviously laughing in the middle of it wasn’t the best move, but you looked so cute when you were all outraged at me that I couldn’t help it.”

  I grinned at him, and he tugged on my loose hair a little. “Obviously I think you’re cuter when you’re not thinking about physically harming me.” I tried not to laugh at that but failed miserably.

  He leaned a little closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. “By the way, you shouldn’t worry about your hair. It suits you like that.” I imagined myself melting into my seat because that’s literally how I felt. He glanced at my mouth, and I caught my breath, convinced he was about to kiss me right there on the bus.

  “Oh, get a room already!” Tammie said with a snort, abruptly ruining the moment. We both pulled backward automatically. He looked at his hand on my knee with the kind of horror that could have been explained had his hand been unexpectedly amputated. He didn’t even bother with a mumbled excuse; he just hurried down to the back of the bus.

  Tammie raised her eyebrows at me, but all I could do was glare back at her. Amelia, on the other hand, was grinning broadly. I hid behind my hair and concentrated on ignoring them both. Although I was glad they were getting on, I wasn’t exactly having a great morning. First the hair thing. Super annoying when your hair is long and thick and completely inconvenient. Then Nathan. I mean, did he really have to look so traumatised when he noticed his hand was on my knee?

  I spent most of the day having my hair pulled. It wasn’t as sweet when Nathan wasn’t the one doing it. In fact, it was extremely irritating. Dawn always wore her hair down, and I had never seen anyone pull her hair over it. They were just picking on me because I wasn’t as scary. Or maybe they wanted to see me lose the rag again. Either way, I didn’t win. Dawn made many, many scathing remarks throughout the day. I made a mental note to throw something at her the very next time she said the word ginger.

  At lunch time, Joey took one look at me before remarking, “What the hell happened to your hair?”

  “Charming.”

  “How do I look?” Tammie said, out of the blue. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing at the surprised expression on Joey’s face. He peered at Tammie as if it was the first time he had ever seen her.

  “You always look nice,” he replied, quite sensibly. He was nowhere near as sweet as Nathan, but he managed to put a smile on Tammie’s face.

  “Get a room,” Amelia whispered cheekily, but Joey didn’t hear her. Tammie blushed but still seemed pretty pleased with herself.

  Nathan sat next to Amelia for a few minutes before lunch ended. She introduced Joey as my cousin.

  “Cousin?” Nathan said, looking at me for confirmation, so I nodded.

  “See? I told you.” Amelia sounded triumphant.

  I must have looked as confused as I felt because Amelia decided to carry on with an explanation.

  “Oh, Nathan thought Joey was your boyfriend,” she said, beaming at me. Nathan made a choking sound. “But I thought he was Tammie’s,” she added quickly. This time, Tammie looked physically sick.

  “Really?” Joey said. He didn’t seem unhappy with that notion. In fact, it was as though the idea had occurred to him for the very first time if the way he looked at Tammie was anything to go by. Nathan, on the other hand, was already on his feet and edging away from us, his face a little pink.

  “What on earth is his deal?” I said, when he sat down at his usual table.

  “Ask him,” Amelia piped up.

  I was about to answer her when somebody pu
lled my hair yet again. I spun around in my seat to see Aaron Hannigan grin at me as he passed by our table.

  “Is there a full moon or something? The school’s gone mad this week.”

  “Aw, it’s not so bad,” Tammie said. “At least things are halfway to interesting. You’re always complaining how boring everything is. Quit moaning, and enjoy.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I said under my breath. I couldn’t figure Nathan out, and it bothered me more than I liked to admit. One minute he was overly familiar with me, the next he was running off. All the damn time. His mood swings were making me dizzy. He was so unpredictable that I was permanently on edge, waiting for something to happen already.

  After school, he trailed behind us as we strolled to the car park, but he didn’t speak to me until the following morning after we had all gotten off the bus. He pulled me aside and told the others to go on ahead, then, when nobody was looking, handed me a brand new packet of hair things. I stared up at him, but he kept messing at his own hair and avoiding my eyes.

