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Back Afterlove
Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

I’m about to tell her not to worry about it when there’s a bristle of excitement. I wonder what Dan’s done now as Mr Moreno marches down the gangway towards us, reminding Adara and I that they’re holding up the boat because we’re late as he corrals us on. It’s then that we discover what all the excitement is about: we’re not alone. There, on the other side of the deck, is a huddle of girls who look as horrified to see us as we are to see them.

‘Who are they?’ Adara asks, blinking so furiously the wings of her eyeliner look set to take flight.

‘The Whitehawk kids and the Roedean girls.’ I smirk. ‘This should be interesting.’

There’s a tense moment of silence as we stare across the deck at one another. To their credit, they don’t recoil, rather push their shoulders back and lift their chins as if to say, We’re not scared of you. Some even cross their arms and while it does nothing to deflect the stares they’re getting, when I see them in their neat navy uniforms, it’s enough to make me want to lick my thumb and bend down to wipe away the scuff on the toe of my DM.

When I turn back to Adara, she’s fussing over her hijab and I follow her gaze across the deck to a girl with the sort of hair I’ve only ever seen in shampoo adverts – long and blonde and practically glowing in the late September sun – who is staring shamelessly at us.

‘What’s the matter?’ I ask her, crossing my arms. ‘Never seen brown people before?’

The girl immediately flushes, then turns to her friend to whisper something. I’m about to tell Adara to ignore her, but I don’t need to as she looks at me and rolls her eyes.

‘Right. Everyone keep to the left, please,’ Mr Moreno tells us as the teacher from Roedean tells them to keep to the right, as though we’re warring football supporters who might charge at one another.

The boat engine starts and as soon as I feel the reluctant rumble of it beneath my feet, I remember where I am and reach for the railing to steady myself as my legs threaten to give way. I’ll give them that – the Roedean girls are a welcome distraction from the sea encircling us, but as the boat begins to pull away from the dock, I’m lashed in the face with the cloying smell of fuel and feel the milk from the cereal my mother made me have before I left home curdling in my stomach.

‘Deep breaths,’ Adara coos, rubbing my back with her hand, but I can’t – the heady smell combined with the smoke chugging from the engine is so strong, I can taste it coating my tongue.