Chapters (75)
- Cover
- Praise
- About the Author
- Title Page
- Intoroduction
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EITHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- CLIMATE EMERGENCY
- Copyright
‘Er… Nanna and Grandad’s?’ I don’t mean to sound so sarcastic.
‘Josh, I’m going to start seeing someone.’ She is trying to sound more confident than she really is.
‘OK. Is it Mr Walters?’
She’s surprised that I’ve guessed. ‘Yes, Love. It is. But I need you to understand something.’
‘That you’re not trying to replace Dad?’
‘Well, that wasn’t how I was going to put it, but yes. Look, I don’t know how long this will last, or how far it will go—’
‘Mum!’
‘We’re not … doing anything yet.’
‘Mum!’
‘I want you to know that.’
‘Did you consider whether or not I wanted to know?’
‘Don’t be immature, Josh. He’s good to talk to, that’s all. At the moment. But before we meet again I wanted you to be sure of what was going on.’
‘OK. Fine.’ I make to leave. The sanctuary of my bedroom has never called so loudly. I know Mum needs some other company than her parents, but with so much rolling around my head, this new information will have to wait its turn.
And if it’s making Mum happy, or happier, it can’t be a bad thing I suppose.
*
Even though I know I have to stop Carl, doing it seems, at first glance, to be almost impossible.
At least time is on my side. Carl’s plan won’t start rolling towards its inevitable conclusion until the new year. The timings have all been worked out intricately. So I know I’ve got at least a month before anything will happen.
A month to worry and sweat. A month before standing idly by will start to have consequences. A month of Thursday night dinners with my Biology teacher. Mum keeps me in the loop; they meet in the café at the supermarket a few nights a week, and apparently the coffee isn’t as bad as you’d think. On Thursdays, Mr Walters comes and helps with the shopping and stays for tea.
I stick to the plan and keep my distance from Alan and Vince at school – Carl said that this is so that the links between us all will go as undetected as possible. They’ve even been told to stage some kind of high-visibility falling out, which they do one Tuesday lunchtime in mid-December in a routine that reminds me of my own public punishment. Both of them leave the canteen bleeding, and through opposite doors.
I know I shouldn’t miss them, but I do. Not Vince, of course. But Alan was at least trying to comfort me. And there was something in his eyes every time he talked about his brother. He clearly worships him, even though he knows, somewhere, that he’s broken. I can’t help but feel a little pity for him.