  “I noticed you seemed a little tormented by the hair thing yesterday, so I figured it would be the same today. I thought I’d sneak you some contraband,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. To my horror, real tears formed in my eyes. I started to hug him then realised what I was doing and backed away hastily.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I mean, thanks. For this. That’s really… thoughtful.”

  “Maybe people will leave you alone today. Come on, we’re going to be late for class.”

  I ripped the packet open as we walked, pulling my hair back into a loose ponytail while he carried my bag. We stepped into the hallway, but I noticed his group of friends in the corridor ahead so pre-empted his usual escape. I took my bag and pushed him ahead.

  “Go on,” I said with a grin. “And thanks. Seriously.”

  He smiled back at me before stopping, his forehead creasing into a frown. “Could you do me a favour and not tell anyone about this? I have a hardcore reputation to maintain here, ya know?” I almost believed him until I saw the laughter in his eyes.

  I couldn’t help smirking. “I’ll keep your secret, macho man.”

  “Cheers.”

  I knew I had a big dopey grin on my face as he walked away, but I couldn’t help it.

  Tammie tutted in annoyance when I sat down next to her in class. “Where did you get that from?” she said, pointing at my hair.

  “Turns out I have better friends than you,” I said, unable to resist the urge to stick my tongue out at her.

  That afternoon, Amelia asked me to keep her company after school while Nathan had a trial football training session with the boys in our year. It wasn’t a school team, but they were allowed to use the grounds for training because one of the teachers was their trainer. We wandered up and down the length of the pitch, pretending to be interested while the boys showed off in front of Nathan. According to Amelia, they were desperate for him to join the team.

  As soon as he started playing, I could see why. He was surprisingly fast and agile—all good things. He seemed a lot more skilful than the others, too, running rings around Aaron Hannigan who was well known as the team’s best player. I wasn’t usually interested in football, but it was kind of cool to watch him effortlessly own the ball.

  “Wow, he’s pretty good,” I said.

  Amelia nodded. “Yup. Back where we used to live, before he was expelled, he was captain of the school team.”

  I stared at her, but she didn’t elaborate. I wondered what he had done to get expelled. Maybe schools in England were really strict.

  By the end of the match, Aaron’s face was red with a temper. He was the only one who didn’t praise Nathan.

  Nathan ran over to us before he got changed. “Sorry that took so long,” he said, panting, his face flushed from the exercise.

  “Looks like Aaron has some competition.” I gestured toward Aaron.

  Nathan looked around and saw how unhappy Aaron was for the first time. “He’ll get over it. It’s a team game, we all count.”

  “So you’re definitely joining them then?” I asked.

  He nodded, taking a long drink from a bottle of water his sister handed him. My mobile rang just as he opened his mouth to speak again. It was my Dad. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach; I had forgotten he had taken the evening off work, and I hadn’t told him I’d be home late.

  “Perdy, where the hell are you?” I could almost see his frown through the phone.

  “Sorry, Dad. I forgot to ring. I’m still at school. Amelia’s brother was training, so she didn’t want to be left alone out here.”

  “You’re supposed to come straight home after school. I’ve been worried sick about you!”

  “I said sorry. I forgot you were home.”

  “That’s no excuse. You should be home whether I’m here or not.”

  “All right, Dad. I’m on my way.” I hung up with a frustrated tut. “Sorry, Amelia. I have to go.”

  “Did you get in trouble?” Amelia asked.

  “Sort of. My Dad’s strict about stuff. I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good luck with the football, Nathan.”

  I hurried away, barely waving goodbye, I was so embarrassed. My Dad had kicked up such a fuss about me being an hour late. I wasn’t that far from my 17th birthday. It was mortifying.

  I was so flustered that I walked straight into a man outside the school. “Sorry,” I mumbled, hurrying to the bus stop. It wasn’t until I was on the bus that I realised it was the same red haired man I had seen a couple of times. I had a vague sense of there being something odd about him, but I was too worried about what my Dad was going to say to think about a complete stranger too deeply.

  At home, I suffered through a particularly long lecture. Apologising didn’t shorten it at all. Dad was on a roll.

  “If I can’t trust you, then how am I supposed to give you more freedom, Perdy? Well?”

  “Dad. I’m sorry. But I was at school. What on earth do you think is going to happen there? There are a lot of bad things I could be doing, but I’m not. Give me a bit of credit, please.”

  “Bad things can happen anywhere,” he said sternly. “I want you to be responsible. Is that so bad? I don’t want to see you make the same mistakes as…”

  I held up my hands. “Okay, stop. I’m not like her, so don’t talk to me about her, all right?”

  I turned my back on him and ran up to my room, my hands shaking. I was being punished for the mistakes my mother had made. That wasn’t fair. Me staying late at school was nowhere near as bad as her running out on her family. He knew I hated talking about her, so bringing her up in the middle of a lecture was low.

  Chapter Six

  Weeks seemed to fly by. I was still a bit cool with my Dad, but he dealt with it well and even stopped ringing me every five minutes whenever I wasn’t in his line of sight. He was trying to make things up with me after our row, but a simple sorry would have been enough. He would never admit when he was in the wrong.

  Nathan flitted between our company and the cooler group although he didn’t spend as much time with us as them. His popularity grew, especially after the football team won their first match all year. He had scored, but I wasn’t allowed go. Another reason I wasn’t on the best of terms with my Dad.

  Amelia and Joey kept a safe distance from each other on either side of Tammie. It helped when some kids in Amelia’s year began to sit with us occasionally. Tammie seemed to feel as though the threat was gone. She launched into a full blown flirtation attempt with Joey. She sometimes seemed frustrated that he hadn’t asked her out yet, but he was definitely thinking of her as a girl. I could see things slowly changing between them.

  It was amazing, but at school, time was exaggerated. Relationships could begin and end in a day. So it wasn’t really surprising that in a mere three weeks, I had a new best friend in the form of Amelia. We talked every day on the phone and spent lunch times together, plus we met up during the day between classes q
uite a bit. We couldn’t really talk about boys together—after all, I could hardly go on about how hot her older brother was, but other than that, we were really comfortable around each other.

  Nathan, on the other hand, seemed as uncomfortable around me as I was around him, so I was surprised when he sat next to me in art class one Friday afternoon. Tammie didn’t take the class, and I liked to sit alone in the smaller section of the L shaped room because art was my favourite class with the only teacher who had ever encouraged me.

  Her favourite piece of mine was one which focused on a certain pair of eyes, so I was a little flustered when the owner of said eyes sat next to me before the class even began. Art was straight after lunch, so I tended to get in a little extra time by giving up some of my lunch. I was so focused that I didn’t even hear the door opening.

  “Hey, you busy?” Nathan said, coming up behind me.

  “Erm, not exactly, you looking for Amelia? She should be in the lunch room.”

  “Yeah, I know. She told me you’d be here. I wanted to know if it would be okay if I joined you in this class. It’s my weakest subject and the word is you’re a bit of a prodigy, so maybe you could give me some tips or something? I’m not good with this whole thing,” he said, waving his arms around vaguely.

  “Oh.”

  He started to back away. “It’s okay. You’re busy. I’ll see you later.”

  “No, no.” I waved him back over. “It’s cool. I was just surprised is all. Nobody cares about art around here apart from me.” I tried to look as welcoming as possible while at the same time hide any of my artwork involving eyes that even slightly resembled his.

  He sat down next to me and pulled a sheet of paper toward him. It was a rough sketch I had been working on of a dark forest which let in small shards of light between the trees.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “This is going to sound stupid, I know, but my family have been talking about decorating and letting me do whatever with my room. I’ve always wanted to do a big mural behind my bed, so I figured I’d do my favourite sort of picture. Something like this. I like nature scenes, you know, forests and stuff? I don’t know… it’s just you can be alone but never completely alone, because there’s so much life there.”